How can a professional money manager help?
A professional money manager has the fiduciary duty to manage the securities in a portfolio or fund. Typically, money management companies employ teams of people with expertise in research, investment selection, asset monitoring, and the buying and selling of securities. Since professional money managers do not receive commissions on transactions and are paid based on a percentage of assets under management, it is in the manager’s best interest to see the portfolio grow. Recent reports show that active money managers tend to perform better than stock market indexes during market downturns. This means that many investors received additional downside protection during the recent plunge in the markets. Of course, not all funds and fund managers can be better than average, so it is important for us to understand a manager’s strategy and continually monitor a fund’s performance during both good and bad times. We may recommend a management change if, for example, a manager’s style changes or
