If you’re an independent RIA/IAR firm contemplating a better way to manage your clients’ portfolios, you’re not alone. Many financial advisory firm owners seek ways to streamline their operations and produce better client results in volatile market conditions.
The question may be relatively simple, but the answer is relatively complex. Would you and your clients be better off if you delegated investment research and management to a part-time Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO)?
If you are like most financial advisors, the bigger your firm gets, the more hats you have to wear. And eventually, you run out of time and start making compromises that undermine your firm’s success. Perhaps you are already there. You have less and less time marketing your services to prospective clients and managing the assets of your current clients. This is where OCIO investment research comes into play.
In this blog, we’ll explore how an OCIO can be more than an outsourced solution for market research and portfolio management. The OCIO can be an integral part of your team for a fraction of the cost of a full-time CIO.
Outsourced investment research involves delegating the responsibility of market and securities research to an external team of experienced professionals. This outsourcing solution allows independent RIAs and IARs to focus on their core competencies, including planning services to current clients.
Here’s a look at five ways that independent RIAs and IARs are leveraging the services of an OCIO investment research team to improve their clients’ results.
- An OCIO team can provide comprehensive market analysis, including macroeconomic trends, industry-specific insights, and global market conditions. This helps you keep current clients informed while you make better decisions for their portfolios.
- OCIOs conduct rigorous analyses on individual securities, such as stocks, bonds, ETFs, and alternative investments. They assess financial health, stability, management, risk profiles, and growth potential to identify suitable investment options for your clients.
- OCIOs can also assist you with crafting customized asset allocation strategies tailored to your client’s financial goals and risk tolerances. The OCIOs can optimize the performance of your client’s portfolios while managing the risk of large losses at the same time.
- Another service that OCIOs can provide is continually monitoring the performance of your client’s portfolios. They provide regular reports and updates, so you are always up-to-date if you get an unscheduled call from one of your best clients.
- Compliance and Reporting: Ensuring regulatory compliance can be an important OCIO responsibility. Outsourced portfolio research must comply with industry regulations, reducing your risk of fines and administrative actions. OCIOs can also assist in generating accurate client reports for transparency and accountability purposes.
Making the Critical Decision to Outsource Investment Research to an OCIO
There are many reasons why it may make sense to outsource investment research to an OCIO team of professionals. Following are some of the most important considerations for making this game-changing decision:
- Leveraging an OCIO’s specialized knowledge and experience can augment your in-house investment research capabilities, allowing you to tap into a broader pool of financial expertise.
- By entrusting research responsibilities to an OCIO, you free up valuable time to focus on current revenue-producing client relationships and adding new clients..
- Outsourcing eliminates the need to allocate internal resources for conducting investment research and monitoring portfolios, which can reduce operating costs.
- OCIOs often have access to various investment options and strategies, enhancing your ability to diversify client portfolios more effectively.
- An OCIO can aid in risk management by providing thorough analysis and monitoring of your client’s investments.
- OCIOs are well-versed in compliance requirements, ensuring that your investment decisions align with regulatory standards, and reducing potential risks due to compliance.
- As your practice grows, an OCIO can adapt to your changing needs, accommodating client requirements, in particular as your average asset amounts increase in size.
- Outsourcing investment research allows you to offer your clients a more tailored, client-centric experience because your OCIO can focus on their unique financial goals and risk tolerance.
- Utilizing the resources and capabilities of an OCIO can give you a competitive edge in the marketplace, demonstrating a commitment to excellence in portfolio management.
- Offloading research tasks to a trusted OCIO can alleviate the pressures of staying current on market trends and making timely investment decisions.
Get to Know Cornerstone Portfolio Research
Cornerstone Portfolio Research is a team of dedicated CFA® Charterholders that serves as your investment research partner. Unlike other OCIO firms that dictate how you should operate, we adapt to your existing systems so you don’t have to reengineer your internal operations or client processes. We also partner with you to keep your investment philosophy intact so your current clients do not see dramatic changes.
Our OCIO firm does the heavy lifting for you, leaving you with the bandwidth to expand your firm and deepen current client relationships. Our resources allow you to focus on what you do best: building new client relationships and maintaining existing client relationships.
We serve as your back-office support team for all investment-related services and activities. All of our investment recommendations are consistent with your philosophy and tax-efficient. You can expect weekly updates from us and virtual meetings that include your clients when appropriate.
Our streamlined onboarding process lets you focus on the activities that make you the most money.
Connect with us and discover what it means to have a truly collaborative research and investment management partner at Cornerstone Portfolio Research.
