Symptoms and Signs

Abstract

Application to the professional disciplines of investment management is essential to the long-term success of the business side of investment management, but the priorities of business threaten to overwhelm the professional priorities, doing great harm to the profession. Markets are increasingly dominated by institutional investors who are informed, persistent, and aggressive. The author argues that the prospects of outperforming other professionals, particularly with high-turnover operations-after fees and trading costs and taxes-are becoming ever dimmer, particularly for large institutional index-huggers (increasingly the norm). Consequently, continuing to tout the ability to beat the market is to court disillusionment for clients and advisors. According to the author, now is the time-before it's too late-to reposition the professional proposition as investment counseling: defining the appropriate objective for each client and designing the portfolio structure most likely to achieve the client's objective.