Data shared by FTSE Russell, taken from the firm’s annual smart beta survey, suggests the use of “multi-factor combination smart beta index-based investment strategies” by institutional investors has more than doubled since first measured in 2015.
“As they ready their portfolios for the end of the 'Goldilocks' market, U.S. institutions are integrating ETFs more deeply into their portfolio management and investment strategies,” says Andrew McCollum, Greenwich Associates Managing Director.
The latest J.P. Morgan Asset Management Guide to the Markets publication asks the complex but crucial question, at what level of U.S. interest rates should we start to worry about a recession?
A new Cerulli Associates analysis shows institutional custom solutions assets stood at $1.7 trillion at year-end 2016, and assets are projected to grow 10.4% to 1.9 trillion by 2021.
In its discussions with TDF managers, Mercer has found many managers say they have not aligned with the ACWI, and have continued with portfolios that display home equity bias for a number of reasons; the research also shows strong growth in passive TDF market share.
More than 60% of advisers polled by Cerulli Associates agree that client demand for “financial planning” is increasing; at the same time, broker/dealers are refining their digital planning support for advisers in order to retain top talent.
However, they are very responsible with their budgets, with 53% having an emergency fund
Advisers generally are not qualified to represent their clients before the IRS, and so they generally must shy away from offering tax advice; but that doesn’t mean they can afford to ignore the broad or specific implications of recent tax reforms for their clients.
While the investing rules controlling the Connecticut public pension fund are different from those governing corporate retirement plans, the argumentation as to why gun manufacturer divestment may be the right thing to do offers some food for thought for anyone charged with the fiduciary management of retirement plan assets.
Fidelity has updated its quarterly analysis of the average retirement savings balances across its book of business, and the results are once again quite encouraging.
New Cerulli research shows the most common reason for which 401(k) plan sponsors offer participants a managed account service is that it can be positioned as a retirement income solution; also considered is the emergence of so-called “shadow fiduciaries.”
"In our experience, the way bond managers speak provides insight into their true thinking, underlying skills and biases," write Brett Wander and Jake Gilliam, two investing team leaders at Charles Schwab. "When we look for bond managers as sub-advisers, there are things we like to hear, but there are also things managers say that immediately trigger our alarms."
The Endowment Index calculated by Nasdaq has reconstituted and rebalanced its overall asset allocation for 2018, making some slight but telling adjustments.
More than 82% of those from the Millennial generation, defined here as those born between 1977 and 1993, are now invested in a diversified portfolio.