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Position: Partner and co-founder of ETFGI
Location: London
Investors can be forgiven if they feel overwhelmed by the proliferation of exchange traded funds. As of the end of June there were 1,478 exchange traded products in the United States with a combined $1.44 trillion in assets. Who can separate the winners from the landmines?
Enter one of the world’s leading ETF analysts, Deborah Fuhr. Last year she co-founded the independent research and consulting firm ETFGI after three years as global head of ETF research at BlackRock, the world’s largest ETF provider. Before that, she spent 11 years at Morgan Stanley where she served as head of investment strategies.
Age: 66
Position: CEO of SIFMA
Wall Street’s biggest lobbying group is gearing up for an ambitious project—cleaning up Wall Street’s image. Leading the charge is Judd Gregg, a long-time New Hampshire Republican with deep ties to both Washington and the financial services industry.
In May, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) recruited Gregg to the role of CEO. In an unusual step, the trade group split the roles of president and CEO, creating what Chairman Chet Helck of Raymond James calls the “dream team.”
Age: 30
Position: Co-founder, Addepar Technologies
Sometimes it seems as if the wealth management industry is about 20 years behind when it comes to technology, which is why there are dozens of firms all seeking to bring better “solutions” to advisors and clients around asset aggregation, performance metrics, investment planning and transparency.
But few have the engineering firepower of Addepar, thanks in part to its co-founder Joe Lonsdale.
Age: 57
Position: Founder, CEO, Advisors Ahead
You might compare the financial advisor industry to a college basketball team full of juniors and seniors. They probably have the talent and experience to win this year’s championship—but what about next year?
The average age of the advisor population was 49 as of 2012, says Cerulli Associates, pointing to the urgent need for the next generation of advisors—those sophomore and freshman players—to fill out the ranks. But where will they come from?
That’s the dilemma Craig Pfeiffer is trying to solve. Being on the inside at Morgan Stanley for 29 years, Pfeiffer realized that traditional broker training programs—with their low success rates—weren’t cutting it.
Age: 45
Position: Nominee for SEC Commissioner
As the changing of the guard within the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission continues, incoming commissioner Michael Piwowar, the first economist to hold the post in seven years, is poised to play a significant role.
The Senate is expected to confirm Piwowar, as well as Kara Stein, as the next SEC commissioners, replacing outgoing Democrat Elisse Walter and Republican Troy A. Paredes.
Age: 52
Position: Co-founder, president and CEO of F-Squared Investments
Assets in ETF managed portfolios (separately managed accounts with over half of their assets in ETFs) have been growing rapidly, up 60 percent last year. In the first quarter of 2013, assets jumped 12 percent to $73 billion. ETF Managed Portfolio Strategist Andrew Gogerty doesn’t expect the growth to let up anytime soon.
Windhaven Investment Management (now owned by Schwab) is the largest player in the space, so far. But Howard Present’s F-Squared is an up and coming powerhouse.
Age: 52
Position: Chairman & CEO of American Realty Capital; CEO of RCAP Holdings
Advisors know Nicholas Schorsch, chairman and CEO of American Realty Capital, as the dominant player in the non-traded REIT space. He boasts 51 percent market share in real estate direct investment and $10 billion in capital.
But Schorsch surprised the industry when he recently announced he and his partners would acquire independent broker/dealer First Allied, with its 1,500 advisors and $32 billion in AUM, from private equity firm Lovell Minnick.
Age: 40
Position: Senior advisor and former president of inStream Solutions; President of Mink Hollow Advisors
Like most people, financial advisors love technology that is easy to adopt and makes them more productive. That’s why the wealth management industry is keeping a close eye on tech guru Zohar Swaine, who, up until very recently, was building up the technology start-up inStream Solutions.
In a business where new bells and whistles are rolled out seemingly every day, three-year-old inStream has created a better mousetrap for drafting and implementing personal financial plans. InStream helps create financial plans and then monitors market events and life cycle changes to generate alerts for the financial advisor and investors.
Age: 66
Position: Vice Chairman, Federal Reserve Board of Governors; Professor, University of California, Berkley
Few public figures can move markets like the chairman of the Federal Reserve. The individual whose charge is to coordinate monetary policy by setting (some would say manipulating) interest rates to keep the value of money sound and the economy growing at a sustainable clip is to many the only oracle that really matters.
In recent years, a more profound job responsibility has come with the position: Emergency bond buyer of last resort; and it will likely be the unenviable task of the next chair of the Federal Reserve to figure out when to take away the punch bowl, now spiked with a guaranteed $85 billion monthly purchase of bonds in the open market.
Age: 46
Position: Head of managed solutions for global wealth and investment management at Bank of America
In business as in life, it’s easy work to make things complicated. At Bank of America, Lorna Sabbia has a far more difficult job: She’s charged with making things simple.
In a move that will overhaul the wirehouse’s $438 billion managed accounts business, Sabbia is leading a 226-person team to consolidate five separate money management programs—Merrill’s Consults, Mutual Fund Advisor, Personal Advisor, Personal Investment Advisory and Unified Managed Account systems—into a single new platform.
