MI Talk

Benjamin Reed-Hurwitz, CFA®, Head of Research Development, breaks down the key investment fund trends that defined 2025 and what’s likely to carry into 2026. He also explores product innovation, fee and pricing pressures, the growing role of partnerships in distribution, and what the year ahead may look like for asset managers navigating a rapidly evolving landscape.

Benjamin Reed-Hurwitz of ISS Market Intelligence explores how portfolio construction is evolving across the U.K. market; breaking down key trends in MPS, unitized multi-asset, and adviser-managed portfolios. Additionally, he highlights what fund managers should watch as allocator dynamics shift toward 2026.

Marc Barrachin, CFA, and Adam Feldstein of ISS Market Intelligence weigh in on 2025’s defining investment product trends and advisor shifts, highlighting emerging opportunities and what managers should watch as the industry positions for 2026.

Delivering some of the key perceived advantages of the ETF structure combined with active management, active ETFs are quickly emerging as a compelling option – with actively managed U.S. ETF assets surpassing $1 trillion for the first time earlier this year. Passive strategy adoption, particularly via ETFs, transformed the industry and forced asset managers to adapt. In response, many have lowered...

The battle for investors and their wallets on the wealth management frontlines is on. Advisors are facing several headwinds. The inexorable progression of the baby boomer generation—the industry’s growth engine for the past four decades—into retirement spells slower new inflows and accelerating outflows out of retirement nest-eggs. Meanwhile, the newly minted investors in the millennial and Gen Z...

Ben Doob, Global Head of ISS Market Intelligence, sits down with Asset TV to discuss how global asset and wealth management firms, insurance companies, and other market participants leverage ISS MI's connected ecosystem of data, research, media, and go-to-market services to drive growth.

As we approach the release of the next—2025—edition of The Household Balance Sheet Report in Canada, we take a deeper look at state of the union of Canadian household wealth. Carlos Cardone, Managing Director for ISS Market Intelligence Canada team, joins Goshka Folda, Head of ISS Research, to help her unpack household financial behavior over the past several years. From the feast of the vast savi...

Join Christopher Davis, Head of U.S. Fund Research, and Benjamin Reed-Hurwitz, Head of EMEA Research at ISS MI, as they unpack the findings of the Global Whitepaper: Growing Revenues, Not Assets, New Name of the Game . Uncover why seeking growth at the right price is essential, how active managers are adapting, and what the future holds for index funds and ETFs in the U.S. and U.K. The full report...

In this episode, Benjamin Reed-Hurwitz, Associate Director of EMEA Research at ISS MI, leads a conversation with Goshka Folda, Global Head of Research at ISS MI, diving into the latest Household Balance Sheet (HBS) Report. Ben and Goshka dissect the evolving power dynamics, growth avenues, specialized strategies, and overarching trends, which, while focused on the Canadian wealth management landsc...

In this episode, host Goshka Folda, Global Head of Research at ISS Market Intelligence, invites Dennis Gallant, Associate Director at ISS MI, to unravel the evolution of the RIA market. From newfound independence pathways to the ascent of professional buyers and expanded services, they delve into the impact on managing client assets, the growth of Enterprise RIAs, and the intricate dynamics of ass...

In this episode of MI Talk, Goshka Folda, host of MI Talk and Global Head of Research at ISS Market Intelligence, welcomes Ashley Wood, Managing Director at ISS MI, as a cohost. Together with special guest Rocco Benedetto, Head of US WMI Field Distribution at Invesco, they delve into discussions on distribution, the liquidity opportunity, sales support for ETF-focused advisers, segmentation, targe...

Join Goshka Folda, host of MI Talk and Global Head of Research at ISS Market Intelligence, and Will Stevenson, Senior Research Associate at ISS MI as they delve into the 2023 edition of the Household Balance Sheet . In this episode, they explore the “Big Squeeze,” dissect the decline in household savings rate and uncover flows within different cohorts. Subscribe to MI Talk, the podcast brought to...

In this episode, our host Goshka Folda, Global Head of Research, invites Christopher Davis, Head of U.S. Fund Research, back to the show to discuss ISS MI’s five-year outlook for the U.S. asset management business, the growth of alternatives, and much more. This podcast draws on data and insights from ISS Market Intelligence’s recently released State of the Market —Future of Retail Products report...

