Frank Nickel of Brinker Capital - Decoding the Hype Behind Direct Indexing

In today’s episode, Rusty and Robyn talk with Frank Nickel, Head of Quantitative Strategies and Investments at Brinker Capital. Frank oversees the setup of the investment process that drives direct investing strategies and risk mitigation across various platforms at Brinker. Prior, Frank spent 27 years in various roles at Morgan Stanley—from asset allocation strategist to director of investment strategy to portfolio manager.   Frank talks with Rusty and Robyn about the ins and outs of direct investing, the concept of “searching for alpha”, and the impact of direct investing on the future of investing (especially with ETFs). “We have the ability to give investors a high price momentum, a version of our direct indexing strategies that allow them to have that ‘search for alpha’. I think the way traditional people think about the ‘search for alpha’, it’s at the individual security level. We are not going to really attempt to provide that. Our search for alpha is providing some type of factor exposures that investors believe can outperform.” ~ Frank Nickel Main Takeaways  With a direct indexing strategy, you may see bigger returns, compared to a traditional separately managed account. Direct indexing has been on the roll because of tech innovation. From high-net-worth individuals to the mainstream area, firms can manage to bring it to smaller accounts. Direct indexing won't kill ETFs. The only two viable reasons for ETFs to fail are if the government changes taxation, or if technological evolution can lower direct indexing's minimum. Fractional shares trading might be the future with how tech is evolving right now. This can also help to bring the account minimums down. Searching for the alpha involves investing in areas of the market that are projected to outperform. Right now, there's a growing interest in biotech and cybersecurity. Links Frank Nickel on LinkedIn Brinker Capital September by Earth, Wind, and Fire Morgan Stanley Wealth Connect with our hosts Rusty Vanneman Robyn Murray Subscribe and stay in touch Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts 2742-OPS-10/27/2021