Photo courtesyTom May, Global CIO, Outcome and Derivative Strategies at WisdomTree.
Attendees at the second edition of the Funds Society Leaders Summit, in collaboration with CFA Society Spain, were able to learn a bit more about defined return investing through WisdomTree’s analysis, presented by Tom May, Global CIO, Outcome and Derivative Strategies at the firm.
In his presentation, May recalled that equity securities generate long-term returns, but these can vary considerably over time. Currently, for example, “European equities have a positive expected return, but exhibit severe drawdown events and fat tails.”
In this scenario, defined return investments—known as autocallables—increase the probability of achieving a specific return target. These types of products “harness the spread between equity forward and realized returns (ERP), as well as the persistent premium of implied volatility over realized volatility (VRP), to deliver higher and consistent yields,” May assures.
Ultimately, he poses the question of why settle for uncertainty when an investor can define their return and focus on achieving a defined yield in the most likely scenarios to maximize the investment.
WisdomTree’s defined return strategies feature a diversified portfolio of autocallable securities. But how does an autocallable security work? It is a structured investment product whose maturity and payouts depend on the performance of the underlying asset.
In short, autocallables allow for greater visibility regarding returns and a more probable path. Historically, forecasts and actual results have aligned, as seen when analyzing the real and projected performance of a portfolio of autocallable products historically managed by the WisdomTree team.
Why consider WisdomTree’s defined return autocallable strategies? May’s presentation highlights several reasons:
1.- Defined positive return in pre-established markets: Autocallables are designed to offer a positive return over their lifespan, unless the market suffers a significant drop and remains at those levels for an extended period.
2.- Higher probability of achieving expected outcomes: A diversified portfolio of autocallable securities can limit return variance within a target distribution range, increasing the probability of reaching that target.
3.- A more predictable investment process: A diversified portfolio of autocallable securities can capture long-term equity risk premiums while reducing the dispersion of returns that equity investors would otherwise face.
With its WisdomTree Defined Return Autocallable Strategies fund, the investor gains access to an equity-linked return, with defined outcomes and daily liquidity, through a product that actively manages a diversified portfolio of autocallable products and collateral, continuously optimizing maturities, thresholds, index pairs, and collateral. The product’s active approach adapts to market conditions, backed by 13 years of experience in these types of products.
The US offshore business faces a paradox; on one hand, demands for transparency, anti-money laundering, and management of international clients elevate the complexity and cost of the financial business. On the other hand, authorities have begun to review certain obligations under the argument of reducing regulatory burdens and favoring competitiveness. Thus, while large banks can spread their costs among thousands of clients, small firms face a decisive question: how much wealth do they need to manage for compliance to be profitable? The US offshore business faces a paradox.
For private banks, asset managers, trust companies, and family offices serving international investors, the result is not necessarily a reduction in complexity. In many cases, compliance has become a permanent business function: it requires specialized personnel, technological systems, internal controls, and the capacity to respond to regulatory changes. The question is whether that cost structure is modifying competition; in a market where revenues depend on assets under management, an institution managing billions of dollars can distribute its compliance expenses across a broad base of clients and assets. A small firm, on the other hand, can face much of the same obligations with a much smaller scale.
The above does not mean that the large players are automatically winning, nor that the small ones are doomed to disappear. But it does pose a relevant hypothesis for the industry: regulation can become a barrier to entry and scale, an increasingly important competitive advantage.
The price of knowing the client
One of the main sources of costs is in customer due diligence, known in the industry as KYC, for its acronym in English: Know Your Customer. For a financial institution serving international wealth, opening an account can imply much more than verifying an identity. It must understand who the client is, who controls a corporation, what the origin of the funds is, what economic activity generates the wealth, and what risks the relationship may represent; in certain cases, it also needs to review corporate structures, trusts, intermediaries, and ultimate beneficial owners.
Complexity increases when the client comes from a jurisdiction with higher risks of corruption, sanctions, money laundering, or hard-to-verify wealth structures. The cost does not end with account opening; information must be updated, operations must be monitored, and alerts must be investigated when appropriate.
