Wealth Management
Taking a look back at the previous year can reveal some interesting lessons for fixed income investors. Overall, fixed income finished the year in the green as inflation finally started to ease. This led the Federal Reserve to pause interest rate hikes, and expectations are for it to start cutting rates sometime next year, resulting in the Bloomberg Aggregate US Bond ETF finishing up 5.5% last year.
However, there was considerable variance in performance across the curve and within different sectors. The best-performing segment was CCC-rated corporate debt which finished the year up 20.1%.
While the combination of low defaults and falling interest rates is a bullish combination for high-yield debt, this variance in performance also highlights the importance of selection. To this end, BondBloxx offers fixed income ETFs that target specific sectors and credit ratings.
The BondBloxx CCC-Rated USD High Yield Corporate Bond ETF offers exposure to CCC-rated corporate debt. The firm also offers high-yield fixed income ETFs that provide exposure to specific sectors such as consumer cyclicals, or telecom, media & technology. In total, BondBloxx has 20 different ETFs with a cumulative total of $2.5 billion in assets. It’s known for its innovation in providing more targeted investment vehicles.
Finsum: 2023 saw fixed income performance that was in-line with historical averages. However, there was considerable dispersion within the asset class. For instance, CCC-rated corporate debt finished the year up more than 20%.
According to a new research report from Cerulli Associates, financial advisors are retiring at a pace, faster than they can be replaced. The firm estimates that 109,000 financial advisors in the US will retire over the next decade. This is about 38% of all advisors in the US, representing about 42% of total assets. Overall, the industry needs to do a better job of investing in training programs and giving younger advisors more opportunities in client-facing and asset-gathering roles.
The report highlighted another trend as older, established advisors will continue to move into RIAs given more control and the ability to sell their practice. Currently, advisors over the age of 55, manage 56.7% of total assets, despite accounting for 42% of advisors.
RIAs and independent broker-dealers saw headcount growth of 856 and 685, respectively, in the first 9 months of 2023. In contrast, wirehouses lost 612 advisors. This has been the case since 2008, and Cerulli forecasts that the share of advisors at wirehouses will go from 15.1% to 13.4% over the next 5 years.
In contrast, RIAs are where growth is happening as most broker-dealers now offer some sort of RIA platform to entice recruits. There has also been consolidation, driven by private equity, with a total of 321 deals in 2023.
Finsum: Cerulli issued a new report which revealed that nearly 40% of advisors will be retiring over the next decade.
Marketing is essential to an advisors’ long-term success as it is how you connect with prospects. Ultimately, it requires experimentation to figure out the best approach for your practice. But, it’s useful to learn from other advisors and identify what works for them as a starting point when constructing your own marketing plan.
While there are many methods, some commonalities between effective marketing strategies is that it effectively captures the attention of your target audience. It also communicates what makes you unique and what value you provide to clients. It should establish your credibility in your prospects’ mind. Finally, the end goal of marketing is to capture leads that can eventually be converted into clients.
Email marketing allows you to share information and promote your business to people who have signed up for your email list. You can offer an incentive for people to join such as an e-book or a free workshop. This can be quite effective as it allows you to build a relationship and establish credibility by speaking about topics that address potential pain points.
By going straight to a persons’ inbox, there is an opportunity for a deeper connection than other mediums. Over time, some portion of readers may elect for an in-person consultation or phone call once your value proposition becomes clear.
Finsum: Email marketing can be a quite effective marketing strategy. It allows advisors to establish credibility and start a relationship with clients in a low-pressure manner. Over time, some portion of readers can be converted into clients.
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Schwab Asset Management conducted its annual ETF and Beyond report in which it surveys a sampling of its own clients to gain insight into how investors are thinking. One of the most interesting findings was that Millennial investors are the demographic most interested in personalizing their portfolios and having their investments align with their values.
But, that instinct is shared by other age groups to a lesser degree. Overall, 88% of respondents said that they are looking to personalize their portfolios, while 78% want to align their investments with their personal values.
65% of ETF investors said that it’s important to have more control over their investments, 61% want a greater ability to customize investments, and 61% are looking to optimize their tax situation. Of course, these factors are why direct indexing has been gaining in popularity in recent years.
There’s also increased awareness as 87% of ETF investors are now familiar with the strategy in comparison to 80% last year. 69% of ETF investors, not in any direct indexing product, expressed interest in doing so over the next year.
Not surprisingly, direct indexing is even more popular with Millennials as 53% are interested in learning more about it, in contrast to 34% of Gen X and 22% of Baby Boomers. Overall, all investors want more control of their portfolios and alignment with their values, but this trend is even more pronounced among younger investors.
Finsum: Investors are looking for more control over their investments, tax savings, and alignment with their values. All 3 are possible with direct indexing.
JPMorgan issued its 2024 outlook for alternative investments. Overall, it sees continued growth for the asset class especially as economic and financial uncertainty remain elevated due to inflation, tight monetary policy, a decelerating global economy, geopolitical risks, and volatility in financial markets.
According to Anton Pil, the Global Head of Alternatives for JPMorgan Asset Management, alternatives offer investors a means to diversify traditional portfolios especially as stocks and bonds have been increasingly correlated in recent years. It can also help to reduce volatility, increase income, provide protection against inflation, and boost returns on an absolute and risk-adjusted basis.
It notes some key growth drivers for the asset class in the coming year. One of the consequences of tighter monetary policy has been a slowdown in private market activity which has impacted many alternative assets. This has led to attractive valuations in some areas that could have upside especially in the event that the Fed meaningfully eases policy.
Another catalyst for alternative investments is simply that access to these investments continues to increase due to technology and more awareness. Finally, traditional portfolios have failed to provide adequate diversification in recent years. In contrast, alternative investments were a source of outperformance and diversification during this period.
Finsum: JPMorgan is bullish on alternative investments for 2024. It sees major growth drivers as increasing access, the need for diversification, and an improvement in financial conditions.
According to Echelon Insights, 2024 will be another strong year for M&A activity with larger RIAs picking up smaller firms. This follows a strong year for the industry in 2023 despite headwinds such as higher borrowing costs which impacted buyers’ ability to impact financing. Yet, the robustness of M&A in less than ideal conditions reveals strong fundamentals.
In 2023, there were more than 320 deals for RIAs. It was the second-highest year on record other than 2022 which saw 342 deals. Over the last 5 years, the number of deals in the space have grown at a 12.1% annual compounded rate. Average assets per transaction was up 4%, while private equity was the most aggressive acquirer. In total, the sector was involved in 71% of deals and added cumulative assets of $466 billion.
Last year, the largest transactions in terms of asset size were Captrust and Cetera Financial Group. Cetera acquired Avanax for $1.2 billion to bolster its succession planning offerings and tax and wealth management capabilities. Captrust acquired Trutina Financial for $1.1 billion and had a total of 8 deals, adding $14 billion in assets.
Finsum: Research firm Echelon Insights is forecasting another strong year for RIA M&A activity in 2024. 2023 had the second-most number of deals, despite several macro headwinds.