While the “Magnificent Seven” stocks (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla) are getting all the headlines, they are also causing some advisors to wonder if the passive equity allocations in their portfolios are too concentrated.

That concentration issue was one of the main reasons that Indianapolis-based RIA Brian Robinson contacted Capital Group’s Portfolio Consulting and Analytics team to explore custom portfolios built with active exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

“That’s one of the big concerns I had,” Robinson says. “When seven stocks are pretty much driving the entire index, I thought, ‘If you get one or two of those to turn down, is that going to take the entire market?’ But it’s also seven companies that I don’t think you can ignore. The nice thing about active ETF management is that it allows the fund managers to look at those companies individually.”

Greg Smith, portfolio consultant on the Capital Group team, agrees. “Many advisors like passive ETFs because they offer low costs, tax efficiency and transparency,” he says. “At the same time, heavy concentration in the Magnificent Seven stocks has raised questions about potential risks in passive equity ETFs.”

Managing concentration risk is among several factors behind growing interest in active ETFs. “Interest in active ETFs is rising across the industry,” says Smith. While active ETFs represented only 6% of U.S. ETF assets, they accounted for 22% of all ETF inflows in 2023. “That’s a really powerful trend to watch, especially for advisors who are not currently using active ETFs.”

 Flexibility to focus on long-term goals

Robinson has always encouraged his clients to focus on long-term financial goals rather than short-term performance. In fact, the name of his firm — Snowbird Financial — is a reference to a common financial goal in colder American climates: to build the financial means to spend part of the year as a “snowbird” in Florida or other warm climates. 

“I don’t have a lot of clients who focus on, ‘How well did we do against the S&P 500?,’” Robinson says. “I try to focus on, ‘How much closer are we to reaching your goal? Are we on track? Do we need to save additional funds toward your retirement? Or do things look exactly as they should?’”

Working with Robinson, Capital Group’s Smith helped construct three objective-based custom portfolios using the same objectives used in the American Funds model portfolios. Like the American Funds models, these custom portfolios aim for growth, moderate growth and income, and conservative income for retirement. 

Importantly, the various ETFs that make up each custom portfolio are not tied to indexes or a “style-pure” approach, which gives portfolio managers the flexibility to adjust to changing market conditions while staying focused on long-term goals. 

A closer look at the Moderate Growth and Income custom portfolio using active ETFs brings the flexibility into clear focus. Within the various active ETFs, there is flexibility in style (growth and value), region (U.S. versus non-U.S.) and asset class. In fact, 25% of the Moderate Growth and Income custom portfolio is devoted to a multi-asset fund, in which portfolio managers can adjust the mix between equities and fixed income.

Smith notes that active ETFs build flexibility into the custom portfolio, similar to the approach Capital Group uses in its American Funds models. “As more investors turn to ETFs, we think it’s important to address a wide range of investor objectives,” Smith says. “Active building blocks can be used within portfolios to flexibly respond to changing market conditions, which can help advisors reallocate their time toward other client objectives.” 

Model portfolios provide time savings for advisors

As a sole practitioner, a constant challenge for Robinson is managing his own time. After he moved on from his initial approach of personally building every aspect of his client portfolios, he began using models to combine various ETFs. His experience with model portfolios built entirely from passive ETFs, however, was not optimal. He found that adjustments to the fund mix within those models were frequent and, for him, very time-consuming. 

“The biggest thing for me is not having to go in and make those minor adjustments to overall portfolios that can take two days of my time. With the active ETFs, I know those adjustments are happening inside of that wrapper. That’s a huge time-saver.” 

Robinson was previously making frequent adjustments to ETF selection based on market and sector changes. “But swapping energy sector ETFs for financial sector ETFs in response to market conditions, for example, or shifting from corporates to U.S. government bonds can take several days of rebalancing across many portfolios just for one change,” says Robinson. Instead, Robinson finds it helpful to step back from short-term asset allocation shifts to assess whether the portfolios are tracking toward his clients’ goals.

Spending less time on portfolio construction — and less time tracking market fluctuations — allows Robinson to spend more time face-to-face with his clients, focusing on their futures.

“I have an old-school client base, meaning they like to see me in person, they like to sit down and talk through some of their goals and challenges,” Robinson says. “This gives me more of an opportunity to be in front of clients. That’s the most meaningful part of the job for me: being in front of clients and learning what they’re trying to accomplish.”

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