Aegon Adviser Attitudes Report 2021

Multi-asset dominates investment strategies 81.0% of advised assets are in some form of multi- asset strategy. Of those, multi-asset funds make up the largest chunk of assets by far, with 32.6% of assets invested, up from 26.0% in 2019. Multi-asset funds have gained ground largely at the expense of model portfolios, which have declined in use, very likely due to the increased regulatory responsibilities associated with running them. 19.5% of assets were placed in in-house model portfolios, a reduction from 21.4% in our previous survey, and 15.6% of assets were in models using external expertise, down from 17.5% in 2019. We might have expected, given previous years' trends, an increase in the outsourcing of investment to DFMs but, while this reduces the administrative burden somewhat on the adviser, outsourcing to DFMs doesn't absolve advisers of all governance and disclosure responsibilities. The market falls last year, for instance, highlighted some potential issues around 10% drop disclosure requirements. Advisers also have to weigh this up against the increased cost to clients. This is perhaps why the use of DFM portfolios has declined slightly to 13.3% compared with 15.0% in 2019. Multi-asset strategies also account for almost half of all retiring investors assets, with 47.3% invested in multi-asset. What proportion of the assets you invest are placed in the following types of investment strategy? Multi-asset funds Model portfolios (run in-house) Model portfolios (built using external expertise) Portfolios created by a DFM Single strategy funds, e.g. UK equity etc. Stockpicking Other 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 26.0% 32.6% 19.5% 17.5% 15.6% 15.0% 13.3% 14.1% 13.5% 4.0% 4.3% 2.1% 1.2% 21.4% 2019 2020 Decline in use of model portfolios 24 Aegon adviser attitudes report 2021