Advisers focusing on growth funds

Data collected by Lonsec Connect, a recently launched research platform that draws on both market data and adviser engagement analytics, highlighted a growing interest in growth options among the advice community.

“Financial advisers have refocused their recommendations and research on growth strategies following market volatility in February with property, infrastructure and multi-asset strategies particularly in favour,” Lonsec said in a statement.

“The renewed focus on growth options follows a dash for cash in the first weeks of February after global markets dropped.”

The statement also noted that while cash recommendations spiked after the February bout of volatility, interest in the asset class “had been building for some time”.

According to Lonsec, this implies advisers were looking for ways to hedge against risk in the event markets reach “unsustainable levels”.

“Research from the Lonsec Connect platform also shows that financial advisers have paid particular attention to the impact of recent events on their clients’ superannuation accounts with ‘super’ and ‘income’ two of the most highly searched terms by financial advisers over the last 30 days,” the statement said.

“Other terms of interest include ‘global’, ‘fixed’ and ‘property’ suggesting the hunt for safety and yield may be heading offshore.”