The Holy Grail for investment advisors who hire outside money managers isn’t merely performance but also a consistent investment process, a clear thesis for producing alpha and an ownership structure that places those managers on the same side of the table as advisors and, of course, their end clients.
These managers with skin in the game also need to be available to advisors on multiple platforms and be willing to provide some customization to end clients when it’s called for. Moreover, advisors want managers who stick to their investment process and perform as advertised, regardless of where we are in a market or economic cycle.
As Tim Clift, chief investment strategist at Envestnet | PMC said, “All investment managers want to generate consistent alpha for investors, but very few actually attain this goal.” Finding those consistent, available managers is no easy task, especially in the separately managed account space.
That’s why for 13 years now, Investment Advisor and its partner Envestnet | PMC have researched the SMA space and acknowledged best-in-breed SMA managers as SMA Managers of the Year.
As in the previous 12 years, a selection committee that includes executives from Envestnet | PMC and editors from Investment Advisor chooses the top managers in all the asset classes where advisors use outside managers. The committee also names an overall SMA Manager of the Year — a first among equals of the SMA managers who are winners in their categories — and has for several years also named a Strategist Manager of the Year to honor an individual firm worthy of praise for all its strategies and its excellence in working with advisors to meet client needs.
Finally, reflecting the rapid growth of impact investing among advisors and the clients they serve, an Impact Manager of the Year is chosen with input from Veris Wealth Partners, a pioneer in the impact and sustainable investing space, which partners with Envestnet.