Wealth Management

Direct Indexing

New portfolio customization solutions, along with recent changes to custodial platforms, enable wealth managers to customize and scale investor portfolios.

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Jared F. Baucom

Jared F. Baucom

Managing Director, Global Sales & Marketing

Portfolio Customization Hits Retail Wealth Management

As fractional shares and the disappearance of brokerage commissions have removed barriers to personalized portfolio solutions, direct indexing has come to the fore, opening personalized portfolio possibilities.

Big players are acquiring fintech capabilities and new separately managed accounts (SMAs) are hitting the market. Is direct indexing a tax-efficient way for high-net-worth (HNW) investors to invest or a broader entrance to mass customization of wealth management? Is now the time to explore whether to take part in this industry movement?

We can help you answer these questions and more.

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Learn more about how our consulting services can help you.

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Wealth Management

Subject Matter Experts

Bing Waldert

Bing Waldert

Managing Director, U.S. Research

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Bing Waldert

Bing Waldert

Managing Director, U.S. Research

Bing Waldert leads Cerulli’s U.S. Research team comprising seven research practices that cover all elements of the U.S. asset management, wealth management, and retirement markets. He has authored Cerulli reports on the wealth management industry, high-net-worth market, the annuity industry, and retirement markets. He is a frequent board-level and C-suite speaker and well-regarded industry thought leader. He has spoken in front of the Investment Company Institute (ICI), the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC), the Investments and Wealth Institute (IWI), and the Money Management Institute (MMI).

He has worked on client projects on emerging manager expansion strategies, independent registered investment advisors (RIAs), multi-family offices (MFOs), investment platforms, and the outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) industry. In addition, he has advised multiple private equity firms on acquisitions in the wealth management space.

Full biography here.

Brendan Powers, CFA

Brendan Powers, CFA

Director

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Brendan Powers, CFA

Brendan Powers, CFA

Director

Brendan is a member of Cerulli’s Product Development practice, which focuses on trends related to asset managers’ product development and management functions. This broadly includes assessing the opportunity for product development, evaluating emerging product trends, and understanding distribution and product positioning for investment products across retail and institutional channels.

Prior to joining Cerulli, Brendan worked as a Senior Client Associate at Eaton Vance Management, focusing primarily on the firm’s exchange funds.

Full biography here.

Daniil Shapiro, CFA

Daniil Shapiro, CFA

Director

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Daniil Shapiro, CFA

Daniil Shapiro, CFA

Director

Daniil is part of Cerulli’s Product Development practice, where he works on the identification, analysis, and reporting of asset management industry trends with a focus on exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and alternative investments.

Prior to joining Cerulli Associates, Daniil was part of the Product Management and Business Intelligence teams with the MainStay Funds, part of New York Life Investment Management. At MainStay, Daniil supported sales efforts via fund and ETF competitive analysis, product research, and development of marketing materials, as well as performance reporting. Before New York Life, Daniil was part of the risk management practice at Accenture, and held risk and compliance roles at HSBC’s investment bank.

Full biography here.

Scott Smith

Scott Smith

Director

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Scott Smith

Scott Smith

Director

With more than 20 years of financial services industry experience, Scott leads Cerulli’s research efforts focused on investor behavior and advisory relationships. In his time at Cerulli, he has authored more than two dozen in-depth reports on topics ranging from wholesale distribution to digital advice platforms. His research helps Cerulli’s clients understand how to optimize their platforms given the evolving demand for financial advice.

Scott started his career wearing a headset at Putnam Investments’ service center in 1996, before moving to more strategic roles at MFS Investment Management starting in 2000, and then to Cerulli in 2007. In addition, he currently serves as member of the CFP Board’s Digital Advice Working Group, and as a judge for the wealthmanagement.com Industry Awards.

Full biography here.

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Strategic Consulting

Understand where to allocate resources to achieve your objectives. We can help you determine which initiatives are likely to be successful and those that may not achieve the desired effect. In an increasingly competitive market, our objectivity and experience can help you to advance your firm’s unique strengths.

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