ARE ROBO-ADVISORS THE TERMINATORS FOR HUMAN ADVISORS? AUGUST 2016
Many articles have been written about the advent of the robo-advisor, with opinions ranging wildly, yet there is little evidence of the impact being felt so far.
While many of the articles are written from the point of view of asset managers about the potential impact of robo-advisors, we wonder what other flesh and blood human advisors have to say about these online critters? Is there any worth in the fee clients pay to these human advisors when, in today’s modern age, we can do most things ourselves through the use of a google search and a mobile device?
MARKET UPDATE: EMERGING MARKETS RALLY AUGUST 2016
Global Markets:
It’s astounding how much can happen in a month! The Olympics came and went. The overpaid footballers of the English Premier League kicked off their season. We had an election. Once again the MSCI Emerging Markets Index was up a further 2,3%. This emerging market rally is not a change of heart by global investors’ who now consider the growth prospects of emerging markets to be golden. No, it is a symptom of the disruption started by the global financial crisis of 2008. The number of developed market bonds that now yield a negative interest rate has risen substantially since the Brexit vote. Yes, investors are actually lending more money than ever to the German, Japanese, French and Swiss governments. In return they are promised less than they lent?!? Why would investors accept such a proposition? Well, some pension funds and insurance companies are simply obligated to invest in bonds. Some investors believe they will make a capital profit on their investment (if yields fall further). Others are looking for a return on the currency in which the bond is denominated.