Investire | June 2023
Asset management, long-time bastion of financial advisors, has been facing old and new challenges. This is what came to light at Salone del Risparmio during a discussion hosted by BNP Paribas Asset Management between three key players of the Italian financial industry, Credem Euromobiliare, CheBanca! Gruppo Mediobanca and ICCREA BCC.
Inflation and the rising rate environment have been disorienting Italian savers, unsure whether to invest in BTPs (i.e., treasury bonds) or to keep liquid assets.
The challenge for financial advisors consists in clarifying that BTPs alone (with 4% rates) are not enough to beat inflation (above 8%); instead, BTPs should be paired with equity and bond investments.
The key players of the financial sector agree that without equity investments there would be no future for the growth of portfolios.
Similarly, there are good opportunities in terms of bond investments: in fact, the Great Reset has changed the strategic opportunity for fixed income, with interesting asset class returns for investors.
The new system requires a new approach, with more dynamic, granular, and precise adjustments of asset allocation. This results in an increased need for flexibility of the portfolio to achieve better results in terms of risk.
The role of financial advisors consists in offering an overview beyond tactical maneuvers and trends. Within a more complex framework as compared to the recent past, the accessibility to widely used remote banking platforms ensures fast execution, which can hardly limit the panic of naïve savers.
Considering the recent relocation, in the United States, of billions of dollars from one bank to another (which caused the collapse of some of them) allows for a better understanding of the ongoing evolution. In fact, the same has happened and could happen in case of investments in individual titles (one need only think of Game Stop).
The word of cooperative credit in Italy represents yet another model, which goes beyond the dualism between traditional banks and financial networks. Rather, cooperative credit resembles the model of Poste Italiane, especially for its capillary presence in Italy.
The distinctive feature of the world of cooperative credit is the figure of the investment advisor. Investment advisors tend to be rooted in the area where they live with their families in close contact with their clients and their families.
Thus, the absence of rotation and displacement to other branches makes the investment advisor of cooperative credit banks a stable point of reference in time for their clients.
On the other hand, the intrinsic connection with clients, with whom investment advisors share moments of conviviality in Italian little towns can lead to conforming to their clients’ feelings, to experiencing the same fears without being able to overcome them.
Service model aside, the ability to provide financial professionals with an overview of the markets and a range of solutions for their clients makes all the difference.
This overview should be internalized at a distribution level by both top management and network. It should be the sum of the decisive contribution of the best asset management companies and their vision.
In the coming years, the ability to synthesize, to have a shared vision and maintain closeness to clients will be the key to growth for many key players of the financial sector.
Nicola Ronchetti