FinCEN’s customer due diligence rule specifically seeks to have financial institutions identify and verify the ultimate beneficial owners of their corporate clients. In February 2026, FinCEN granted relief regarding the obligation to identify and verify ultimate beneficial owners in each new account opening, but that does not eliminate the general responsibility to know the client and manage their risks.
For a global bank, these tasks can be integrated into technological platforms, operations centers, and specialized teams. For a small firm, they can mean hiring external personnel, acquiring monitoring tools, or relying on specialized providers; the difference is not only in how much it costs to comply, but in how many clients and assets can absorb that cost.
FATCA: the cost of serving international wealth
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, known as FATCA, is one of the pillars of the US international tax transparency environment. The law seeks to identify US taxpayers who maintain accounts and financial assets outside the country. To do this, it imposes reporting obligations on foreign financial institutions and establishes reporting mechanisms to the IRS. The importance of FATCA for the offshore business is that it turns tax information management into a structural part of international financial relationships; foreign institutions that do not comply with certain obligations may face a 30% withholding on certain US-source payments, in addition to other operational and tax consequences.
For a bank or fund manager, this implies client tax classification processes, documentation, reporting, and controls to avoid errors; the burden can be particularly relevant for institutions managing structures with investors from different countries, currencies, and tax regimes. However, not all Latin American clients are subject to the same obligations. A Mexican investor using a US structure does not necessarily have the same responsibilities as a US citizen with assets abroad. The legal nature of the entity, tax residency, and the type of investment are decisive. Therefore, compliance cannot be treated as a uniform routine procedure; it is actually a process requiring specialists capable of distinguishing between profiles and structures.
Fixed costs, a real problem
As a general rule, the discussion about compliance usually concentrates on fines, sanctions, and regulatory obligations. However, to analyze competition between institutions, the most important aspect may be another: fixed costs. An international private bank may need dedicated teams for tasks such as: anti-money laundering and prevention of terrorist financing, due diligence and periodic client review, international sanctions and transaction controls, regulatory and tax reporting, internal audit and risk management, monitoring technology and records management, as well as legal and tax advisory.
That is why the number of employees, software licenses, and technological infrastructure do not necessarily grow in the same proportion as assets under management, and scale can become an advantage factor. If an institution manages very large wealth, the cost of compliance represents a smaller proportion of its potential revenues. In contrast, a small firm may face a much heavier burden for every dollar managed.
Is the business concentrating?
If regulatory costs become harder to absorb, institutions can react in several ways. One option is to invest in technology and automation, another is to hire external compliance services, but they can also specialize in a type of client or reduce their exposure to higher-risk jurisdictions. In some cases, the way out may be selling the operation, merging with another firm, or becoming part of a larger platform; the potential result is greater market concentration.
But here it is convenient to avoid an automatic conclusion because regulation is not the only factor that determines industry consolidation; interest rates, product profitability, access to technology, competition for talent, and the capacity to attract clients also exert influence. Furthermore, small firms can have advantages that large banks do not always possess: specialization, closeness to the client, knowledge of a region, and the capacity to offer personalized services. The problem appears when that specialization no longer offsets the costs of operating.
US regulatory change: fewer reports does not mean fewer controls
The 2026 juncture introduced an important nuance. FinCEN published a final rule in August that keeps US companies exempt from reporting beneficial ownership information under the Corporate Transparency Act. The obligation is maintained for certain foreign companies registered to operate in the United States. The change reduces certain formal obligations for US companies, but does not eliminate customer due diligence responsibilities for financial institutions. In other words, a company may be exempt from filing a specific report with FinCEN and, even so, have to provide information to its bank or investment manager so that it can comply with its know-your-customer obligations.
