Data & Research March 23, 2015

Academic Paper Questions Investment Consultant Value

A recent academic research paper argues that using institutional investment consultants to make fund and portfolio manager choices is “fruitless” when it comes to driving outperformance.
Reported by

Tim Jenkinson, of the University of Oxford Saïd Business School; Howard Jones, also of the University of Oxford Saïd Business School; and Jose Vicente Martinez, of the University of Connecticut, are authors of the paper, which reviews the longstanding practice among institutional investors (including corporate retirement plans) of hiring investment consultants or advisers to drive asset manager decisions.

The research team focuses on U.S. actively managed equity investments, but suggests the findings may apply more widely across asset classes and investment approaches. They also favored U.S. active equity because it is “not only the largest asset class, but provides us with the largest and longest data set.”

For more stories like this, sign up for the PLANADVISERdash daily newsletter.

The researchers cite an earlier paper from 2008, which estimated that 82% of U.S. public plan sponsors use investment consultants, as do 50% of corporate sponsors. Overall, the paper finds that investment consultants’ recommendations for these plan sponsors “are driven largely by soft factors, rather than the funds’ past performance, and that their recommendations have a very significant effect on fund flows. However, we find no evidence that these recommendations add value.”

Interestingly, the researchers find that consultants’ recommendations only correlate weakly with the past performance of a fund manager, while other nonperformance factors correlate much more strongly with consultant recommendations. This suggests that consultants’ recommendations do not merely represent a return-chasing strategy, the researchers note.

“We also find that, other things being equal, larger products attract more recommendations,” the paper finds. “Next we compare consultants’ recommendations of funds with fund flows. We find very significant flows of funds into, and out of, products following changes in recommendations by investment consultants; for instance, attracting (or losing) recommendations from one-third of the investment consultants results, on average, in an increase (or decrease) of around 10%, or $0.8 billion in the size of the investment product within one year.”

The paper also strives to assess the performance of the funds recommended by investment consultants, finding little to suggest investment consultants are guaranteed to improve performance for institutional investors.

“We measure performance both gross and net of fund managers’ fees,” the paper explains. “Starting with returns relative to benchmark, on a value-weighted basis we find no evidence that recommended products significantly outperform other products. However, on an equally-weighted basis, we find that average returns of recommended products are actually around 1% lower than those of other products.”

The researchers suggest this result is confirmed using one-factor, three-factor, and four-factor pricing models, “and the differences using returns against benchmark and factor models are in every case statistically significant.”

“We also measure the performance of products in the one- and two-year period after they have experienced a net increase or decrease in the number of recommendations they receive; we do so in order to test for the possibility that consultants’ recommendations add value in the short term, but then become stale and fail to make a contribution,” the paper explains. “However, there is no evidence that the net increase or decrease in the number of recommendations predicts superior or inferior performance respectively.”

The full paper can be downloaded here. 

Products March 23, 2015

Tangible Retirement Messaging Drives Better Outcomes

A new infographic presented by ShareBuilder 401k, which specializes in low-cost and exchange-traded fund (ETF) driven 401(k) plans, can help plan sponsors and advisers make the case for small annual deferral increases.
Reported by

According to Stuart Robertson, president of ShareBuilder 401k, just a $500 increase in annual savings can result in an extra $110,000 over a 40-year time horizon. Discussing the infographic and underlying savings math with PLANADVISER, Robertson noted that a $500 increase matches the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) deferral limit increase scheduled for plan year 2015.

The elective deferral (contribution) limit for employees who participate in 401(k), 403(b), most 457 plans, and the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan increased from $17,500 to $18,000 for the 2015 plan year. The catch-up contribution limit for employees aged 50 and over also increased $500, from $5,500 to $6,000. Effective January 1, 2015, the limitation on the annual benefit under a defined benefit plan under Section 415(b)(1)(A) remains unchanged at $210,000 (see “Some Context Around 2015 Deferral Limit Increases”).

Want the latest retirement plan adviser news and insights? Sign up for PLANADVISER newsletters.

ShareBuilder’s hypothetical illustration shows the impact of investing an extra $500 per year over a period of 40 years, based on an averaged 7% rate of return in a tax-deferred 401(k) account. The results include the reinvestment of all interest and assumes no distributions or other tax considerations, Robertson explained.

“The deferral limit increase seems fairly minor at first blush, along with the increase in the maximum catch up contribution, which was also $500 for 2015,” Robertson said. “But looking at the math a little closer and thinking long term, there is nothing minor about the increase or the opportunity it presents to retirement plan participants.”

As outlined in the infographic, 10 years of saving an extra $500 per year will lead to extra wealth equivalent to the price of a Caribbean vacation, or about $7,254. In 20 years, the additional $500 per year will result in extra wealth approximately equivalent to a full year’s tuition at a median range college, or about $21,832. Thirty years of this will result in enough extra wealth to cover a new luxury car, or about $51,129.

“If you are a young worker and you only recently entered the workforce, that extra $500 per year over a 40-year career brings an extra $110,000 in ending wealth,” Robertson said. “That’s dramatic, and we encourage sponsors and advisers to use our infographic to help people think about putting away something for retirement in the same way they think about saving up for a house or a car. We want to ask what they can do with each paycheck or even on an annual basis that will move them closer to the end goals.”

Robertson continued by noting relatively few savers are able to consistently hit the IRS deferral limits—especially when it comes to workplace retirement investors at the lower ends of the income scale. But this doesn’t mean the benefits of saving an extra $500 are limited to more affluent retirement savers: minor increases in recurring savings today become significant increases in wealth over long periods of time, regardless of the wealth level, and should be encouraged among all participants, he said.

“One piece of the infographic that really jumps out is the coffee cup icon, and just the note that $500 a year is equivalent to two cups of premium brewed coffee per week,” Robertson said. “It really makes you think about how much extra room there is in your budget to find an extra $500 per year, even when things are tight and you’re not the wealthiest person contributing to a 401(k).”

Robertson concluded by noting the infographic could be a helpful presentation tool to deliver alongside a bonus or merit increase. “You can use it to make the case that this extra money will do so much more if it’s directed into the tax-advantaged savings account, rather than just going into your pocket,” he said.

 More information on the firm is available at www.sharebuilder401k.com. 

«