While markets in 2022 were crushing for many, some portfolio managers at Capital Group are seeing brighter days ahead this year, but are still playing it safe. At a webinar revealing the firm’s asset allocations for this year, managers stated that they are reacting to a changing environment and that the market’s direction will depend on the movements of the Federal Reserve. John Queen, fixed-income portfolio manager said, “The key is inflation, and the path inflation takes from here is really going to determine what the macro environment looks like, what happens with interest rates here in the U.S., and then how aggressively the Fed is willing to combat that inflation if it stays somewhat elevated.” While the adjustments that the firm is making to its model portfolios are small, they are tilting away from growth and moving toward income, according to the panel. For instance, in its growth and income model portfolio, Capital Group moved 5% of its allocation out of a balanced fund and into a diversified fixed-income fund. Michelle Black, another solutions portfolio manager at the firm stated, “For a 20-year horizon, the starting point matters, and starting after a down year means positive outcomes for long-term investors. It’s probably not surprising to hear we have higher expected returns across the board versus one year ago, stemming really from more attractive valuations, especially in fixed income.”

Finsum:Capital Group portfolio managers are tilting away from growth and moving towards income in their model portfolios due to attractive valuations in fixed income.

On Monday, the Securities and Exchange Commission warned that broker-dealers are using outdated systems to ensure Regulation Best Interest compliance, resulting in violations in areas such as rollover and account recommendations. In a recently released Risk Alert, the SEC’s exam division points to several compliance deficiencies that it has found during exams. Following Reg BI’s June 30, 2020, compliance date, the Division of Examinations started conducting broker-dealer exams to assess compliance with the rule. The risk alert calls attention to deficiencies noted during exams, and examples of weak practices that could result in deficiencies. The Risk Alert stated that moving forward, the exam division intends to incorporate compliance with Reg BI “into retail-focused examinations of broker-dealers, particularly those that include sales practices within the scope of the examination.” According to the SEC, broker-dealers are relying “heavily on surveillance systems that existed before the effective date” of Reg BI “without considering whether those systems needed modification.” The SEC also found conflict of interest failures such as broker-dealers not having written policies and procedures on how conflicts are to be identified or addressed and failures to disclose information on website postings. Other failures included registered reps acting in multiple roles, and the failure to disclose that these “multiple relationships require disclosures of capacity and may require additional disclosure of conflicts.”

Finsum:The SEC recently issued a Risk Alert, warning broker-dealers that they are using outdated systems to ensure Reg BI compliance, resulting in violations in rollover and account recommendations.

While the younger generations have been driving interest in ESG, it appears that the older generations are changing their stance on aligning their values with sustainable investments as they want to leave the world in a better place. This is according to a study by Campden Wealth for Global Impact Solutions Today (GIST) and Barclays Private Bank. They collected data from nearly 150 respondents, including the world’s wealthiest individuals, families, family offices, and their foundations. The respondents come from 35 countries and have an average of $730m in assets under management. The study found that 36% want to demonstrate their family wealth can be invested for positive outcomes, a 13% increase from the previous year’s findings. In addition, more than half said sustainable investing is bridging the gap between younger and older generations, and almost 70% reported sustainable investing is being embraced by the generation in charge of the family’s wealth. More than three-quarters (77%) said they want to leave the world a better place, while 84% said their private capital will be essential in addressing climate change. Damian Payiatakis, head of sustainable and impact investing at Barclays Private Bank stated, “These global wealth holders have realized their capital makes an impact on the world. Accordingly, they want their portfolio to be lucrative and to be personally meaningful. The mindset shifts I’m seeing is to invest not only for tomorrow but to influence it.”

Finsum:Based on the results of a new study, impact investing is bridging the gap between younger and older generations, with almost 70% reporting that sustainable investing is being embraced by the generation in charge of the family’s wealth.

According to a new report, advisors may be missing out if they are reluctant to target next-gen investors. Research from Fidelity Institutional Insights found that investors under the age of 40 are inheriting more than $540 billion in the United States every year, 30% of the total wealth transferred. In addition, data from Cerulli Associates shows that the demographic will control three-quarters of $84 trillion in inherited wealth by 2045. The Fidelity report is a wake-up call for advisors that shy away from young clients due to higher debt, fewer assets, and generational differences. Fidelity Investment’s vice president of practice management and consulting, Anand Sekhar, said the revenue-weighted age of the average Fidelity advisor’s client is 65. According to Sekhar that creates a huge problem for advisors in the future. With older client rosters, advisors could see widespread drawdowns and not enough clients to take their place. Making matters worse is that only 13% of advisors are engaging with clients’ children and grandchildren, which puts billions currently managed at risk. Fidelity’s data suggests that if firms can reduce the revenue-weighted age of clients by just seven years, from 69 to 62, it can increase a firm’s growth tenfold. The research also suggests that establishing those relationships now could produce greater returns as investors under 40 are investing earlier than their parents and are willing to pay for advice.

Finsum:With the average revenue age of clients nearing 70, many firms could see soon see massive withdrawals with no clients waiting in the wings, which is why advisors need to start engaging with clients’ children and grandchildren now. 

After struggling under deficits for two decades, pension funds are now flooded with cash due to soaring interest rates. The surplus at corporate defined-benefit plans means managers can now reallocate to bonds, which are less volatile than stocks. This is called “derisking” in the industry. Mike Schumacher, head of macro strategy at Wells Fargo, said the following in an interview, “The pensions are in good shape. They can now essentially immunize — take out the equities, move into bonds, and try to have assets match liabilities.” That explains some of the rallying of the bond market over the last three or four weeks.” Last year’s stock and bond market losses actually helped some benefit plans, whose future costs are a function of interest rates. When rates rise, their liabilities shrink and their funded status improves. For instance, the largest 100 US corporate pension plans now have an average funding ratio of about 110%. According to the Milliman 100 Pension Funding index, that’s the highest level in more than two decades and great news for fund managers who had to deal with low-interest rates and were forced to chase returns in the equity market. Now managers can unwind that imbalance with most banks expecting them to use the extra cash on buying bonds and selling stocks to buy more bonds.

Finsum: Due to stock and bond losses and rising rates, pension fund managers now have a surplus of funds that they plan on allocating to bonds.