Services Tags: Investment Consulting

Evan Frazier Speaking at Institutional Investor Central Sub-Advisory Roundtable 11/19

On Tuesday, November 19, Evan Frazier, CFA, CAIA will be speaking at the 3rd Annual Central Sub-Advisory Roundtable hosted by Institutional Investor in Chicago.

Evan will be leading a think tank discussion entitled, “A Peek at Future Interest Rate Environments” with several investment professionals.

Through expert-led panel discussions, presentations, guest speakers, and live market research, the roundtable will bring together leading participants in the sub-advisory landscape to assess how the investment objectives of institutions are changing and how firms that offer sub-advised strategies can respond to these needs. For more information, please visit the event website.

Impact of SEC Rule Changes for Money Market Funds Regulatory Update

Over the past year, the SEC has been phasing in regulatory changes for money market funds resulting from adopted amendments to Rule 2a-7. These amendments were passed on July 12, 2023, in response to the stress that money market funds faced at the start of the pandemic in March 2020 when investors rapidly pulled more than $130 billion dollars from money market funds. As a result, the Treasury and Federal Reserve had to step in to provide emergency liquidity facilities to shore up the short-term funding market. The changes primarily focus on institutional prime and tax-exempt money market funds, which have historically been more susceptible to investor runs.

This regulatory update summarizes these changes as well as which fund types are impacted.

Luis Sierra Speaking at New America Alliance Chicago Allocators Connection Summit 10/29

On Tuesday, October 29, Luis Sierra, CFA will be speaking at New America Alliance’s Chicago Roadshow, Allocators Connection Summit.

Luis will be judging a session entitled, “The Elevator Pitch,” described as follows: Six managers representing various strategies deliver a 5-minute elevator pitch to a panel of allocators, who then provide feedback on both the pitch and pre-submitted marketing materials. He will also be joining a panel entitled, “Navigating Key Metrics and Macroeconomic Headwinds: A Consultant and Family Office Guide for Emerging Private Equity and Venture Managers,” described as follows: In an era marked by economic uncertainty and evolving market dynamics, this session brings together leading consultants and fund of funds managers to address the pressing challenges faced by emerging private equity and venture capital managers. Our expert panelists will provide actionable strategies for navigating fundraising hurdles, optimizing portfolio performance, and meeting the expectations of limited partners (LPs) in today’s competitive landscape.

Founded in 1999, the New America Alliance is comprised of a 501(c)6 and a 501(c)3 national organization committed to building on American Latino success to forge a stronger America. NAA leadership and members leverage their influence to increase capital access for women and minority-owned firms, and to accelerate diverse leadership in entrepreneurship, corporate America, and public service. For more information, please visit their website.

The Growing Popularity of Continuation Funds

Historically, the private equity secondary market has been used by limited partners (“LPs”) to sell exposures at the end of their lives and as such contained only tail-end exposures. Selling these lingering exposures to private equity funds allowed LPs to clean up their balance sheets and fueled the growth of secondary private equity funds within the broader private equity space. As the market evolved, however, higher-quality assets began transacting as investors started to use secondary markets as a useful portfolio management tool. More recently, general partners (“GPs”) have come to occupy an increasing percentage of the overall market. In 2023, about $110 billion in volume traded in private equity secondaries, with about 50% of the total transaction activity represented by GP-led transactions.

In this newsletter, we provide an overview of continuation funds, including their growth, structure, transaction requirements, and considerations for investors.

David Hernandez Speaking at NASP Consultant and Manager Retreat 10/17

On Thursday, October 17, David Hernandez, CFA will be speaking at the sixth annual Consultant and Manager Retreat hosted by the National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP) in Dallas, Texas.

David will be joining the Consultant Outlook Discussion with fellow industry professionals. The Annual Consultant & Manager Retreat is an opportunity for institutional consultants to identify talented diverse-owned asset management firms. Concurrently, it provides an effective means for diverse-owned managers to better understand the critical role of institutional consultants and how best to engage with them. For more information, please visit the event webpage.

