Wealth Management
While institutional investors are allocating more to alternative investments, recent analysis has shown that the asset class does not help boost returns. Public Pension Investment Update: Have Alternatives Helped or Hurt? was run by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (CRR). It found that the investment performance of public pension funds from 2001 to 2022 averaged only 5.9%, despite increasingly larger allocations to private equity, hedge funds, real estate, and commodities. CCR looked at the returns for broad indices of alternatives and traditional equities before, during, and after the Financial Crisis. It found that alternatives substantially outperformed traditional equities from 2001 to 2007; and other than real estate, alternatives lost less than equities during the financial crisis. However, Jean-Pierre Aubry, associate director of state and local research at CRR and the brief’s author wrote that “Since the crisis, the performance of alternatives has been more mixed, with private equity and real estate rebounding somewhat, while hedge funds and commodities continue to provide lower returns.”
Finsum: A recent brief found that alternatives have not helped public pension performance due to mixed performance since the financial crisis.
According to research from JPMorgan, the shift from actively managed funds to passive index-tracking funds has accelerated this year. The move has been boosted by a jump in flows to bond and mixed-asset funds. The share of assets under management held in U.S. passive bond and hybrid funds rose from 23% of all equivalent U.S. fund assets at the end of 2019 to 28.5 % by August 2022. Peter Sleep, senior portfolio manager at 7 Investment Management told Financial Times that “Bond exchange-traded funds were now catching up with their more broadly adopted equity ETF counterparts as the offering had broadened and become more cost competitive.” Jane Sloan, head of iShares and index investing Emea at BlackRock, added that “Half of all inflows into global ETFs this year had been into bond ETFs.” She also noted that “More people are using ETFs to trade bonds as they move within fixed-income asset classes.” This explains why trading volumes in bond ETFs are up 35% since 2020 and 2021. Tax loss harvesting is another reason for the shift as it provides an incentive for investors to sell out of their actively managed fixed-income funds.
Finsum:Due to a combination of tax loss harvesting, ETFs becoming more cost competitive, and an increase in bond ETF trading, the shift from active to passive bond funds is accelerating.
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.
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According to Wink’s Sales & Market Report, third-quarter sales of deferred annuities soared almost 21% over the prior-year quarter. Deferred annuities include variable annuities, structured annuities, indexed annuities, traditional fixed annuities, and multi-year guaranteed annuities (MYGA). Indexed annuities saw the largest gains. Sheryl Moore, CEO of Wink, Inc. and Moore Market Intelligence said that "It was a record-setting quarter for indexed annuity sales. In fact, 2022 will be a record year for indexed annuities as well." Total non-variable deferred annuity sales, which include indexed annuities, traditional fixed annuities, and MYGAs, came in at $48.8 billion for the quarter, up 67.1% compared to the prior year's quarter. However, variable deferred annuities, which include structured annuities and variable annuity product lines, did not see the same gains. While sales came in at $23.5 billion, that figure was down 10.8% compared to the previous quarter and down more than 23% compared to the same quarter last year. The No. 1 selling deferred annuity for the quarter was Jackson National’s Perspective II Flexible Premium Variable & Fixed Deferred Annuity.
Finsum:With indexed annuity sales leading the way, total deferred annuity sales soared year over year.
Based on a recent report from the Alternative Credit Council, the private credit affiliate of the Alternative Investment Management Association, private credit managers remain bullish on their business prospects heading into the new year. In fact, more than 80 percent of global private credit managers are either bullish or cautiously optimistic about the market’s prospects over the next 12 months. The report was based on a survey of 54 private credit managers with $805 billion in combined assets. The optimism comes at a time when more investors are looking to increase their allocations to private credit next year. This was highlighted by a recent survey by Ernst & Young. According to the report, many private credit managers are taking advantage of this tailwind by expanding into new geographic locations. The report said, “Much of this growth is being led by the private equity market, which continues to spearhead private credit’s expansion into new markets. This development is likely to prove valuable for the European and Asian economies as they seek to diversify the sources of financing available to borrowers.”
Finsum:Due to an increase in interest from investors, private credit managers are optimistic about their business prospects heading into the new year.
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.