Displaying items by tag: direct indexing

Over the past year, direct indexing has become a hot topic in the financial media. It’s hard not to see why with firms such as Fidelity and Vanguard launching direct indexing solutions. But direct indexing is not a new investment product. In fact, Natixis launched Active Index Advisors Strategies, its direct indexing business, in November 2002 with the AIA S&P 500® direct indexing strategy. The strategy has grown from $4 million in assets under management to nearly $8 billion today. Even more impressive is that the AIA S&P 500® strategy has tracked its benchmark index to within 12 basis points annualized since inception, outperforming on an after-tax basis by over 370 basis points on an average annualized basis. The strategy seeks to outperform on an after-tax basis while providing a pre-tax return similar to the S&P 500 Index. The firm’s direct indexing solutions provide fully customizable SMAs that can be customized for tax purposes, align with investor values such as ESG, or tilt towards factors.

Finsum:Amid a recent push by financial firms to launch their own direct indexing solutions, Natixis celebrates the 20th anniversary of its first direct indexing strategy. 

Want to mix with the big boys, eh? Well, you can partake in an approach to investing that, previously, institutional or ultra-high-net-worth investors alone had access to, according to Kiplinger.com.

Today, more investment firms offer “personalized” or “direct” indexing to Main Street investors. Typically, the trend, controversial though it might be, compels buying and trading stocks directly – a mirror image of an index. With cost conscious index investors squarely on their radar,  smart supercomputer programs and the ability to buy fractions of shares, at least three firms—Fidelity, Schwab and Wealthfront—are repackaging the service, a climate aided by no commission trading.

Meantime, earlier this month, as part of an industry trend, Morningstar became the latest company to launch a direct indexing investment offering, according to thinkadvisor.com.

And in the landscape of firsts, Morningstar Direct Indexing’s has its mojo; it’s one of Morningstar Wealth’s maiden major product launches. The indicated that, to begin with, direct indexing portfolios will be available the Morningstar Wealth Platform.

“Advisors are looking for ways to meet client interest in new investment options, particularly those that allow customization and personalization,” Daniel Needham, Morningstar Wealth president, said in a statement.

Based on the results of a recent survey by Broadridge, advisors are still not embracing direct indexing. The survey data showed that just 12% of advisors are “very familiar” with direct indexing. In fact, fewer than one-third even consider themselves “somewhat familiar” with direct indexing, while 40% say they are aware of the technology, and 15% have never heard of it. Ram Ramaswamy, Head of Custom Direct Indexing at Neuberger Berman, told Ignites that he has encountered resistance from advisors to any new investment option. “The first thing we hear from a lot of advisors is that they are comfortable using the ETF and mutual fund model,” said Ramaswamy. In addition to resistance to new investment options, data gathering could be another impediment. Cindy Galiano, Head of Product, Investment Management at Morningstar Wealth, told Financial Advisor IQ, “Implementing direct indexing successfully requires a lot more than a Bloomberg terminal and a list of client holdings. An enormous amount of data is needed that ranges from benchmarks and prices to sophisticated risk models and portfolio optimization tools.”

Finsum:Due todata gathering and resistance to new investment options, advisors are still not embracing direct indexing. 

Category: Wealth Management

Keywords: advisors, direct indexing, tax efficiency, ESG 

Morningstar recently announced the launch of Direct Indexing. The new offering will draw from industry-leading research, technology, and insights from Morningstar to help deliver greater personalization, automation, and tax efficiency for advisors and their investors. It will utilize many of the firm’s in-house capabilities, including Morningstar's Investment Management, Morningstar Indexes, Morningstar Sustainalytics, and Morningstar Equity Research to create and manage personalized investment strategies. Initially, the direct Indexing portfolios will be made available through the Morningstar Wealth Platform. This is one of the firm's first major product launches from Morningstar Wealth, a new group combining managed portfolios from Morningstar's Investment Management group, portfolio management software Morningstar Offices, investment data aggregator ByAllAccounts, and the individual investor experience across Morningstar.com. Morningstar Wealth is expected to introduce additional functionality and capabilities to advisors and firms in the coming year. According to Morningstar, approximately 61 percent of advisors indicate they are using or are considering using direct indexing.

Finsum:With a majority of advisors using or planning on using direct indexing, Morningstar has launched its own Direct Indexing offering.

Category: Wealth Management

Keywords: direct indexing, advisors, clients, tax efficiency

Direct indexing: you’re on.

While ETFs still have their place, the benefits of direct indexing are more than finding traction, according to Finance.Yahoo. 

Want to create a portfolio up to the task of performing on a par with – or exceeding the performance – of the popular S&P 500 index? Direct indexing’s all over it.

Index funds and ETFs are well and good, but direct indexing also means greater control over fund holding and the potential to outperform, according to Schwab. 

Spurred by technological strides that induced investment minimums south, direct indexing – once limited to institutional and high net worth investors – now can sit comfortably in the backyard of a wider swath of investors.

The latest wave of innovation and direct indexing are going hand in hand. Those advances include commission free trading and traditional shares, yielding greater alternatives and control to investors.

"Allowing for personalization makes direct indexing a great fit for those who generally like low-cost passive strategies but are also looking to potentially outperform the index on both before-tax and after-tax basis, or have more flexibility in terms of what they own," said Nitin Barve, CFA, director of Portfolio Analysis and Advice Tools & Policy at the Schwab Center for Financial Research.