Wealth Management
Franklin Templeton has partnered with Futu Securities International, a Hong Kong-regulated operation of digital brokerage Futu, to offer three risk-based model portfolios. The two companies have worked together since 2019 when Futu rolled out its mutual fund business to help expand its client base. The new model portfolios will help the China-based company strengthen its strategic relationship with Franklin Templeton. The model portfolios will have various risk levels to fulfill the client's needs and risk appetites. Futu is leading the brokerage industry in Hong Kong with a high market penetration rate. According to the company, its average user spends 1.5 hours per day on the Futubull app. The company also claims that its Hong Kong users accounted for more than 40% of Hong Kong’s adult population.
Finsum:Franklin Templeton is renewing its partnership with Hong Kong-based Futu Securities with the launch of three risk-based model portfolios.
According to the SEC’s draft strategic plan for the next four years, the agency plans on shifting its enforcement focus regarding Reg BI to “making a recommendation.” The SEC’s Strategic Plan for 2022-2026 states that the agency intends to bring cases that matter to “all parts of the SEC’s mission.” This includes failure to act in a retail customer’s best interests when making a recommendation, among other items. Kurt Gottschall, a partner in Haynes Boone, and a former director of the SEC’s Denver Regional Office told ThinkAdvisor that the language “indicates the SEC is ready to move beyond basic compliance and disclosure obligations to scrutinize the placement of retail investors’ funds in advisory versus brokerage accounts, whether complex or risky products were offered to those investors, and registered representatives’ consideration of costs.”
Finsum:Based on the language in the SEC’s four-year strategic plan, advisors and Broker-dealers will need to pay more attention to compensation arrangements and product placements.
According to a recent report by Fitch Ratings, U.S. insurers are expected to continue to increase their fixed-income ETF holdings. In December, New York introduced new guidelines that allowed a fixed income ETF to receive bond-like capital treatment if the ETF is rated by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization. However, if rated, an ETF can receive this treatment only if it is invested in fixed income securities and cash, is passively managed, and has at least $1 billion in assets under management, among other criteria. So far, Fitch has rated 10 fixed-income ETFs from VanEck, Vanguard, and Invesco. Insurers have previously sought to increase their ETF holdings due to a mix of diversification, increased liquidity, and the ability to adjust overall portfolio allocations. According to SNL data, ETF holdings at insurers jumped from $3 billion in 2016 to $9.8 billion at the end of 2021.
Finsum:Since New York introduced new guidelines that allowed a fixed income ETF to receive bond-like capital treatment, insurers have been increasing their fixed income ETF holdings.
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When an investor owns a target date fund, the asset mix shifts over time. For younger investors, the portfolio emphasizes equities and allocates less to long-duration fixed income. When investors get older and approach retirement, target-date funds reduce the equity exposure and add duration to fixed income. Tyler Thorn, a multi-sector portfolio manager at PGIM Fixed Income, told Pension & Investments that this is the opposite of how duration should be managed. He believes that a target-date fund’s duration goes in the wrong direction. He stated, “Instead of starting low and rising with age, it should start high and decline with age.” Thorn believes that younger investors need more duration exposure since they will be spending a lot more in the future. Thorn also believes that if these changes were implemented, they could make the 60/40 portfolio more viable.
Finsum:A PGIM Fixed Income manager believes that the 60/40 portfolio can be fixed if bond duration was managed differently.
According to an analysis of patent filings, compiled by GlobalData, there is a shrinking number of cybersecurity-related applications in the banking industry over the past three months, compared to the previous year. The most recent filings show that the number of related patent applications in the banking industry was 596 in the three months ending July. This is down from 1096 during the same period last year. This indicates cybersecurity innovation in the retail banking industry is dropping off. Capital One Financial was the top innovator in the banking sector in the latest quarter. The company filed 125 related patents in the three months ending July, down from 230 in the same period last. Visa was second with 109 patent applications. One company that has increased research is Truist Financial, which saw a 35.7% growth in related patent applications in the three months ending in July.
Finsum:While cyber crimes are on the rise, cybersecurity innovation in the banking industry is falling.
According to Straits Research, the cybersecurity insurance market is projected to grow 19.52% annually and reach $38.7 by 2030. Cybersecurity insurance is a policy that individuals or companies can purchase to reduce the financial risks of conducting business online. The policy transfers certain risks to the insurer for a monthly or quarterly fee. Many companies purchase cybersecurity insurance to cover expenses resulting from digital assets loss. These costs can include the cost of notifying clients of a security breach and the cost of fines for noncompliance with regulations. North America, which holds the largest market share, is expected to grow 15.32% annually. The North American market saw more data compromises in 2021 than any other year before it. The European market is forecasted to generate $13 billion by 2030, growing at an annual rate of 23.17%
Finsum:With security breaches hitting an all-time high, the cybersecurity insurance market is projected to grow 19.52% annually and reach $38.7 by 2030.