News Mentions & Press Releases
ETFs are inexpensive and dependable building blocks, according to Rusty Vanneman, Chief Investment Officer at CLS Investments. What are some innovations for these products going forward?
NorthStar Financial Services Group, LLC (NorthStar), a holding company for several subsidiaries which offer unique services within the financial industry, is proud to announce that two of its subsidiaries, Orion Advisor Services, LLC (“Orion”) and CLS Investments, LLC (“CLS”), have received Wealth Management Industry awards.
Orion, the premier portfolio accounting service provider for advisors, won the Portfolio Management, Accounting and Performance Reports award for its Business Intelligence Trends application (Trends). Trends allows advisors to compare themselves in absolute and relative terms against other Orion advisors based on assets under management, new accounts, total number of clients, demographics, performance, fees and other factors.
CLS, a third party money manager and one of the leading managers of exchange traded fund (“ETF”) portfolios, won the Asset Managers – ETF Strategist award for its innovative re-categorizing of its investment strategies into an outcome-based approach, and its implementation of the new focus on its website, investment policy statement and marketing materials. The approach provides advisors with tools they need to focus client communications on each investor’s goals. It also allows advisors to sleeve strategies so they can meet multiple investor objectives within one account.
This information is not complete without the following: http://bit.ly/2cGWNzE
The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets exchange-traded fund (EEM) has lost some of its shine over the past four weeks, but it’s up 1% today.
And the ETF focused on developing economies is up 13% so far this year despite a 3% decline over the past four weeks. Paula Wieck, a portfolio manager of head of research at Omaha, Nebraska-based CLS Investments, a third-party asset manager, offers some thoughts why she thinks investors have to own emerging markets. From a fresh report, she writes candidly about hyped EM headlines:
CLS Investments is helping advisors move conversations away from performance and benchmarks—forces investors can’t control—and toward tangible, long-term goals, which investors can control. The firm has re-categorized its investment strategies into an outcome-based approach, and implemented the new focus on its website, investment policy statement and marketing materials.
This information is not complete without the following disclosures: http://bit.ly/2cGWNzE
Yield chasers may not be as crazy as we think. From the standpoint of modern portfolio theory, investing in asset classes with elevated yields is suboptimal (meaning, crazy). Portfolios focused on yield don’t diversify the allocation as well as more diversified portfolios. This leaves the client exposed to a series of avoidable risks:
- Interest rate risk: Securities with high yields are more sensitive to changes in interest rates.
- Sector risk: Higher yields are found more often in utilities and REITs, while less frequently in technology.
- Liquidity risk: Income portfolios shy away from liquid Treasury bonds and favor less liquid corporate bonds.
The net effect is a portfolio with extra risk for an investor whose objective is steady income. It seems like a dangerous match for the many retirees who use this strategy.
Are You Trying to Time Your Factor ETFs?
The ability to time or rotate between a set of investment strategies can help investment managers add value for clients seeking actively managed solutions. Traditionally, many investors have accomplished this through an investment process focused on rotating between sectors, countries, and broad investment styles.
Today, as more and more investors have continued to adopt smart beta ETFs that emphasize a given set of equity risk factors, the number of investors claiming to have the magic formula to rotate effectively between these strategies has increased. Many view valuations as the foundation of what investors should consider when determining which factor ETFs to invest in. They are important, but for most investors, valuations are just one piece of a bigger puzzle to factor investing.
Factor ETFs Have a Wide Range of Cycle Lengths
Factors move in and out of favor just like any investment strategy over the course of a full market cycle. The past few years have shown that quality, momentum, and minimum volatility have all provided some opportunity to outperform a representative equity benchmark, while value and size have both lagged.
Baby boomers, take heart: investing for and going into retirement has gotten easier—and mostly cheaper—in part due to ETFs and technology.
This was one theme retirement fund experts voiced during a panel at the Morningstar ETF Conference in Chicago.
Scott Kubie, chief investment strategist with CLS, which has $7 billion in assets—mostly in 529 plans and 401k funds—pointed out no matter what people say they are saving for, “everyone is investing for retirement.”
Will McGough, vice president of portfolio management of Stadion, which has managed retirement plans since the 1990s, said his firm launched a new plan called StoryLine, which is “robo-like” by allowing investors to choose from “glide paths” on screen to tighten their risk profile.
Stocks can potentially deliver gains in the long term as long as investors can stomach extended periods of market declines. However, sometimes investors are too quick to leave markets without benefiting from long-term returns.
The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets exchange-traded fund (EEM) has lost some of its shine over the past four weeks, but it’s up 1% today.
And the ETF focused on developing economies is up 13% so far this year despite a 3% decline over the past four weeks. Paula Wieck, a portfolio manager of head of research at Omaha, Nebraska-based CLS Investments, a third-party asset manager, offers some thoughts why she thinks investors have to own emerging markets. From a fresh report, she writes candidly about hyped EM headlines:
In a surprise announcement, 401(k) managed portfolio provider CLS Investments said Ryan Beach has been named CEO, replacing Todd Clarke. Clarke will move into an executive sales role as head of the new national accounts team of the family-founded firm.
NorthStar Financial Services Group, a holding company for several subsidiaries including The Gemini Companies, Orion Advisor Services and CLS Investments, said Beach will assume the role of CEO effective immediately.
“These changes mark an exciting new time for NorthStar,” Clarke said in a statement. “We feel that we have the proven ability to accelerate each subsidiary’s growth by maintaining focus on product innovation and providing the best possible service to our clients. I’ve been at the helm of CLS for a long time – and I will continue to work with the amazing team we have assembled there– but as NorthStar collectively grows and our group of subsidiaries continues to integrate services, my new post will allow me to be more effective in servicing the entire NorthStar client base.”