Displaying items by tag: clients

According to the findings of the Advisor Edition of State Street Global Advisors’ Inflation Impact Survey, the vast majority of investors who are currently working with a financial advisor, believe their advisors’ insight and guidance are valued more today during the current period of market volatility and rising inflation. The survey revealed that approximately three-quarters of investors have discussed inflation with their advisors and how inflation will impact their investment goals in both the short and long term. 90% say they value their financial advisors’ knowledge and guidance even more during uncertain times, and 86% believe their advisor has helped them remain confident during the current period of rising inflation and market volatility. The data follows the initial findings of State Street’s Global Advisors’ Inflation Impact Survey that showed inflation-induced stress and anxiety is influencing investor behavior with short-term budgeting and long-term financial goals.

Finsum:State Street’s Inflation Impact Survey revealed that investors are placing a higher value on their financial advisor’s guidance during times of heightened market volatility and inflation.

Before the pandemic, advisors and their staff were enjoying elevated compensation levels. But once the pandemic occurred, advisors suddenly needed to take stock of the financial health of their businesses. While the market downturn in 2020 didn’t last long, its effects led firms to become more conservative with their expenses. The continued volatility in the market resulted in firms looking to increase profit margins and aggressively cut costs. Rent and office expenses were the first to be cut, however, the largest expense by a considerable margin was non-owner compensation. According to an article in City Wire USA written by Damian Lo Basso, managing partner, and CFO at Journey Strategic Wealth, the years 2020 and 2021 were the first years since the financial crisis that many firms kept salaries and bonuses flat. In addition, some firms are now tying up to 50% of team members’ bonuses to overall firm performance.

Finsum: Due to the effects of the pandemic and ongoing uncertainty in the market, advisor teams are seeing their compensation being tied to firm performance.

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.

NDVR, a Boston-based advisor that combines technology and dedicated financial advisors to build and manage custom portfolios for high-net-worth investors, recently announced new capabilities that allow it to create hyper-customized portfolios reflecting the socially responsible investing values of individual clients. These new capabilities are part of the firm’s Unified Equity strategy, which includes direct indexing, active factors, tax-loss harvesting, and SRI. The company builds portfolios that directly reflect the values of its clients while targeting a combination of growth, volatility, and future cash-flow requirements. To incorporate SRI, NDVR will utilize data generated by the non-profit shareholder advocacy organization As You Sow's Invest Your Values screening platform. NDVR’s custom portfolios are designed to deliver what the firm calls Construction Alpha™, the aggregate performance enhancements expected from investment alpha, cost savings, and tax efficiency.

Finsum:NDVR, an advisor that offers customized portfolios through direct indexing, announced that its portfolios will now reflect the SRI values of individual investors.

RBC Wealth Management’s aggressive recruiting has landed another team. The firm was able to lure Coatoam Wealth Management Group, a $560 million team, away from Merrill Lynch. The team, which is led by Managing Director Brian Coatoam, is joining RBC in their new office in Winter Park, FL. Coatoam has been in the industry for 24 years. He got his start with Advantage Trading Group and worked for Morgan Stanley before joining Merrill Lynch. He leads a six-person team, which includes two Certified Financial Planners, Derek Grimm, and Ryan Plank. RBC, like many firms, is pushing expansion in Florida as the state lures more wealthy investors due to a lack of income and capital gains taxes. RBC had previously announced a father-son advisor team joining its office in Palm Gardens and in January the firm recruited a $1 billion Florida team from Truist.

Finsum:With more wealthy investors moving to Florida, RBC continues its aggressive expansion in the state by recruiting a $560 million Merrill Lynch team.