As public and private companies alike wrestle with how to create a strong corporate culture, key issues include promoting equality, diversity and inclusion as well as safety issues such as an effective return to the office versus the merits of a remote workforce.
Roger Urwin, who serves as global head of investment content at Willis Towers Watson, believes that organizations can put their clients first by building trust through “asset gathering, soliciting clear client feedback, and aligning purpose to client needs.”
For the July edition of Chronicles, we're highlighting Roger’s feature in Portfolio for the Future™ and discussing how strong cultural values within an investment organization will ultimately lead to greater long-term success for the client.
Forbes recently focused on The Increasing Prominence of Alternative Investments and noted that: “For the appropriate investor, alternatives offer a range of opportunities that can support specific investment strategies and objectives, including the tailoring of risk management profiles, balancing risk against return based on risk tolerances and meeting specific investment goals (such as the preservation of capital during periods of market volatility).”
Forbes also referenced an EY report that: “found that 81% of ultrahigh net worth investors surveyed hold alternative investments in their portfolios.”
A similar sentiment was echoed by the Nasdaq, which was based on recent findings from CAIA. In a special segment for the exchange, Michael Wang, CEO and founder of Prometheus Alternatives Investments, lamented that: “As the number of investors who realize that they will fall short of their long-term savings goals with a traditional 60/40 portfolio of stocks and bonds increases, so does their appetite for alternative investments. It's no coincidence. By 2025, total alternative investments under management are projected to reach $17.2 trillion—a four-fold increase since 2010.”
Additionally, a recent CAIS survey found that retail access to alternative investments remain top of mind for financial advisors: “Interest rate hikes and a growing lack of confidence in strong returns across public markets have prompted a surge in demand for, and access to, alternative asset classes, according to a recent independent survey conducted by CAIS during the 2022 Morningstar Conference. In addition, more than eight in 10 (80.9%) financial professionals believe that all retail investors should have access to such investments.”
Fidelity is also creating an alternatives unit to meet demand for diversification. As noted within recent coverage from P&I: “Given treacherous market conditions and sagging returns for equities and bonds, Fidelity Investments' newest investment unit — Fidelity Diversifying Solutions — is building out its alternative investment lineup to meet investors' need for more investment diversification to provide better returns.”
And, with an eye on "putting the client first", check out Tony Davidow's new book, Goals-Based Investing, which focused on reorienting the investment process of high net worth individuals by aligning portfolios with goals and objectives.
Shifting from domestic to international perspectives, Cushman & Wakefield, a global commercial real estate firm, published a piece on key developments the within India’s real estate sector.
Lastly, with an eye on key global financial developments, check out this inaugural report on allocation to private markets in Switzerland. The main purpose of this study is to better understand how Swiss investment professionals use or intend to use these assets within diversified portfolios. This survey conducted in spring 2022 in Switzerland. The Future of Private Markets in Switzerland and Allocation to Private Markets in Switzerland was launched as a co-joint initiative of CAIA Association and Stableton Financial AG.
