Multi-asset product launches on the rise



Aged demographics coupled with a greater focus on real return strategies have seen a series of multi-asset product launches since 2010, according to Morningstar’s Multisector Wrap-Up.
The report, which included a qualitative research of 77 funds, saw 34 earn Morningstar Medallist ratings, with nine achieving the highest possible rating of gold. This comprised Schroder Wholesale Balanced and Vanguard’s suite of unlisted and exchange traded SAA fund offerings.
Although there were no upgrades or downgrades, Morningstar said it initiated coverage of additional 17 funds such as the Vanguard ETF SAA funds, Sunsuper’s SAA, PineBridge Global Dynamic Asset Allocation, Perpetual Diversified Real Return, AMP Capital Dynamic Markets ETF and Pendal’s suit of SAA offerings.
“We examined the use of “real return” or flexible multiasset funds in portfolios and provided guidelines for investing in flexible strategies, which will help keep an investor's overall portfolio within their risk profile,” the company said in a statement.
“We distinguished between return- and risk-prioritizing strategies and describe how flexible funds can be useful to outsource and accelerate tactical asset allocation decisions and reduce the risk of large drawdowns, making an allocation to these strategies most beneficial for late accumulation and decumulation (those most sensitive to sequencing risk).
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