Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and mutual funds are far more commonly recognised and considered among investors worldwide, whereas Separately Managed Accounts (SMAs) are often overlooked as an investment option. However, with a growing demand for SMAs, this could be set to change.

One of the key asset managers in this arena, DeskTrading.com, has noted that the financial market is now seeking more SMAs and commented on the growing impact of SMAs in the financial markets in its recent press release.

DeskTrading notes that the evolution of the global financial market has continued to make things more complicated for most traders to make money. As such, disruptive startups, software developers and expert traders have moved to embrace the paradigm shift and introduce new trading technologies and methodologies. This opens an opportunity for interested investors to take advantage and make profits regardless of the general market turmoil.

The SMA model was first introduced back in the 1970s, but it wasn’t until 2008 when it started to make a big impact. For several years, Separately Managed Accounts remained within the confines of mutual funds and hedge funds. However, over the last few years, individual investors and traders have started to leverage the opportunities presented by SMAs as a method of investing. And the recent sales figures have been impressive. As evidence, Cerulli Associates, a research firm specializing in global asset management, reported that the recent explosive growth of SMAs accounted for over a trillion dollars in total investment assets in Q1 2017. That’s an impressive 84% explosion since 2010 with a 16% increase from 2015 upwards.

In simple terms, a Separately Managed Account is a form of managed account where the account manager invests the funds of each client individually. As such, every investor’s portfolio is managed separately. For some time, this concept was only associated with high net worth investors. However, due to advances in technology even retail investors can now access the services of separately managed accounts from top asset managers.

Steve Wong, DeskTrading’s Head of Trading, explained that for many investors the biggest appeal is the transparency of SMAs.

“Separately Managed Accounts will shape the tomorrow’s investment landscape,” said Wong. “Given the industry’s passion for secrecy, transparency provided by SMAs solves the conundrum of what and when, providing investors access to their professionally-managed trading accounts in real time from anywhere, anytime and from any device.”

There is also the appeal of it being more affordable, compared to mutual funds and active ETFs. SMAs provide an easy way for individual investors to access global markets, whilst having an expert manage their investments. By choosing a specialist professional asset manager, investors can ensure that their objectives are met.

“DeskTrading is an SMA platform where every client enjoys complete transparency, direct access to the markets and a dedicated team, led by an experienced investment manager, who they can contact at any time,” Steve Wong added. “We intend to build a deep relationship with each client to deploy tailored algorithms and implement trading strategies that have the flexibility to meet their short and long-term goals. At DeskTrading, we now have 2 fully operational trading floors bridged together in Asia and we see growing demand for SMAs in European, Middle Eastern and North American regions.”

DeskTrading has detailed a number of benefits that come with Separately Managed Accounts, which has led to them gaining traction and becoming increasingly popular with investors worldwide. Additionally, from the trader’s perspective, using SMA as an investment vehicle results in extra benefits – chief among them increased returns, as compared to trading oneself. The main reason behind this fact is that when a trader seeks the services of an asset manager, they are basically going for expertise rather than using the ‘trial and error’ method of trading by oneself.

With SMAs, investors have greater opportunities without a heap of complexities that come with managing investments yourself. As SMAs provide investors with more accessibility to their investments, they are able to render better growth opportunities. Managed accounts offer a more convenient and cost effective way to access institutional-caliber investment expertise, with the aim of growing individual wealth, and in recent years more investors have taken a step away from mutual funds and hedge funds with a keen interest in SMAs.

Media Contact
Company Name: Trading Bridge Ltd
Contact Person: Steve Wong
Email: Send Email
Phone: (852) 3140-2712
Country: HongKong
Website: DeskTrading.com