Wealth Management
According to a new report from Cerulli Associates, more advisors will be adopting the use of model portfolios to better serve their clients and free up time to develop their businesses. In the latest Cerulli Edge—U.S. Advisor Edition, 4Q 2022 Issue, the firm noted that the industry’s steady transition toward a financial planning-oriented service model will be a major fact in the increased adoption of model portfolios. Cerulli expects advisors to increase planning offerings over the next year, with 82% of advisor clients receiving targeted or comprehensive financial planning services by 2023. The report also noted that insourcers, or those who either customize portfolios on a client-by-client basis or use practice-level resources to build a series of custom models, spend 18.5% (practice models) and 29.5% (customizer) of their time focused on investment management. If those advisors use model portfolios, it will allow them to reduce their time commitment to less than 10%. The report also notes that advisors that outsource their portfolio construction have clients, on average, that are roughly half the size of those that insource their portfolio construction. Cerulli also found a correlation between model users and younger and smaller advisory practices.
Finsum: A recent Cerulli report predicts an increase in demand for model portfolio outsourcing as the industry transitions to a financial planning service model.
FINRA has issued its first disciplinary action related to Reg BI. The regulatory authority levied a $5,000 fine and a six-month suspension on a broker for allegedly causing their client to pay tens of thousands in commissions on an account of less than $30,000. It is the first time FINRA has taken action against a broker for alleged violations of the SEC's Reg-BI fiduciary rule. Charles V. Malico, who worked for Network 1 Financial Securities at the time of the violation, accepted and consented to the agency’s findings without admission or denial. According to findings, between July 2020 and November 2021, Malico violated Reg BI when he recommended a series of trades in the account of a retail client that was considered excessive based on the customer’s investment profile. Therefore, his actions were not in the client’s best interest. Making matters worse, Malico allegedly recommended that his client buy and sell a security, only to repurchase the same security days or weeks later. FINRA was made aware of the broker’s conduct through a review of a customer-initiated arbitration. The arbitration, which is still pending, stemmed from a Dec. 6, 2021 customer complaint that alleged negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, and negligent supervision.
Finsum: In its first disciplinary action related to Reg BI, FINRA levied a $5,000 fine and a six-month suspension on a broker for not acting in the best interests of his client.
According to a new PwC survey, eight in 10 investors plan to increase their exposure to ESG strategies over the next two years. PwC’s Asset and Wealth Management Survey, which was part of its Asset and Wealth Management Revolution 2022 report, is a global survey of asset managers and institutional investors. The survey sample included 250 respondents, accounting for a combined asset under management of approximately $50 trillion. The survey also revealed that asset managers are expected to increase their ESG-related assets to $33.9 trillion by 2026, up from $18.4 trillion in 2021. ESG-related assets are expected to grow at a much faster pace than the asset and wealth management market as a whole. ESG assets in the US are expected to more than double from $4.5 trillion in 2021 to $10.5 trillion in 2026, while Europe ESG assets would increase 53% to $19.6 trillion. However, as demand for ESG products rapidly increases, 30% of investors say it’s a struggle to find attractive and adequate ESG opportunities due to a lack of consistent and transparent standards.
Finsum: A recent PWC survey revealed that 80% of investors are expected to increase their exposure to ESG over the next two years, while assets in ESG products are predicted to hit $33.9 trillion by 2026.
More...
Sure, among investors, passive investment strategies still can yield exposure to broad market data, according to wellington.com.
Yet, for skilled active management, the new regime today, which is comprised of inflation and interest rates pointing north as well as an acceleration of dispersion across fixed income sectors and regions, is custom made for skilled active management, the site continued.
Considering that, among investors, the time now be just right to opportunistically position their portfolios.
Now, given the rebound of inflation’s largely a global matter, you might want to put the cookie cutter away. In Europe, inflation’s being fueled by catalysts that vary from the issue in the U.S. Distinct structural headwinds face each region – a divergence that, for investors, sparks possible opportunities.
In Europe, well, climbing inflation’s stems mainly from energy and food prices unfavorably tipping the scale. The spiraling price tags of these staples have been absorbed by businesses and consumers. Meantime, In the U.S., demand, more so, has been the impetus of recent pressures driven by inflation.
Their respective fixed income markets have priced in the duo threats of recession and sources of inflation in the euro area opposed to the U.S.
The brunt of the changes in interest rates potentially can be minimized through the active management of sensitivity to interest rates with duration positioning, according to gsam.com. Blunting sensitivity to rates changes could usher in positive returns in any rate environment.
Exchange traded funds are the bomb as they play an "expanded role in portfolio construction," according to a recently released report by State Global Markets, the survey sponsor, reported pionlne.com.
Participating in the survey were 700 global institutional investors responsible for asset allocation decisions at pension funds, wealth managers, asset managers, endowments, foundations and sovereign wealth funds.
In fixed income, the outlook -- short term – is dominated by unrelenting inflation and upticks in central bank interest rates, according to ssga.com At the same time, however, investor implementation and fixed income allocations management are influenced by longer term, structural forces.
And talk about a financial trend to swoon for. In fixed income ETFs, assets under management ballooned from $574 billion in 2017 to $1.28 trillion in 2021. Over the same time period, there was a rapid acceleration of in the number of funds -- from 278 to nearly 500.
The role of ETFs in asset allocation’s expanding to non-core sectors, the 2022 survey shows, according to the site. One example: 62% of investors who are increasing exposure to high-yield corporate credit over the next 12 months say it is likely they will use ETFs to do so, and 53% say the same for emerging-market debt.
While direct index may be a hot industry topic, not all advisors are buying in. In fact, most clients don’t even know what direct indexing is. Based on comments from a panel of advisors and tech executives at the WealthManagement.com Industry Awards earlier this month, clients aren’t asking for direct indexing and most have never heard of the term. While financial giants such as Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, Vanguard, Pershing, Schwab, and Franklin Templeton are acquiring firms and building out direct index offerings, the strategy has not made its way into client and advisor discussions. Megan Meade, CEO of The Pacific Financial Group told WealthManagement.com, “They’re just not that sophisticated of investors. They don’t have the assets for that. Nor do they need that level of tax efficiency.” Adding to the uncertainty are tech executives who are also unsure about the current value of direct indexing. J. Helen Yang, founder and CEO of Andes Wealth Technologies told the publication, “I am very skeptical about direct indexing as a way to offer personalization.”
Finsum: A recent panel of advisors and tech executives revealed that many haven’t bought into direct indexing yet, while most clients don’t even know what it is.