Disruptive Change Creates New Growth Opportunities – But Only for the Innovators

June 14, 2012 - PRLog -- Disruptive changes in the fund industry, including downward fee pressure, burdensome new regulations, sustained volatility and more intense competition will continue to make it difficult for traditional, actively managed funds to achieve their investment objectives.  But amid all this upheaval, solid opportunities for growth and profitability are emerging for firms that are willing and able to innovate and commit to new strategies and non-traditional asset classes.  

“Our goal with this new offering, which we’re calling Executive Vision, is to step up above the tactical fray and cull out developments that, in our opinion, have the potential to shape and steer the industry’s future direction,” said Lawrence Petrone, kasina’s Director of Research and a veteran fund industry researcher. “We distill these items and our commentary down into a quick and insightful read for senior executives. By focusing on more profitable alternatives to the well worn legacy options, we hope to help forward looking managers seize these chances to take leading positions in the industry.”

The first issue of Executive Vision focuses mainly on windows of opportunity for growth and profitability that are opening in non-traditional corners of the industry. It discusses how firms are innovating by taking fresh approaches to generate sustainable alpha, mitigate systemic risk and/or address investors’ investment outcomes. Some of the highlighted opportunities include:

- Retirement income – Actively managed mutual funds, annuities and managed accounts comprised of yield-focused investments that offer retirees new and creative income options
- Registered alternatives and outcome-oriented products – Allow healthy fees in exchange for minimizing the impact of market meltdowns and delivering definable investment outcomes
- Actively managed emerging and exotic market funds – Although they fall into traditional asset categories, these funds continue to attract investors seeking better economic growth, and carry higher fees to offset their higher operating costs

Some of the firms capitalizing on new, non-traditional opportunities include:

- AQR Capital Management has grown to over $40B in AUM since its founding in 1998 by marketing alternative and innovative investment strategies to advisors and institutional clients
- Windhaven Investment Management has grown to nearly $9B in AUM by providing a proprietary platform of risk-constrained investment models comprised of ETFs
- Jackson National, with its Elite Access annuity product line, offers advisors access to investment vehicles with uncorrelated assets that were previously unavailable to non-institutional investors

These are among the topics discussed in a new series of executive-level briefings launched today by kasina.  The new Executive Vision briefings are tailored to the industry’s ‘C-Suite’ executives, providing forward looking thought leadership on trends with strategic ramifications for the industry. It is being provided free of charge by kasina as an industry service. http://kasina.com/executivevision