While politics have made ESG a controversial topic recently, there’s no denying the fact that its popularity is still soaring. That was made abundantly clear with the release of the Index Industry Association’s (IIA) sixth annual global benchmark survey, showing a surge in ESG benchmarks worldwide. According to the survey, the total number of indexes climbed internationally by 4.43% over the prior year, with ESG indexes worldwide increasing by 55%. However, the bigger news was that fixed-income ESG indexes surpassed equity ESG indexes for the first time. In fact, fixed-income ESG indexes increased by an unprecedented 95.8%. This breaks the previous record of 61.09% last year. While equity ESG index growth was slower, it still grew at a high rate of 24.15 percent. Muni indexes had the strongest year for non-ESG fixed income, rising 10.86%. Rick Redding, IIA’s CEO, said the following concerning the survey: “The index industry continues to meet the needs of the marketplace by creating innovative solutions. Highlighted again this year by record growth in ESG, index providers are empowering investors with the ability to define, track and better understand an ever-broadening range of financial markets, sectors, investment styles, and asset classes.”

Finsum:A recent index survey revealed that fixed-income ESG indexes have surpassed equity ESG indexes for the first time.

During a recent briefing, Blackstone's private wealth management solutions group explained that private equity and other alternatives have been well suited to perform during volatile times when traditional stocks and bonds have fallen. This has been certainly true this year as equities, government bonds, and most corporate debt have fallen as inflation and interest rates rise and recessionary concerns persist. Private markets and hedge fund strategies, on the other hand, have fared much better. However, the firm also believes that affluent investors are still under-allocated in alternative investments. According to the firm, affluent private investors typically only allocate about 5% to alternative investments. Joan Solotar, Global Head of Private Wealth Solutions at Blackstone told journalists at a briefing in London that “Investors remain under-allocated. Many advisors have found that if they hadn’t allocated to alternatives, then they underperformed. Some advisors, such as those working for decades without ever having broached the alternatives space, might lack the confidence to take the plunge.” Her colleague, Rashmi Madan, Head of EMEA for Private Wealth Solutions said the reason for this is due to a combination of burdensome administrative tasks and the difficulties investors have had accessing drawdown funds.

Finsum:Blackstone stated during a recent briefing that alternatives perform well in volatile markets when traditional securities falter, but affluent investors are still under-allocated.

While income investors are certainly enjoying higher yields this year, the past decade had not been as kind. The low to flat interest rates over the past ten years may have helped propel the economy and markets since the financial crisis, but they also made it quite difficult for investors to find income. So, Wall Street firms got creative and created complex investment products that offered higher yields. But with rates rising this year, those same products are putting firms at risk, which is why they're jostling to hedge those positions by investing in derivatives that benefit from higher volatility in the market. However, those derivatives are making volatility in the US government bond market even worse. Treasuries were already experiencing massive swings as investors bought derivatives to lessen their bond risk, while dealers made long-volatility bets to hedge their own exposure. This combination led to a huge jump in the MOVE Index, which measures the implied volatility of Treasuries via options pricing. In October, the index breached 160, which is near the highest level since the financial crisis. With additional money betting on the ups and downs of bond yields, this is only going to add more fuel to the fire.

Finsum:As firms increase in their purchases of volatility-linked derivatives to hedge risk, the treasury market is expected to become even more volatile.

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.