Press Coverage

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Karen Harding, a partner in the private wealth practice group at NEPC in Boston, MA, says services high-net-worth clients should consider, in addition to asset management, include financial and estate planning, tax strategy, financial reporting, philanthropic advisory services, property management, household management, aviation management, and financial education and assistance for family members.

“While most firms do not offer all of these services, they are able to outsource to other firms to ensure that the client has their needs met,” she says.

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Harding adds that high-net-worth clients should consider whether or not an advisory firm has adequate resources and a team of professionals with the technical skills and qualifications required to do the job well.

“Make sure that an advisor has plenty of experience working with clients in similar situations and is trustworthy and personable,” she says. “Do not underestimate the importance of a good working relationship.”

Click here to continue reading the full U.S. News & World Report article.

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There are also conversations among U.S. plans on what constitutes an appropriate interest rate hedge, since it “now takes less dollars to achieve the same interest rate hedge,” said Aaron Chastain, Atlanta-based senior consultant at NEPC LLC.

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NEPC’s Mr. Chastain is also seeing some clients reducing commitment sizes but not stopping investments altogether. They “definitely don’t want to eliminate those relationships (with fund managers) for a shorter-term market event in terms of an asset allocation perspective,” he said.

Click here to continue reading the full Pensions & Investments article.

Stocks pushed higher in the final hour of New York trading, with a rally in megacaps like Apple Inc. and Tesla Inc. driving a rebound that followed the worst weekly rout for the market since mid-June.

Major equity benchmarks had a tough time finding direction Monday as traders geared for another super-sized US rate increase amid fears on whether the Federal Reserve could overtighten and raise the odds of a hard landing. Treasury 10-year yields hovered near 3.5% while the two-year rate, which is more sensitive to imminent policy moves, hit the highest since 2007.

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“The question to focus on isn’t whether the Fed will hike rates by 75 basis points or 100 basis points,” said Phillip Nelson, head of asset allocation at NEPC. “What we’re looking for is how aggressive Powell will be in the next six to 12 months. The messaging we get in the next few weeks could be a bigger data point and a shock to investors.”

Click here to continue reading the full Bloomberg article.

Nearly half of large-cap U.S. stock-picking funds beat the S&P 500 during the brutal selloff in the first half of the year, putting active managers on pace for their best year since 2009.

Bruised by sky-high inflation and rising interest rates, the S&P 500 fell 20% on a total return basis, which includes dividends as well as price changes, in the first six months of 2022. That was the index’s worst first half in data going back to 1988, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

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“In the first half, active managers being compared against the market may have benefited from the environment of monetary tightening as the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates”, said Tim McCusker, chief investment officer at investment consulting firm NEPC.

“That’s a helpful thing for active managers,” he said. “Instead of money just flooding into equity markets and pushing all assets higher, you’re starting to see some differentiation.”

Click here to continue reading the full Wall Street Journal article.