The distinction is fundamental for the offshore market; corporate transparency and financial compliance are related, but they are not exactly the same thing. The former refers to information that must be reported to authorities under a given regime; the latter encompasses risk management that financial institutions must perform as part of their operations. The reduction of one obligation does not automatically eliminate the other, and for wealth managers, regulatory uncertainty also carries a cost. A firm that invests in systems, personnel, and processes needs to know whether the rules that justified that investment will remain in force. Normative volatility can complicate planning and favor institutions that have legal and regulatory teams capable of adapting quickly.
But the impact is not limited to banks and asset managers; family offices, particularly those managing international wealth, must also face decisions related to corporate structures, private investments, investment vehicles, estate succession, and family governance. Not all family offices have the same structure. Some are single-family offices with few employees; others operate as platforms that serve several families and offer investment services, wealth administration, and tax coordination.
The difference in scale can also determine how they absorb compliance; an office managing the wealth of a single family may need to hire external providers for specialized functions, while a multi-family platform can distribute some costs among several clients. But a limit exists because outsourcing does not eliminate the manager’s responsibility. Hiring a compliance provider does not mean automatically transferring all legal and regulatory obligations. That is why the growth of the family office market can open opportunities for companies offering specialized compliance services, regulatory technology, and risk management; compliance ceases to be solely an expense and becomes a service industry around international wealth. The transformation of the offshore market can also create winners other than banks; regulatory technology companies, identity verification providers, transaction monitoring platforms, and specialized firms can benefit from structural demand.
The financial industry needs tools to reduce errors, accelerate processes, and keep its clients’ information updated; additionally, artificial intelligence can contribute to automating some tasks of review, classification, and anomaly detection, but its use does not eliminate the need for human controls, validation, and institutional responsibility. For small firms, technology can represent a way to compete with large institutions without replicating all their internal infrastructure; the challenge is that technology also requires investment, integration, and maintenance. Furthermore, automated systems can generate false positives, classification errors, and data quality issues. The question is no longer only how much it costs to comply, but how much it costs to comply efficiently.
An offshore market for the big players?
Based on the above, everything indicates that there are indeed economic reasons to think that scale can favor large institutions because fixed costs, technological investment capacity, and the availability of specialists can generate competitive advantages. But it is not enough to state that the US offshore is becoming an exclusive business for the big players; competition also depends on the ability of small firms to specialize, outsource functions, automate processes, and carefully select their clients.
The most probable scenario is not necessarily the disappearance of the small ones, but a more marked differentiation between business models; on one hand, large banks and platforms can offer comprehensive services, global infrastructure, and capacity to serve complex wealth. On the other, boutique firms can compete through regional specialization, personalized attention, and knowledge of specific segments of the Latin American market. The problem is that regulation can raise the minimum operating threshold. An institution that previously could serve a small number of international clients with a relatively simple structure may now need more sophisticated processes to remain competitive.
The US offshore market was born and developed around the capacity to attract international capital, offer sophisticated financial services, and connect investors with global markets. Today, a growing part of competition may depend on something less visible: the ability to comply. The bank that best identifies risks, the manager that maintains stronger files, and the platform that automates its processes can have an advantage over their competitors, but that advantage has a cost.
For investors, compliance can mean greater security, transparency, and trust; for institutions, it represents instead a necessary investment to operate. And for small firms, it can become the difference between growing, specializing, or abandoning certain market segments. The question is not whether the offshore must comply, but who can pay the price of doing so and what effects that cost will have on competition. Because in the new map of international money, the capacity to manage wealth may continue to be important, but the capacity to demonstrate that it is managed correctly may be the one that determines who remains in business.
In its latest positioning report, the investment bank described valuations as “reasonable,” given corporate earnings prospects and nominal GDP growth.
According to the firm, corporate earnings remain the primary driver of the equity rally, a variable they expect to continue trending upward.
Morgan Stanley holds a particularly bullish view on the U.S., which is the only equity market they currently recommend overweighting.
