Many firms assume they don’t need a process for custodianship notifications of UGMA/UTMA (Uniform Gifts to Minors Act/Uniform Transfers to Minors Act) accounts. While all this is technically true, the practice is beginning to change. Some feel acting proactively is a sign of integrity. Others feel it’s only a matter of time until regulations mandate compliance. No matter the reason, confirming appropriate ownership, maintaining accurate books and records, and promoting asset retention are all positive outcomes.
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Investors need fund managers that can deliver optimal performance regardless of market conditions—something that has become increasingly difficult to achieve in recent years. Many managers may be so focused on the search for alpha that they miss an opportunity to add to their returns through tax-efficient investment strategies. Taxes are among the most influential portfolio performance factors, and as investors become increasingly tax-aware, they expect their managers to optimize their tax positions.
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From role-based training to regulatory requirements, eLearning programs are developed to solve a variety of needs. Compliance programs in particular contain vital information for employees to ensure their understanding of key concepts as well as their role and responsibilities at the firm. Given the importance of this type of training and regulatory requirements, it’s imperative that employees are actively engaged. Here are ten recommended features and functionalities to optimize your compliance training.
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Recent years have seen explosive growth in the retail market for alternative investments, or “Retail alts” in the shorthand of the industry. Once the domain of sophisticated, wealthy qualified investors, the alternatives marketplace is being demystified and democratized. According to RIA Intel, around 45% of private wealth advisors allocate some of their client assets to alternatives.
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Direct indexation and environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing aren’t as popular with financial advisors as industry news coverage would suggest—just two in five advisors have incorporated ESG into a client’s portfolio and only three in 10 advisors have used direct or custom indexing strategies with clients, according to our advisor research conducted in association with Horsesmouth.
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Asset allocators, whether they invest in hedge funds, private equity, or other managed accounts and comingled funds, have to process a massive number of documents as a byproduct of those investments. Portfolios with 100 private investments receive an average of 4,000 documents annually from fund managers, including transaction and capital call notices, valuation statements and financial statements. These documents need to be immediately categorized and sorted, with their information captured and made accessible as needed. Manually processing these documents—a time-consuming endeavor that carries substantial risk for errors—is a major roadblock to producing a consolidated view of portfolio holdings.
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Municipal securities are an important part of the fixed-income market. While small, at $4.2 trillion compared with the U.S. bond market at $52.9 trillion, municipal bonds are a critical financing vehicle for cities, towns and states. The lion’s share of municipal financing is for large, long-lived assets such as roads, bridges, hospitals and schools.
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The flurry of M&A activity in the asset management sector in recent years has been widely reported. Institutional Investor says that “firms engaged in a record level of M&A transactions last year,” with a 50% increase in the number of deals over 2020. PwC called the 2021 market “scorching hot.” The opportunities to grow assets, drive efficiency, access new technology, and break into new products and markets continue to be powerful motivators to seek out partnerships that make sense.
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