Financial advisors who are seeking ways to efficiently maximize returns and minimize risks can turn to ETF providers to look through the various ETF options now available and hone on the right ones for their client portfolios.
“We meet with thousands of advisors each year and collect models, their models, as we do that work. So for the past twelve months, we’ve analyzed close to 7,000 models. Some interesting things come out of that. One of which I would say in the fixed-income space about 18 months ago we saw advisors have their bond sleeve really leaning pretty heavily towards credit. That movement away from the ‘Agg’ that took place four, five, six years ago was really aggressively taking place about 18 months ago,” Patrick Nolan, Portfolio Strategist for BlackRock, said at the 2018 Morningstar Investment Conference.
Currently, many financial advisors’ fixed-income sleeves are still overweight credit, and the majority have maintained short-durations.
“We’ve got advisor bond sleeves that are low in rate. Now lower in credit risk, and really more in a stability posture I would describe,” Nolan said.
As financial advisors work closely with ETF providers, a provider may suggest ETF options that would help advisors know what options are available. For instance, those who are pursing yields may find credit and fixed-income options through bond ETFs or even dividend-generating strategies through stock ETFs.
“We have to carefully balance how we approach those things,” Nolan added.
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