Pershing
July 22, 2009
For decades, investors have traditionally looked to equities for attractive returns to grow their portfolios. However, the recent turmoil in the financial markets has highlighted the importance of continuing to evaluate clients’ risk tolerance levels and the benefits of a diversified portfolio that includes an allocation to both equities and fixed income. This, coupled with higher-than-normal returns, has fixed income ticket counts and volumes at historic highs as investors seek the safety and principal preservation that these securities can provide.
This is not a short-term phase. Many expect financial services firms and individuals to adjust asset allocation strategies with a changing market landscape and demographics. We have seen a remarkable increase in fixed income issuance, and more products have expanded and become available, like FDIC notes, the Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service (CDARS) and brokered certificates of deposit to meet increasing demand.
Pershing is ready to help our customers and their clients meet the heightened demand for fixed income solutions. We’ve expanded our offering more than ever through our syndicate and market-making capabilities, and we have expanded our trading desks so that our customers always have someone to call who is familiar with their business.
Our open-architecture approach gives our customers access to thousands of offerings from multiple providers with the benefit of electronic order entry and straight-through processing. Pershing also offers fixed income portfolio solutions (FIPS) that can help our customers actively manage their clients’ portfolios. And, our customers are invited to leverage our expertise through online weekly market commentary and monthly market commentary calls.
The markets will continue to change — however, the value of diversification that includes fixed income securities will remain constant. Pershing’s dedicated team of fixed income experts, combined with solutions provided by industry-leading financial firms, help our customers with solutions to serve investors better with the highest level of service and support.
Ted Bragg
Pershing LLC