Despite a global economic environment marked by inflation, uncertainty, and geopolitical tension, global equity markets have been on a run. With varying results across geographies and sectors, global equity benchmarks have risen strongly, driven primarily by the excitement surrounding the artificial intelligence boom, which has had Wall Street, in particular, as one of its epicenters. And while this positive momentum has raised several questions—and anxieties—around equity valuation levels, prices are supported by fundamentals. That is Morgan Stanley’s stance on the matter.
According to the bank’s latest global positioning report, BEAT (an acronym for Bonds, Equities, Alternatives, and Transition) for the third quarter of the year, economic fundamentals support valuations.
“While headline valuations appear elevated, they remain reasonable relative to earnings growth prospects and a structurally stronger nominal economy,” the investment bank noted in its recent report.
Along those lines, they added that they expect “the market to broaden out as geopolitical tensions ease, with many sectors still trading at lower valuations, leaving room for a rebound.”
Regarding the recent upside in equity markets, Morgan Stanley emphasized that it has been driven by corporate results rather than higher multiples. Current multiples, they noted, “are not extreme when viewed relative to the last five to ten years.”
Tailwinds for Stock Markets
One of the drivers Morgan Stanley sees for equities is related to economic dynamics. “Stronger nominal GDP growth supports corporate revenue expansion, earnings growth, and cash flow generation, creating a favorable environment for equities,” they commented in their report.
Added to this is the public policy component, given that the investment bank anticipates that fiscal policies, deregulation, and tax-driven growth “are likely to reinforce this.”
For the firm, corporate earnings remain the primary driver of the equity rally. Looking ahead, they anticipate this variable will continue to trend upward, supported by “resilient demand, productivity gains, and expanding capex cycles.” This trajectory, they predicted, will run its course as long as the capital expenditure cycle continues to rise.
Currently, an expanding capex cycle is closely tied to the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence models across all levels of the economy, in what many describe as a new industrial revolution. This deployment of corporate muscle has helped keep investor optimism alive amid uncertainties.
An Interesting Dynamic in the U.S.
Stock markets overall have posted relatively solid performance. The MSCI All Country World Index, which tracks global equities broadly, has gained 18.2% over the last 12 months. The United States as a whole has performed on par with the rest of the world—with one-year gains of 16.6% for the MSCI USA Index and 16.7% for the MSCI World ex USA Index—but its technology sector has stood out in particular.
Reflecting this, while the S&P 500 has appreciated 16.7% over 12 months and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 11.8%, the Nasdaq Composite has surged 20.4%.
Echoing its positive view on the fundamentals behind equity valuations, Morgan Stanley sees room for Wall Street to run further. In fact, in its positioning recommendations, the U.S. stock market is the only one rated Overweight.
This recommendation is backed by a “constructively positive view on overall growth and earnings in 2026.” In that regard, they highlighted that fiscal stimulus from the country’s One Big Beautiful Bill, deregulation efforts, and ongoing AI adoption “continue to support growth.”
In contrast, the firm holds a Neutral view on Japanese and Emerging Market equities, and an Underweight recommendation on European equities.
With anxieties over a strong version of the El Niño phenomenon confirmed, markets are preparing to deal with the economic impacts across Latin American countries. The consensus is that there will be widespread consequences due to the disruption of markets such as energy and agriculture, but also areas where opportunities could arise. Furthermore, financial sector actors point out that not all countries in the region experience this climate phenomenon in the same way or with the same intensity.
United Nations analyses warn of an El Niño of historic magnitude. Estimates from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) assign a probability of over 90% that the phenomenon will reach a very high intensity during the northern autumn-winter period (spring-summer in the Southern Hemisphere). What’s more, they place the probability of it reaching a historic level—the so-called Super El Niño—at 69%.
Economic impacts are going to be deeply heterogeneous and persistent, according to comments by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in a recent report. The entity anticipates a real GDP contraction, inflationary pressures, poverty, and critical vulnerability in key sectors such as energy, fishing, agriculture, and certain infrastructure.
Neuberger shares the view that the ocean warming phenomenon can have “substantial” consequences. Disruptions in agricultural production, food security, and power generation can feed inflation, against a backdrop where consumer prices are already trending upward with the jump in oil and the prolonged conflict in the Middle East.
