News Mentions & Press Releases
March is one of my favorite months of the year. The days are getting longer, the NASCAR season is gearing up, baseball’s spring training is underway, and, of course, basketball is readying to take over our televisions for one “mad” month.
This year, the markets are making March even more exciting. We have hit new highs in all three indices of the U.S. stock market, and the Federal Reserve (Fed) has finally convinced us it is serious about raising short-term interest rates. Personally, I think that is a good thing. Why? It means the economy is on very solid footing. Also, as a saver, I am happy to start getting some income in my savings accounts and other short-term investments that I have sitting around (waiting to pay for those dreaded college bills).
How, and when, advisors communicate with clients is constantly changing. The days of traditional emails and memos are numbered. Gone are the days when face-to-face meetings were the best way to stay in touch. Today, people require instant communication, and texting has found its way to the forefront of human interaction, particularly in business. Now, we’re all digital all the time.
Texting and virtual conferences are surpassing phone calls and in-person meetings are becoming one of the most popular form of communicating. According to a survey from Phoenix Marketing International, more than half of people under age 35 are comfortable managing their finances with mobile tools and downloading apps to oversee their money. Another study from OpenMarket states that 75 percent of millennials prefer texting over phone calls, which means that we need to think about how we communicate in the future and how the industry’s future client-base will prefer to interact
with advisors.
One such robo he’s considering is powered by Riskalyze. This spring the developer of investment-risk-assessment software is planning to launch a new generation of its original Autopilot robo package.
The updated version will expand to work in a “multi-custodial” format and not just with TD Ameritrade’s systems, says Michael McDaniel, Riskalyze’s chief investment officer.
Autopilot is also being created to work with model portfolios by more than just CLS Investments, the program’s current outside manager.
McDaniel says he expects a beefed-up Autopilot to integrate with models run by more than 100 different outsourced managers.
Donald Trump’s narrow presidential victory, Brexit and stronger nationalist tendencies in Europe and Asia indicate an underlying shift in the emphasis of consumers and government policy.
While it may continue to cause some volatility, the shift will benefit economic growth through a few key changes in behavior:
- Greater consumer optimism fuels increased consumption
- Expansionary fiscal policies support infrastructure projects
- Regulatory reform increases potential business investment
Economic trends show this transition is already in motion. Research originally conducted by MSCI and updated by CLS separates economic regimes into the four different quadrants seen in the chart below. This chart shows the global economy has moved from the slow-growth quadrant to the heating-up quadrant. The heating-up quadrant is associated with stronger economic growth and increasing inflation.
Investors are snapping up U.S. corporate bonds at a time when the yield available to cushion them from losses is the thinnest in more than two years.
ORANGE COUNTY, Calif., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Riskalyze today unveiled a lineup of new products and services aimed at revolutionizing client engagement, portfolio construction and account automation for advisors. In the kickoff keynote at the T3 Advisor Conference, Riskalyze CEO Aaron Klein announced the following new products:
- Riskalyze Premier, a new service tier designed to supercharge client engagement and dramatically increase practice efficiency.
- The Next-Generation Autopilot Platform, a multi-custodial automated account platform that allows any advisor to deliver both deep personalization and scalable automation for all of their client accounts using One-Click Fiduciary™ technology.
- Autopilot Partner Store, a marketplace that puts models, strategies and research from some of the industry’s best asset managers, strategists and research firms just a click away from over 19,000 advisors.
- Risk Number® Models, a series of eight model strategies built from the funds of Riskalyze’s key asset management partners.
In mid-January, the SEC approved Capital Group’s plan to issue clean shares on behalf of its American Funds suite, allowing brokers to set their own commissions on mutual fund shares that have stripped out distribution costs. In a Jan. 6 letter, Capital Group requested relief from Section 22(d) of the…
It is no secret that active management has been increasingly critiqued in recent years, and asset flows are following suit as investors move to passive products.
One of the large recipients of these flows is index-based, quasi-active, smart beta and factor strategies that deliver returns of active managers, but at a fraction of the cost.
Historically, many of these factors have outperformed in nearly all environments – an impressive track record, but one that may be challenged as more assets move into the space.
However, we’ve written extensively on a number of clues as to what factors outperform and when, and what investors can do to give themselves the best chance to outperform going forward. Is there a connection between outperformance of factor investing and active management? Are correlations the answer to both?
International value stocks look cheap. The iShares MSCI EAFE Value (EFV) is attractive compared with other diversified, developed international indexes and ETFs.
Compelling valuations, relative to the MSCI EAFE Growth ETF (EFG), make up the majority of the case for leaning diversified international portfolios toward value. Hopes for improved economic growth and a yield that rewards patience also support a lean toward value. Whatever your allocation to developed international markets, you should tilt the allocation toward value.
The recent short-term rally in global stock markets has boosted optimism towards equity investments.
While always glad to see our clients benefiting from market increases, CLS portfolio managers continue to keep a vigilant eye on market risk. In addition to our Risk Budgeting Methodology, we also regularly identify specific risks of greatest concern. (You can follow our list of key concerns by reading our quarterly CLS Reference Guide or Monthly Perspectives.)
Currently, global debt levels trouble CLS more than any other specific risk. While the risks of the 2008 global financial crisis are in the past, the debt used to help spur the economy past the crisis remains. This post seeks to explore different ways global debt levels might slow stock market returns in 2017. Before exploring the details, keep in mind the previous sentence included the word “might.” While these risks will shape markets in 2017, the most likely outcome is global governments will muddle through and markets will rise.