Powerwrap releases real-time SMA

The new model will allow investment managers to run their SMAs in the same way they run other investment offerings, Powerwrap chief executive Cormac Heffernan told ifa sister publication, InvestorDaily.

“From the fund manager’s point of view, they’re able to run their SMA model in exactly the same way as they run their managed funds, and exactly the same way as they run their institutional mandates,” he said.

Mr Heffernan said managers would be able to put orders in to the market, take them out, set price limits and check an asset’s liquidity from a consolidated book, rather than adjusting the weightings and then “seeing what they get the next day depending on how it was executed”.

“That’s become really important, because as SMAs become much bigger, ironically the liquidity in the market has gone backwards, and therefore having control over the execution has become massively important for fund managers,” he said.

Real-time SMAs could also allow investment managers to offer a “wider range” of assets to potential clients, Mr Heffernan added.

“It will allow fund managers to offer models in asset classes that previously they couldn’t, like small caps and hybrids, and anywhere where there’s a lack of liquidity,” he said.