Deals & People March 26, 2013

Salient Adds Directors of Investments

Asset management firm Salient Partners appointed Rusty Guinn and Todd Centurino as directors of Investments.
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The two previously worked for the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS). Guinn and Centurino will collaborate with the Investments team to oversee and manage Salient’s funds and separately managed accounts.   

Guinn will lead the Portfolio Management group, which is responsible for managing Salient’s multi-asset relationships and private investment funds. Within that effort, Centurino will leverage his TRS experience to lead the management of Salient’s public fund mandates.   

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Guinn previously served as director of Strategic Partnerships and Opportunistic Investments at TRS, where he was head of the team responsible for more than $11 billion in capital and commitments across a multi-asset portfolio. Earlier in his career, he worked with Credit Suisse’s Asset Management Finance group, where he sourced and underwrote minority equity investments in asset management companies. Guinn earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.    

Centurino was most recently senior investment manager for External Public Markets and Hedge Funds at TRS, where he was responsible for $2.9 billion in multi-manager equity portfolios. Prior to his six years at TRS, he spent seven years at Fidelity Investments. Centurino holds a Master of Business Administration from Rice University’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management.
Data & Research March 26, 2013

Time Is Main Obstacle to Financial Planning

A lack of time is the main obstacle for people to do proper financial planning, says a study by Northwestern Mutual.
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The “2013 Planning and Progress Study” showed more than six in ten (63%) Americans say their financial planning needs improvement, with the main obstacle cited as not having enough time (24%) to properly plan. 

“There’s an interesting parallel that exists between managing your finances and managing your day-to-day life in that it’s so easy to let short-term needs and wants over shadow the more critical long-term goals,” said Greg Oberland, Northwestern Mutual executive vice president. “We’re all susceptible, particularly today, as we’re often overloaded with information and over scheduled.” 

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Oberland added that Northwestern Mutual’s study results should be read as “a wake-up call to put long-term financial planning on our collective to-do lists.” 

According to the study, most Americans (69%) say the pace of society makes it harder for them to stick with long-term goals. More than one in four (26%) people say they either often or always feel too busy to think about long-term goals. And nearly one in three (31%) say they find the level of immediacy of society today–characterized by 24/7 connectivity and accessibility–to be distracting.

The study also revealed that when people were asked to specify what type of planners they are:  

  • Some (40%) described themselves as “Informal,” meaning they have a general sense of their goals and how to meet them, but have no specific plan in place;  
  • Others (9%) said they are “Non-Planners,” meaning they have neither specific goals nor specific plans of any kind;  
  • One in three (34%) people described themselves as “Disciplined,” meaning they know their goals and have a plan in place, but deviate at times because they do not always stay on top of them; and  
  • Just 16% said they are “Highly Disciplined,” meaning they know their goals, have a plan in place to meet them, and rarely deviate from that plan. 

 

When it comes to financial planning, the study showed those in Generation Y (who are currently ages 25 to 32) may be the most disciplined generation, with 24% saying they are “Highly Disciplined” planners. This is a 50% increase over the full-sample average (16%). The discrepancy is even greater when comparing Generation Y to Baby Boomers (ages 47 to 66), among which only 14% considered themselves “Highly Disciplined.” 

“While overall discipline remains low, we’re encouraged to see that the youngest generation of adults appears to be taking demonstrable action,” said Oberland. 

The study was conducted by independent research firm Harris Interactive, and included 1,546 Americans, ages 25 or older, who participated in an online survey during January 2013. The study report can be downloaded from here.

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