In this episode of MI Talk, our host Goshka Folda, Global Head of Research at ISS Market Intelligence, delves into the fascinating world of model portfolio solutions (MPS) in the UK and how this trend is making waves globally. Joined by industry experts Mark Hamper, ISS MI’s Head of Client Data Strategy - Global Distribution Intelligence, and Benjamin Reed-Hurwitz, EMEA Research Leader at ISS MI,...

In this episode, our host Goshka Folda returns to North America to answer the question, where are the female advisors? Goshka is joined by Vince Linsley, Associate Director at Investor Economics, a unit of ISS Market Intelligence, to discuss ways to increase the percentage of female advisors within the industry. Vince provides further insight on obstacles that women face to entering the advice bus...

In this episode, the MI Talk podcast series makes a stop across the globe to discuss the ins and outs of the Australian market. Our host Goshka Folda, Global Head of Research, invites Alex Dunnin, Research Director at ISS MI’s Australia-based Rainmaker Information, to share with listeners why global money managers, wealth managers, and retirement funds should care about what's happening in Austral...

In this latest episode of MI Talk, host Goshka Folda, Global Head of Research at ISS Market Intelligence, invites Dennis Gallant, Associate Director of ISS MI’s Product Engagement Specialist team, to discuss retirement income. As Baby Boomers retire at an unprecedented scale and factors like increased cost of living, longevity, and conflicting financial objectives multiply in retirement, the decum...

This month’s episode features two familiar guests, ISS Market Intelligence’s Mark Hamper, Head of Client Data Strategy - Global Distribution Intelligence, and Benjamin Reed-Hurwitz, EMEA Research Leader. Mark and Benjamin join our host Goshka Folda, Global Head of Research at ISS MI, to discuss the rise of model portfolios and their significance to fund flows in the UK, which allows advisers to ou...

In this episode, our host Goshka Folda, Global Head of Research, invites Christopher Davis, Head of U.S. Fund Research, back to the show to discuss the 2023-2027 outlook for the U.S. asset management business, the growth of active ETFs, and much more. This podcast draws on data and insights from ISS Market Intelligence’s recently released State of the Market — Future of Retail Products report. Sub...

In this episode, Will unpacks trends in the Canadian deposits market, including the record-breaking $300 billion in demand deposits flows in 2020 and 2021, as well as the growth that guaranteed investment certificates (GICs) experienced in the first half of 2022. The discussion also touches on Generation Z and price consciousness, and the potential for household deleveraging in a sustained higher...

To close out the 2022 season of the MI Talk podcast, Mark Jeffries, Associate Director at ISS Market Intelligence, joins our host Goshka Folda, Global Head of Research at ISS Market Intelligence, to discuss the impact the current economic environment has had on the annuity industry. Mark draws on his role managing ISS MI’s insurance and annuity client relationships to provide insight into the annu...

In this special November episode of the MI Talk podcast, Jeff Duckworth, President of U.S Intermediary Distribution at John Hancock Investment Management, joins guest host Ashley Wood, Managing Director at ISS MI, to discuss current trends in advisor engagement, distribution structure, and wholesaler retention. Drawing on thirty years of experience in the asset management industry, Jeff shares key...

The U.S. advisor landscape has undergone a seismic shift over the past few decades, as advisors’ duties have evolved from facilitating transactions to holistic financial planning. Accompanying this shift towards advisor-as-financial-life-coach has been a broad move from transaction-based to fee-based compensation models, in which advisors increasingly levy a percentage fee on clients’ total assets...

Model Portfolio Services (MPS), which allows advisers to outsource asset allocation and fund selection, seems well-positioned to capitalise on the ongoing shift away from the “adviser as portfolio manager” value proposition narrative. The dislocation of the investment process away from the adviser, however, will add complexity to the wholesaling equation and may necessitate a rethink of determinin...

Has direct indexing outgrown its moniker? Direct indexing originally emerged as an investment platform through which the investor can hold the underlying securities of an index directly as opposed to a packaged product like a mutual fund or ETF. More recently, advancements in technology are stretching the “indexing” part of the concept by offering investors and their advisors the opportunity for c...