WrapManager's Wealth Management Blog
When life changes, we can help you thoughtfully respond.

Performance Reporting: Does It Really Matter?

Posted by Doug Hutchinson | CFA®, Director of Research and Trading

July 10, 2018

When you’re validating a money manager recommendation, chances are high that you’re looking for information regarding the managers performance against its own benchmark over time. While it’s up to the manager to provide this information to a third-party reporting database, many managers elect to do so, in part because it helps with transparency of their product and allows users to review the fundamentals of their strategy and to compare results alongside the appropriate chosen benchmark. Of the money managers that choose to report their performance, they typically report the investment performance of their products to institutional databases such as Morningstar, eVestment, and Informa Investment Solutions, among others.

Subscribers to these databases can then compare the reported performance of thousands of different investment products and use custom filters and searches to narrow down a potential search for a product that best fits what they are looking for. By comparing managers who report to a database like this, a researcher may be able to whittle a universe of hundreds or even thousands of products down to just a handful of strategies that meet the investor’s specific criteria.

But what if an investment manager doesn’t report the performance of their products to a database?

[+] Read More

Money Manager Research

How to Research a Money Manager

April 10, 2018
The age of the internet has given us a lot of good information, and it’s made research easier for the average person. Wondering who won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2017, what happens to muscles as you age, or how to train a cat? The answers are just a few keystrokes away. As information becomes more and more accessible, it’s become easier and easier to learn how to DIY thousands of activities that used to be regulated to the realm of learned experts (ie. car repair, investment management, and self-diagnoses). Even for those things that you choose to outsource to an expert – and there are more than a few things that are still worth outsourcing to a trustworthy expert – there is a huge amount of power in understanding (at least the basics) how their processes work. [+] Read More

When is the Right Time to Hire a Tactical Money Manager?

January 19, 2018
Let’s start with a more basic question: what is a tactical money manager? To answer that, an investor must first understand “tactical asset allocation,” which is an active management portfolio strategy that aims to capitalize on certain anomalies and/or events in the markets. Many tactical money managers try to actively trade around such anomalies to gain a leg-up and produce what’s known as ‘alpha’ in a portfolio. Often times, the tactical money manager sees a situation in the market – whether it be bullish or bearish – and attempts to navigate a portfolio through it, with the aim of making a profit or avoiding a loss. In many cases, the manager may allocate back to the original asset mix once the ‘event’ passes, but not always. [+] Read More

Presenting WrapManager's Q4 2017 Top International Equity Money Manager Picks Report

November 30, 2017
While the United States represents the largest single contributor to global GDP, 75% of the world’s GDP is taking place across our borders in other countries. That means that from an investing standpoint, an international equity strategy can help diversify your portfolio and take advantage of the many investment opportunities available outside of the U.S. Though we have seen that historically there have been market cycles where international equities outperform U.S. equities[1], there can be a tendency for many American investors to have a home bias that favors domestic investment and largely ignores non-U.S. opportunities. [+] Read More

Announcing: WrapManager's Q3 2017 Top Equity Money Manager Picks

July 26, 2017
There are thousands of money manager strategies out there, but not every money manager is a good fit for every investor. If you’re trying to find the money managers or investment strategies that are right for you – and that could help you reach your investment goals – you might feel totally overwhelmed going through all the different options. We’d like to help clear some of the confusion for you. Each quarter WrapManager’s Investment Policy Committee (IPC) compiles a short list of money manager picks in order to help investors like you discover and evaluate different money manager strategies. These investment strategies encompass a wide range of asset classes and investment disciplines so you are introduced to as many new strategies as possible. This quarter, the WrapManager IPC has selected four strategies. [+] Read More

3 New Money Manager Strategies to Consider for 2nd Quarter 2017

April 26, 2017
The WrapManager Top Equity Money Manager Picks Report for second quarter 2017 includes three different money managers with diverse strategies. As we do every quarter, the WrapManager Investment Policy Committee (IPC) has selected three money manager strategies to highlight as an opportunity for you to learn about money managers that you may not be familiar with, as well strategy types that may be of interest to you. This quarter, the IPC has selected three strategies to highlight, including: A concentrated growth approach seeking to invest in market leading companies. A small cap equity strategy that focuses on stock selection. A mid cap value portfolio that seeks to invest in companies with favorable valuations. [+] Read More

What's the Difference Between Financial Advisors and Money Managers?

January 25, 2017
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in December 2015 and updated January 2017. While financial advisors and money managers have many commonalities, and are complementary to one another, the two jobs are very different and are rarely held by one individual. Financial advisors – also referred to as wealth managers, financial planners and investment advisors – understand the specifics of their client’s financial lives and create a detailed, comprehensive investment plan that is best positioned to help you reach your financial goals. Money managers on the other hand spend their time focusing on successfully managing the strategies that your portfolio is invested in. WrapManager's eBook, Guide to Researching Money Managers, discusses this topic in more detail, but we believe your financial advisor and your money managers should be different people. This allows for additional checks and balances that wouldn’t exist if one person performed both jobs. After all, no self-respecting chef would disparage their own food! [+] Read More

Announcing: WrapManager's Q1 2017 Top Equity Money Manager Picks

January 10, 2017
There are thousands of money managers out there. If you’re trying to figure out which one (or ones) is right for you to help you reach your investment goals, you may feel overwhelmed by all the options. Where do you begin researching and what criteria do you consider? We’d like to help. Each quarter, WrapManager’s Investment Policy Committee (IPC) compiles a list of top money manager picks in order to help investors discover and evaluate money manager strategies. These encompass a wide range of asset classes and investment disciplines. [+] Read More

Announcing: WrapManager's Q4 2016 Top Equity Money Manager Picks

November 10, 2016
There are thousands of money managers out there. If you’re trying to figure out which one (or ones) is right for you to help you reach your investment goals, you may feel overwhelmed by all the options. Where do you begin researching and what criteria do you consider? We’d like to help. Each quarter, WrapManager’s Investment Policy Committee (IPC) compiles a list of top money manager picks in order to help investors discover and evaluate money manager strategies. These encompass a wide range of asset classes and investment disciplines. [+] Read More

Announcing: WrapManager's Q3 2016 Top Equity Money Manager Picks

July 18, 2016
There are thousands of money managers out there. If you’re trying to figure out which one (or ones) is right for you to help you reach your investment goals, you may feel overwhelmed by all the options. Where do you begin researching and what criteria do you consider? We’d like to help. Each quarter, WrapManager’s Investment Policy Committee (IPC) compiles a list of top money manager picks in order to help investors discover and evaluate money manager strategies. These encompass a wide range of asset classes and investment disciplines. [+] Read More