Morgan Stanley’s new exchange-traded fund platform will focus on actively managed funds, with Anthony Rochte, global head of ETFs at Morgan Stanley, seeing a “significant uptick in active transparent fixed income purchasing.” Rochte told ETF.com at the recent Exchange conference in Miami that “There's no doubt active management is where we're focused in additional series of ETFs. At the core of Morgan Stanley Investment Management is active management; that’s what we do.” The financial services giant made its return to the ETF industry on February 1st with the launch of six Calvert ETFs, including an active ultra-short investment grade ETF. Rochte stated that the firm is looking to launch funds across its Calvert, Eaton Vance, and Morgan Stanley brands. More specifically, he stated, “In the next suite of products you could expect to see from us, the ETF platform would be active, transparent.” According to ETF.com data, $57.4 billion flowed into active products last year as passive investments were hammered by the markets. Active funds comprise $407.9 billion of the ETF market, with many financial professionals seeing that segment growing. Currently, there are 1,027 actively managed ETFs in the U.S. market. With Morgan Stanley looking to add to its product suite, transparent, fixed-income products are squarely in focus, according to Rochte.  

Finsum:With many financial professionals expecting the active ETF segment to grow, Morgan Stanley is looking to add to its product suite with a focus on actively managed transparent fixed-income funds.

With direct indexing continuing to gain steam, the strategy isn’t just for the ultra-wealthy anymore, according to two panelists at the recent ETF Exchange conference in Miami. According to Randy Bullard, global head of wealth management at Charles River Development, any investor with more than $150,000 can benefit from these custom portfolios. Bullard stated that “Today an advisor might use direct indexing for clients with complex and unique investment policy requirements, but in the future, direct indexing won’t be such a niche thing.” Ben Hammer, head of client development for Vanguard Personalized Indexing, agrees and said “personalized indexing” can benefit many investors. For Hammer, direct indexing is simple, “It’s an individual account that’s managed to track an index. The individual owns the securities, which gives them flexibility to do things that they can’t with a fund. For example, when individual stocks are down, the investor can tax-loss-harvest them to offset gains elsewhere in their portfolio.” Hammer also noted that direct indexing can give advisors an “additional edge“ in their business. He stated, “They can utilize this to really establish an excellent tax profile for a client that might have some complications or give them an extra bit of customization.” However, Bullard acknowledged that direct indexing right now is for equities, not other asset classes.

Finsum:According to two panelists at the recent ETF Exchange conference, any investor with over $150,000 in assets would benefit from direct indexing, as would advisors by providing them an “additional edge“ in their practice.

With direct indexing continuing to gain steam, the strategy isn’t just for the ultra-wealthy anymore, according to two panelists at the recent ETF Exchange conference in Miami. According to Randy Bullard, global head of wealth management at Charles River Development, any investor with more than $150,000 can benefit from these custom portfolios. Bullard stated that “Today an advisor might use direct indexing for clients with complex and unique investment policy requirements, but in the future, direct indexing won’t be such a niche thing.” Ben Hammer, head of client development for Vanguard Personalized Indexing, agrees and said “personalized indexing” can benefit many investors. For Hammer, direct indexing is simple, “It’s an individual account that’s managed to track an index. The individual owns the securities, which gives them flexibility to do things that they can’t with a fund. For example, when individual stocks are down, the investor can tax-loss-harvest them to offset gains elsewhere in their portfolio.” Hammer also noted that direct indexing can give advisors an “additional edge“ in their business. He stated, “They can utilize this to really establish an excellent tax profile for a client that might have some complications or give them an extra bit of customization.” However, Bullard acknowledged that direct indexing right now is for equities, not other asset classes.

Finsum:According to two panelists at the recent ETF Exchange conference, any investor with over $150,000 in assets would benefit from direct indexing, as would advisors by providing them an “additional edge“ in their practice.

Putnam Investments recently announced the availability of Putnam Sustainable Retirement Funds, a target-date series for the retirement savings marketplace. The suite invests in actively managed ESG-focused ETFs managed by Putnam. The funds implement a similar retirement glidepath philosophy as the firm’s other target-date offering, Putnam Retirement Advantage. The series offers vintages for every five years from 2025 through 2065, along with a maturity fund. The Putnam Global Asset Allocation team, which also manages Putnam Retirement Advantage, is responsible for the glidepath and both the tactical and ETF allocations of the Putnam Sustainable Retirement target-date suite. The series was developed in part to respond to the growing interest in sustainable investing within the defined contribution retirement market according to Steven P. McKay, Putnam’s Head of Global Defined Contribution Investment Only. Robert L. Reynolds, President, and Chief Executive Officer, of Putnam Investments, said the following as part of the announcement, “As the retirement marketplace continues to evolve and grow, there is tremendous appetite for meaningful product innovation that creates greater choice of offerings to help working Americans achieve their financial goals.” The funds will invest in ETFs across asset classes managed by the firm, including:

• Putnam Sustainable Future ETF (NYSE Arca: PFUT)
• Putnam Sustainable Leaders ETF (NYSE Arca: PLDR)
• Putnam ESG Core Bond ETF (NYSE Arca: PCRB)
• Putnam ESG High Yield ETF (NYSE Arca: PHYD)
• Putnam ESG Ultra Short ETF (NYSE Arca: PULT)
• Putnam PanAgora ESG Emerging Markets Equity ETF (NYSE Arca: PPEM)
• Putnam PanAgora ESG International Equity ETF (NYSE Arca: PPIE)

Finsum:Putnam recently announced the availability of Putnam Sustainable Retirement Funds, a target-date series that invests in actively managed ESG-focused ETFs managed by Putnam.

The case for model portfolios has never been better. Investment managers are expanding their model portfolio offerings while turnkey asset management platforms continue to grow. Since portfolio management is just one piece of a financial plan, why wouldn’t advisors want to take advantage of model portfolios to free up time to spend with their clients? However, some advisors have a reason for resisting this trend and insist on managing portfolios themselves. For instance, Ryan Johnson, managing director at Buckingham Advisors told InvestmentNews, “By managing our own portfolios, we’re adding value.” Johnson added that they feel they have a lot of control over the individual stock selection, especially when it comes to tax planning. Paul Schatz, president of Heritage Capital also mentioned control as to why he builds client portfolios from scratch. He stated, “Control is a huge driver.” Robert Steinberg, chief executive at RIA Blue Chip Partners told the magazine that they focus on individual securities since “clients are more involved, it’s easier to tax-loss harvest, they know what they own.” While a 2020 research report from InvestmentNews cited numerous reasons for outsourcing portfolio management such as freeing up time, some advisors still see portfolio management as a core component of financial planning. The report also listed the top reasons for not using a model portfolio such as investment research strength, flexibility, and cost.

Finsum:While model portfolios continue to gain steam among financial advisors, there are still some that prefer to build portfolios themselves due to control, adding value, and getting clients more involved.