CINCINNATI, OHIO – January 8, 2020 – Ultimus Fund Solutions® (Ultimus®) today shares insights from a panel discussion with registered fund experts (via video link) during a recently-hosted influencer event in New York. The panel, entitled “Why Mutual Funds Remain Relevant Today”, was moderated by Managing Editor Diana Britton of WealthManagement.com, and featured James Tamposi, a Senior Analyst at Cerulli Associates, and Pat Newcomb, the Director of Benchmark™ Research at FUSE Research Network. The third panelist was Alma Piscitello, Executive Vice President of Relationship Management at Ultimus.
“When discussing trends in the marketplace, institutions generally make vehicle decisions based on costs,” said Tamposi. “A larger institution will directly allocate to a mutual fund to satisfy a specific objective that may include enhancing liquidity, sharing administrative costs, or counteracting the cumbersome liquidation process of separate accounts in the rest of the portfolio.”
During the event, it was noted that the use of separate accounts is more prevalent at the larger AUM levels, and that many organizations see the mutual fund option as the more efficient structure to manage their retail consumer base and streamline the back-office processing of those types of customer accounts.
Newcomb added, “From a retail perspective, we are seeing advisers increasing their use of asset allocation models of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), as well as asset managers rolling out their own model portfolios to meet this rising demand.”
During this thought leadership panel session, participants discussed a variety of considerations for investment management product development that included:
- Institutional and professional buyers who are changing the landscape
- How fee pressures are impacting fund creation decisions
- Outsourcing operations can be beneficial in terms of cost savings and focus for managers
- The value of sub-advisory opportunities
- How to engage with home office decision-makers
- Other wrappers that can complement mutual fund lineups
“Mutual funds are still relevant and showing up in different formats, including sub-advisory relationships and a variety of co-mingled funds,” said Piscitello. “This flexibility benefits managers since they are constantly determining the right product mix for their investors to stay relevant and competitive.”
LEARN MORE:
- Listen to the panel conversation HERE.
- Thinking of Launching a Mutual Fund? Visit us HERE.
- See links to two recent WealthManagement.com articles below:
—Trade Fee Wars
—For Some RIAs, $0 Trades May Bring More Pain Than Gain
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About Ultimus
Ultimus Fund Solutions (Ultimus) is a leading provider of full-service fund administration, accounting, and investor solutions to support the launching and servicing of registered funds, private funds, and public plans. The company also offers customized structures designed for the unique needs of pensions, endowments, foundations, and other large institutions. Ultimus’ deep commitment to excellence is achieved through investments in best-in-class technology, compliance programs, organization-wide cyber security efforts, and hiring seasoned professionals.
Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio with offices in other major cities such as Chicago and New York, Ultimus employs more than 750 seasoned accountants, attorneys, paralegals, application developers, fund administrators, compliance specialists, and many others with years of experience in the financial services industry. Servicing over 1,200 total traditional and alternative funds, Ultimus helps investment managers and fund families flourish in today’s increasingly sophisticated and dynamic investment landscape. For more information, visit www.ultimusfundsolutions.com.