1Q 2024 Market Insights Video

This video is a recording of a live webinar held April 25 by Marquette’s research team analyzing the first quarter of 2024 across the economy and various asset classes and themes we’ll be monitoring in the coming months.

Our quarterly Market Insights series examines the primary asset classes we cover for clients including the U.S. economy, fixed income, U.S. and non-U.S. equities, hedge funds, real assets, and private markets, with commentary by our research analysts and directors.

Sign up for research alerts to be invited to future webinars and notified when we publish new videos. If you have any questions, please send us an email.

Marquette Speaking at Institutional Investor 2024 Roundtable for Consultants & Institutional Investors 10/9

On Wednesday, October 9, Nat Kellogg, CFA, Dave Smith, CFA, Greg Leonberger, FSA, EA, MAAA, FCA, and Frank Valle, CFA, CAIA will be speaking at Institutional Investor’s 2024 Roundtable for Consultants & Institutional Investors in Chicago.

On the 9th, Nat will be joining a panel entitled, “Consultant CEO/CIO Perspective: Adapting to an Evolving Market & the Growing Scope of Asset Owner Needs,” described as follows: Following on from the consultant market overview, we now hear insights and perspectives from the heads of leading investment consultants. With over 85% of U.S. institutional investors using investment consultants (95% among public pension funds) and the top 20 consultants dominating with 85% of the market share (up from 66% just 10 years ago) according to Coalition Greenwich, advisory market dynamics continue to shift. But what does this mean for consultants and how they work with asset owners and managers?

  • How is your role as investment consultant evolving? In what ways is the scope of work with asset owners increasing and how does this vary between the different types of asset owner? To what degree – and in what ways – do you see your role as a partner to asset owners changing?
  • What are notable investment trends and challenges within the different asset owner channels? What requests are you getting from asset owner clients around geopolitics/ESG/DEI – incorporating/excluding what from portfolios?
  • How are consultant – manager dynamics evolving? Does consolidation within consultancies give greater leverage in fee negotiation with managers? To what degree is the growing manager entry into the OCIO market impacting relationships with consultants? Is the balance changing from one of collaboration to one more competitive in nature?
  • Who are the winners and losers in a consolidating market? What is the role of the smaller, specialized consultants? What is their value proposition? How to compete with the top twenty who dominate market share? Where’s the opportunity within the market evolution?
  • Peer-to-peer collaboration: what types of strategic partnership (if any) are you doing with other consultants?
  • To what degree are you expanding into the RIA channel?
  • Parting thoughts: how optimistic are you about 2025? What will be your main focus for the year? Challenges? What can the institutional investment industry expect in 2025? Where is the industry headed over the next 5 years?

Dave will be moderating a session entitled, “Debate: Active vs. Passive – Time to Reassess?” described as follows: With capital flows shifting from active to passive having made the markets less efficient, and with market observers commenting that active strategies tend to outperform in down or highly volatile markets, is it time to revisit the age-old debate of active vs. passive? Has active underperformance been unfairly overstated? What are the scenarios/environments in which each strategy outperforms? Are the lines between active and passive blurring? How to use the advantages of both in a balanced approach? In this session, we debate these questions along with the merits and disadvantages of each option. Are you ‘Team Active’ or ‘Team Passive’ or ‘Team Balanced’ and will the views put forward persuade you to reconsider? (And to what extent will this become moot with AI?)

Frank will be the session leader for “Think Tank Networking: Is Your Public Fixed Income Strategy Robust Enough? Examining the Understated & Overlooked Opportunities Within the ‘New Fixed Income Regime’” described as follows:
After being savaged by long duration bonds in 2022, are asset owners a little gun-shy today? After a great drawdown and now that rates are back up, are there enough truly diversified underlying assets in portfolios? Are portfolios underexposed in high-quality bonds? How have allocators been adapting to the “new fixed income regime”? Where is capital being deployed and what are expectations in this higher rate environment? How are approaches to traditional fixed income changing, particularly with possible rate cuts on the horizon? Are opportunities being overlooked or understated? What are the new emerging strategies and opportunities to take advantage of in public fixed income? And what should allocators be watching as we close out 2024 and head into 2025? 

