Many financial advisors have been impacted by the shutdown of Curian Capital, and as we blogged about previously, if you’re one of them, you need a viable landing spot for your clients’ assets. In addition to practice management, our approach to access and accountability is another reason that Horizon Investments is well positioned to be this landing place.

Direct Access and Accountability

During this recent period of market volatility, Horizon Investments has been reaching out to advisors through multiple phone calls to answer questions that are top-of-mind for advisors and their clients. We’ve done this because we recognize that access and accountability are the hallmarks of service. But it is difficult to achieve access and accountability in a multi-manager model. Specifically, multi-manager management platforms are layered, making it difficult for you to reach the strategist who is managing assets for your clients. At best, you’ll reach a sales desk. But how well-versed can a sales team member be if there are 15-30 strategists on the platform?

Horizon Investments spends its time only on its proprietary strategies, and we spend a tremendous amount of time educating the entire firm on how these strategies work. This education is not merely focused on the general workings of a strategy, but it drills deeper to include daily and weekly training on how we are positioned now, what our expectations are regarding the market of today and how we might think about the future. These are the relevant questions that you want answers to, and if you work with us, you’ll get the information straight from the one with whom you have entrusted assets.

Multi-manager models have a history of pushing advisors from one manager to another if things aren’t going exactly as planned. This model emphasizes choice over accountability. Horizon Investments, on the other hand, has always valued accountability over choice, which forces both the advisor and the strategist to be as clear as possible in communication – and highlights education and expectation-setting as paramount, particularly in volatile markets.