3 Key Takeaways from the Morningstar Investment Conference

Thursday, June 21st, 2018 and is filed under AI Insight News

Last week AI Insight made their first appearance at the annual Morningstar Investment Conference in Chicago, IL. As we look to expand our capabilities into alternative mutual funds, it was important to learn about the latest trends and developments within the financial industry.

Here are three key takeaways to consider:

• Goals-based financial planning is a growing trend within the advisory space. To help facilitate, advisors can make use of various product sets including liquid alts, interval funds, socially responsible investments, and ETFs. The challenge is in educating clients and applying within a portfolio context as these products can be complex.

• Transparency is the key to gaining client trust. This message needs to be clear to clients – that their interests are ahead of the firm or advisor interests. This is the essence of the DOL rule, which should simply be part of the process regardless. The real premise of investing is in people, not just how you invest their money.

• There’s never been a better time for financial advice considering lower fees, technology integration and the breadth of product offerings available. However, there has been a disconnect between what advisors and investors value within financial goals. To be successful, advisors need to be resourceful with technology in order to provide more efficient and client-centric advice.