Greg will be moderating a panel discussion entitled, “Being Creative with Pension Surplus in a New Environment,” described as follows: Today’s pension environment is drastically different from what it was in 2008 when pensions were last overfunded. Today’s higher inflation and interest rate environment has changed conversations about what to do with surpluses while they exist. Beyond using OCIOs and PRTs, how are plan sponsors optimizing the surplus? Using fixed income to de-risk plans? Introducing cash balance plans? Offering members healthcare benefits? In this discussion, we examine various strategic options for surpluses, their pros and cons for sponsors and members, and the implementation considerations. We also address the question of when to spend vs. maintain a surplus.

The Roundtable for Consultants & Institutional Investors will offer valuable insights and a forum for critical exchanges with peers. For more information, please visit the event webpage.

Mind the Gap

Any ride on the London Tube reminds riders to mind the gap: Beware the space between train car and platform as you board and depart the train. A recent trip to London brought this phrase back to me and it seemed like a perfect description of how to look at financial markets this year, with the “gap” serving as the difference between expectations and reality, most particularly in terms of interest rate cuts.

In our market preview, we identified the Fed pivot as a primary driver of financial markets this year, most especially how expectations of cuts would line up with actual Fed policy. Going into the year, the market had priced in at least five cuts, which helped fuel a furious fourth quarter rally and investor optimism for 2024. One quarter in, however, those expectations have been turned on their head. Hotter than expected inflation and jobs reports in March have created a “higher for longer” narrative with the market expecting no more than two cuts during the second half of the year. Some economists have taken an even more bearish stance, suggesting there will not be any cuts. Overall, rates rose across the curve during the quarter as current U.S. debt levels sustained the long end of the curve while the short end was relatively unmoved.

Intuitively, many investors would expect such a big change in rate expectations to weigh heavily on markets, both equities and bonds. In that sense, equity performance was surprising during the first quarter, as the upward trend from 2023 continued. Predictably, bonds suffered as rates rose, but below investment grade sectors were profitable. To be fair, though, it should be noted that equities have endured a difficult start to this month, down 4.6% through April 22 as the higher for longer narrative has gained momentum.¹

Going forward, what should we watch for from asset classes as we venture into a market environment that looks much different than what we were expecting only three months ago?

Luis Sierra Speaking at 2024 529 Conference 9/30

On Monday, September 30th, Luis Sierra, CFA, will be speaking at the annual 529 Conference hosted by ISS Market Intelligence in Orlando, Florida.

Luis will be presenting a session entitled, “Structuring & Evaluating the Investment Lineup,” addressing:

  • Investment structure in philosophy and in practice
  • Defining key terms and differentiating factors
  • Investment types and management style trends
  • New asset classes, trends in selection, and review of fee types

The 529 conference brings together the entire 529 and ABLE ecosystem and includes critical conversation and debate surrounding the latest federal and state legislative developments, product enhancements, investment trends, marketing campaigns, distribution strategies, operational initiatives, consumer insights, and regulatory and compliance announcements.

For more information, please visit the 529 Conference website.

Evan Frazier Speaking at Portfolio Summits 2024 Fiduciary Investor Central Summit 9/12

On Thursday, September 12, Evan Frazier, CFA, CAIA will be speaking at the inaugural Fiduciary Investor Central Summit hosted by Portfolio Summits in Chicago.

Evan will be moderating the “Diversifying Your Portfolio” panel, described as follows: The first principle of investing is not to put all your eggs in one basket. While this sentiment is valuable, it can be difficult to effectively diversify your portfolio when risk and return in each asset class is ever-changing. Hear from investors about how they effectively diversify their portfolios. Learn about what led them to each strategic decision and how they keep up with market changes.

The Fiduciary Investor Central Summit will bring together 100+ accredited institutional investors based across the Midwest for a day of insightful panel discussions, presentations, Q&A, and networking. For more information, visit the event webpage.