Zephyr Releases PSN Top Guns List for Q4 2022 Highlighting Best-In-Class Separate Accounts, Managed Accounts and Managed ETF Strategies

Release coincides with Zephyr in Action Series: How asset managers are digitally transforming compliance approved fact sheets, presentations and reports for sales and fund distributors

NEW YORK, March 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Zephyr, a subsidiary of Informa plc (LSE: INF), and a recognized leader in investment management technology for wealth managers and advisors, has released its highly anticipated PSN Top Guns List for Q4 2022. The list provides the best performing separate accounts, managed accounts, and managed ETF strategies and serves as an important reference for investors and asset managers.

Assets continue to grow in managed accounts at a substantial rate. The possibility for a fund manager to provide relevant, customized information to prospective investors is essential. This month the company's Zephyr in Action Series focused exclusively on how asset managers are transforming how they communicate their strategies using customized, on demand template technology via Zephyr's investment management technology.

"The ability for sales and fund distributors to generate compliance approved fact sheets from templates via a dedicated firm report library online, provides a substantial competitive advantage," says Chris Volpe, Head of Zephyr. "Templates are compliance approved and branded, then created on demand on a month-end basis." Several PSN Top Guns recipients are reviewing the new enhancements.

Zephyr in Action Series: How asset managers are digitally transforming compliance approved fact sheets, presentations, and reports webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, April 5, 2023 at 1pm ET. To register, simply click here.

Showcasing strategies is especially important to Top Gun honorees. Zephyr's Market Strategist Ryan Nauman reviewed three universes for this quarter's PSN Top Gun List.

"The energy (S&P 500 Energy Sector index +22.81%) and industrials (S&P 500 Industrials index +19.22%) sectors outperformed while the communication services (S&P 500 Communication Services index -1.38%) and consumer discretionary (S&P 500 Consumer Discretionary index -10.18%) sectors underperformed," said Nauman.         

Below are some of the strategies that make up the PSN Top Guns Small Cap Value universe.

• Donald Smith & Co., Inc.: Small Cap Value Equity (+20.6% for the quarter)
• Aegis Financial Corporation: Small Cap Value (+20.6% for the quarter)
• Pzena Investment Management, LLC: Pzena Small Cap Focused Value (+20.2% for the quarter)

"Stronger local currencies relative to the U.S. Dollar provided a boost for foreign equities. Economically sensitive sectors like energy, financials and consumer discretionary outperformed while more defensive sectors like consumer staples lagged the broader market," noted Nauman.

The following strategies made the PSN Top Guns list for the Europe Universe:

• ARGA Investment Management, LP: ARGA European Equity Strategy (+26.2% for the quarter)
• Wellington Management Company LLP: European Contrarian Value (+26.0 for the quarter)
• Newton Investment Management Group: Euroland Small Cap Equity (+24.1% for the quarter)

"Global bonds (FTSE World Government ex. US index +6.55%) which benefited from the softening U.S. Dollar and colling inflation outperformed while high yield bonds were the leading U.S. fixed income sector (BofA Merrill Lynch US High Yield +3.98%)," added Nauman.

Below are some of the strategies that make up the PSN Top Guns International Fixed Universe.

• Franklin Templeton Investments: Franklin European High Yield (+16.0% for the quarter)
• Columbia Threadneedle Investments Intl: European High Yield Bond (+14.3% for the quarter)
• UBS Asset Management: Euro High Yield (+14.2% for the quarter)

In addition to PSN Top Guns Best-In-Class Separate Accounts, Managed Accounts and Managed ETF Strategies, the company also announced PSN Top Guns Manager of the Decade.

Nauman characterized this past decade this way, "While the decade started off with a bang, it ended with a whimper. 2022 will be remembered for the beginning of the war in Ukraine and an end to the historically accommodative monetary policies that helped rescue the U.S. economy and financial markets from the global pandemic. Not only did the Fed take away the punch bowl at the party, but it also started its very aggressive tightening policies to try and tame 40-year high inflation that was a result of very accommodative monetary and fiscal policies during the pandemic."

The complete list of PSN Top Guns, PSN Top Guns Manager of the Decade and an overview of the methodology, can be found here. If you do not have a login, you may register for complimentary access. For more details on the methodology behind the PSN Top Guns Rankings, contact Margaret Tobiasen at [email protected]. If you would like to learn more about becoming a part of the PSN database or would like to subscribe to PSN data, visit PSN online.

About PSN
For nearly four decades, PSN has been a top resource for investment professionals. Asset managers rely on Zephyr's PSN to effectively reach institutional and retail investors rely. Over 2,800 firms, 285 universes, and more than 21,000 products comprise the PSN SMA database showing asset breakdowns, compliance, key personnel, ownership diversity, ESG, business objectives and strategy, style, fees, GIC sectors, fixed income ranges and full holdings. Unique to PSN is its robust historical database of nearly 40 Years of Data Including Net and Gross-of-Fee Returns. For more details visit PSN online to learn more.

About Zephyr
Zephyr's award-winning financial services software offers portfolio construction, advanced analytics, asset allocation, manager screening, risk analysis, portfolio performance and more, transforming multifaceted data into digestible intel. The award-winning technology empowers investment professionals with financial technology to navigate a bullish or bearish market. Zephyr allows investment professionals to advance their leadership skills, strengthen client relationships, and prosper in every aspect of their business—establishing a legacy of performance and results. To learn more about Zephyr, visit ZephyrFinancialSolutions.com.

SOURCE Zephyr, an Informa Company