The Markets July 10, 2012

Non-U.S. Equities Catch the Eye of About a Third of Advisers

Other popular asset classes advisers are considering include non-U.S. fixed income, alternatives, real assets and commodities, Cogent Research found.
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Advisers’ appetite for equities appears to be returning, with 35% planning to increase their exposure to non-U.S. public equities over the next two years, 26% planning to move more of their assets into U.S. public equities, and 11% eyeing private equities.

Interest in foreign fixed income is also strong, with 28% of advisers planning to increase their exposure to non-U.S. fixed income. Another 29% say they are planning to increase their holdings in other alternatives, with 28% apiece looking at real estate investment trusts (REITs) and real assets/commodities.

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Advisers seem to be loosening their grip on fixed income, cash and cash equivalents, with 31% planning to decrease their U.S. fixed-income holdings, and 21% looking to ease up on cash.

 

Deals & People July 10, 2012

Tactical Allocation Group Hires Sales Director

Tactical Allocation Group LLC (TAG) appointed Paul C. Wharf regional managing director and continued its expansion with a new office in Chicago.

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In his new position, Wharf will manage business development in the Eastern region, which includes approximately half of TAG’s current portfolio assets. He also will work to develop new business relationships for the firm on a national level.  

Wharf has more than 22 years of financial services experience at institutions such as RBS/Citizens, AllianceBernstein and Fidelity Investments. He has raised more than $12 billion and achieved top producer and chairman’s awards. At RBS/Citizens Wharf managed the firm’s fee-based platform, where he helped to increase assets from $300 million to more than $1.6 billion within two years.  

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TAG, a registered investment adviser with more than $1.5 billion in assets, has one of the longest track records in global tactical asset allocation and champions this approach through the exclusive use of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The company has been a trailblazer in this industry from its Detroit ? Michigan headquarters.  

“We’re proud of our Midwest roots,” said James F. Peters, Jr., TAG’s chief executive, “and actually, it helps our investment process, as we stay far away from the ‘groupthink’ of Wall Street and stick to our knitting with thorough, unbiased analysis of the market.” 

Charles Schwab, Envestnet, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, RBC, UBS and Wells Fargo have opened their distribution channels to TAG’s asset management portfolios.  

“Investors are looking for a different solution that offers transparency, cost controls and overall performance,” Peters said. “We are excited to have Paul Wharf join TAG and have enjoyed working with him for the last couple of years while he was at RBS/Citizens. We witnessed his extraordinary commitment and understanding of the benefits of our tactical investment strategy.”  

TAG’s Chicago office will provide a base from which it can continue to build the sales part of its organization. “We look forward to working more closely with our distribution partners given the investment in our sales organization,” said Gene Katz, officer of chief development. “It’s exciting that TAG operates at the crossroads of our industry’s two great growth stories: tactical asset management and ETFs.” 

 

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