Wealth Management
Fidelity made a splash with its announcement of a $5,000 minimum direct indexing product a couple of weeks ago, and there has been a rush by Vanguard, JPMorgan, and BlackRock to acquire direct indexing firms. Goldman has been a long-time investor provider of direct indexing services, in fact over 20 years ago. Goldman specialized in wealthier clients with a minimum investment of $250,000. Goldman offers software tools for clients to use to add and drop stocks from indices. Most of the time they do this for tax purposes but sometimes clients customize by dropping equity sinners like fossil fuels or prisons. Goldman's direct indexing is a form of active management with higher fees than passive funds, but certainly more futures.
FINSUM: The advent of direct indexing for all will be an interesting follow as lower minimums become the new norm.
CEO Ron Kruszewski made waves when he announced the $1 trillion goal for client AUM for the wealth division at Stifel. Growing existing clients and recruiting are going to be two main goals as to how Kruszewski outlined how they plan to get there. Currently, the 2,300 brokers at Stifel manage less than half of their trillion-dollar target. Recruiting has been a critical part of their current growth growing by almost a quarter in the previous year, but competitors like Raymond James had almost four times the broker headcount when it crossed the $1 trillion AUM mark.
FINSUM: Recruiting shapes how a company drives revenue as higher-end recruits, making many stories, have wealthier clientele.
Many individuals overlook the value of a health savings account as they are preparing for retirement, particularly as healthcare costs are rising rapidly. High deductible plans have a number of tax advantages because they grow tax-free and can be used for out-of-pocket expenses well into retirement. Additionally, these HSA accounts come with many of the options and more than traditional retirement accounts and are easily moveable. Finally, these accounts have no rollover cap if funds move to an additional year.
FINSUM: HSAs are a great retirement vehicle, however, chronic investors with chronic illness should avoid high deductible plans that HSAs benefit.
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Wells Fargo has been one of the dominant figures trying to improve advisor headcount and it looks as though some of those efforts are paying off. Steven Tahn is moving from JPMorgan, where he has been since 2012, and bringing $2 million in GCD as well. Wells has had a series of declines for the last couple of years and has fallen short of targets when it comes to recruiting and retention. However, signs of improvement are there and their series of penalties and bonuses for client retention could be starting to pay off.
FINSUM: We’ll be keeping our eyes on the biggest changes in recruiting and retention in 2022 among financial advisory firms.
The Biden Admin hasn’t been shy about wanting to tighten the regulatory belt on Wallstreet and the financial world, and another step is being taken. The SEC is considering changing the disclosure rules when it comes to acquisitions of public companies by hedge funds. Currently, HFs have a 10-day buying period to which the public doesn’t have to be made aware of a purchase. Chairman Gensler is making it clear they are eying tighter rules when it comes to disclosure. The current rules are over 50 years old and were meant to bring more information symmetry between the public and private investors. The SEC is looking to increase transparency and give the public more time to adjust.
FINSUM: This will definitely give the public an advantage, but we’ll see how the SEC votes when push comes to shove.
Fidelity is about to take direct indexing to a whole new level. The asset manager/custodian/broker-dealer is launching its new Fidelity managed FidFolios product, which is a retail-focused direct indexing suite with only a $5,000 minimum and a 0.40% fee. According to Think Advisor “The Fidelity Managed FidFolios combines direct indexing with fractional share trading, which allows clients to allocate assets among multiple positions based on dollar amount rather than share size”. Morningstar gives context to the launch, saying “This is the most mainstream form of direct indexing from a most mainline asset management and provider of investor services seen to date”.
FINSUM: Direct indexing is a heated battleground for asset managers right now, with Fidelity, Vanguard and others in the mix. This seems like a big step.