Wealth Management
FactSet recently announced the launch of FactSet Model Center, their new no-cost marketplace for wealth advisors to access the industry’s best-of-breed investment solutions within a single, integrated platform. The Model Center will provide advisors with pre-built model portfolios from leading asset managers, product metadata, and detailed marketing materials, including factsheets. Advisors will be able to access model portfolios through the FactSet Model Center application inside the FactSet workstation to perform portfolio analysis, implement models, and create reports for their end clients. Asset managers that will be hosting model portfolios and funds on the FactSet Model Center include BlackRock, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Janus Henderson Investors, KraneShares, PIMCO, Principal Asset Management, Russell Investments, Simplify ETFs, and VanEck. Wealth advisors will be able to do a deep-level screening to discover models that fit their client’s investment criteria, while asset managers will benefit from scalable model data delivery to tens of thousands of retail wealth advisors.
Finsum:FactSet launched a new no-cost model center where advisors will be able to access model portfolios from leading asset managers.
According to research reported in the latest edition of Cerulli Edge, the demand for financial planning increases with market volatility. Cerulli said that investors experiencing market volatility for the first time are more open to receiving advisor guidance. The report noted that eighteen percent of investors working with an advisor do not have a financial plan in place, but they do consider one important. In light of that figure, Cerulli recommends that advisors consider re-introducing their financial planning services, especially during periods of high market volatility, since some clients may not be aware of their planning offerings. The research noted that advisors who offer financial planning find that their clients are better positioned to stay the course and remain calm when market performance declines, which enables advisors to develop stronger client relationships. Scott Smith, Director of Advice Relationships at Cerulli Associates, said the following, “Financial planning shifts the focus to progress made toward achieving goals rather than investment performance. This frames volatility in the context of a bigger picture, which helps clients feel prepared when market shocks arise.”
Finsum:Based on a new Cerulli research report, clients are better positioned to stay the course during market volatility if their advisors offer financial planning.
According to a new research survey by Stanford University, investor support for ESG and their willingness to potentially lose money on ESG causes varied by age, wealth, and specific ESG issues. The survey found that investors 58 years old and over were the least likely to support ESG objectives in general, while investors between the ages of 18 and 41 were the most likely to put their savings at risk to support various ESG initiatives. More than one-third of younger investors said they would be willing to lose 11% to 15% of their retirement if that meant encouraging companies to have gender and racial diversity mirroring the general population. Only 3% of the older investors said they would forfeit the same amount for those goals. Two-thirds of older investors said they were unwilling to lose any money to support diversity. Stanford also found that wealthier young investors were the biggest ESG champions. Young investors with at least $250,000 would be willing to lose about 14% of their retirement savings, while young investors with savings less than $50,000 said they would only be willing to lose 6%. In terms of specific ESG issues, the survey found that investors cared more about environmental issues than social issues and governance.
Finsum:A recent ESG survey conducted by Stanford found that wealthy younger investors are more willing to potentially lose money on ESG initiatives than older or less wealthy individuals.
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F.L.Putnam Investment Management Company recently announced the launch of a new platform that will allow advisors to execute direct investments in alternatives. The platform is designed for registered investment advisors and features proprietary investment manager research on a curated list of hedge funds, private equity, private real estate, private credit, and venture capital from Atrato, F.L.Putnam's consulting practice. Advisors will be able to access the research with +SUBSCRIBE, an alternative investment order management system for non-traditional product transactions. Through +SUBSCRIBE, RIAs will be able to review Atrato's manager due diligence, the manager's data room of fund materials, and execute transactions into a tailored menu of alternative investments. Tom Manning, CEO of F.L.Putnam had this to say about the launch, "As RIAs grow and scale, the need for sophisticated investment advice, tools, and capabilities increases exponentially. With our platform, advisors will have access to a fully customizable, state-of-the-art solution that allows them to research and confidently allocate to alternative investments on behalf of their clients."
Finsum:RIAs can now access manager research and execute direct investments in alternative assets through F.L.Putnam’s new investment platform.
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
While hundreds of mutual funds are expected to lose their ESG designations under new EU rules, money continues to flow into these funds. The fund class is called Article 9, which is Europe’s top environmental, social, and governance disclosure designation. Analysts and industry lawyers say a large number of Article 9 funds don’t currently meet the EU’s strict sustainability requirements, with dozens of funds having already lost their Article 9 tag. Hortense Bioy, Morningstar’s global director of sustainability research, said in an email to Bloomberg, “There could be hundreds of Article 9 downgrades in the next six months.” However, the fund class brought almost €13 billion ($13 billion) in inflows last quarter. This brings the total amount over the first nine months of this year to €29 billion, according to Morningstar data. But industry experts don’t know why. Hugo Gallagher, senior policy adviser at the European Sustainable Investment Forum told Bloomberg, “I am somewhat mystified at the continuing inflows. I can only suspect that it’s due to many end-investors not being entirely cognizant of the ambiguities around Article 9.”
Finsum: Billions continue to flow into sustainable funds that are likely going to lose their EU ESG designation and industry experts don’t know why.