A Second Phase of the Phenomenon
“It is expected to have an impact in two phases. The first has already been taking place this year,” says Jorge Espada, co-founder and Managing Partner at Valoro Capital. The first relates to the warming of waters and climate, mainly affecting primary activities.
In the case of Peru—one of the countries that tends to be most affected by El Niño—sectors like fishing were hit, impacting anchovy production, among others, as well as certain crops like mango, both for export and domestic consumption.
Now, concern is linked to the second phase of the phenomenon, a period expected to extend between November of this year and March of next year. “We are watching what could be the second phase, which is expected to be the strongest,” Espada explains. This stretch, associated with heavy rains, could damage infrastructure and cause road closures.
This generates larger losses, he adds, “damaging the economy’s payment chain,” though he also notes that both businesses and the government are taking measures to prepare, especially in specific areas.
All in all, the expectation is that the impact will be widespread. ECLAC calculations point to an extreme El Niño generating a cumulative loss of at least 2% of regional GDP over a three-year period, “half of which will be concentrated in the first year following the climate event.” At the same time, they expect the effect on households could increase poverty in Latin America by up to 4.8 million people toward the end of the decade, compared to a scenario without the climate phenomenon.
Main Effects
“Countries in Latin America and Southeast Asia tend to be among the most exposed. Economies like Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Indonesia, and the Philippines are particularly sensitive given their exposure to agriculture, fishing, and weather-dependent energy infrastructure,” Neuberger notes. Ecuador, for example, gets 78% of its energy from hydroelectric sources, meaning a severe drought could affect energy supply, driving up prices and impacting growth.
On the other hand, some countries could even benefit, as rainfall patterns could support agriculture and power generation. “Argentina, for example, where agriculture represents around 50% of exported goods, benefits from heavier rains in its agricultural heartland of the Pampas,” the asset manager indicated in a recent market commentary. Paraguay could also benefit on the energy side.
The financial sector could also be affected by El Niño, although “it is still too early to gauge the impact,” as highlighted by JPMorgan. Banco do Brasil, for instance, is seen as the most exposed firm, given that agribusiness is linked to a third of its credit portfolio. However, since clear performance trends in soybeans and corn have not emerged in previous cycles, “it is too early to determine a direction.” For now, they anticipate the company will continue to be impacted.
Among insurers, they identified India’s IRB and Brazil’s BB Seguridade Participações as the most exposed to the climate risk associated with the phenomenon, followed by Porto Seguro, also Brazilian. “We recall that agricultural business insurance primarily protects against production losses, rather than price fluctuations,” they emphasized in a recent report.
Photo courtesyLeopoldo Ferris Wallis, Investment Professional at Insigneo
Insigneo, a leading international wealth management firm, is pleased to welcome Leopoldo “Leo” Ferris Wallis as an Investment Professional. Based in New York, Ferris joins Insigneo’s network of professionals, bringing more than three decades of experience in international wealth management, private banking, and offshore business development. Ferris will conduct his wealth management business through REL Capital, an entity registered as a d/b/a within Insigneo’s network, reflecting both his established practice and Insigneo’s model of supporting advisor-led businesses through its comprehensive wealth management platform.
“Joining Insigneo represents an exciting step in my career and an opportunity to continue growing REL Capital through a platform with robust international capabilities,” said Leopoldo Ferris Wallis, Investment Professional at Insigneo. “I look forward to continuing to serve clients with a tailored approach, while leveraging the resources and solutions available across the Insigneo network.”
Prior to joining Insigneo, Ferris served as Senior Vice President at Oppenheimer & Co. in New York, where he managed client portfolios and developed long-term relationships with institutional and high-net-worth private clients. His career also includes senior positions at Morgan Stanley, Banco Santander International, Banco Español de Crédito, Banco Provincial (BBVA), and Banvenez Trading. Throughout his career, he has focused on complex portfolios, strategic market development, and tailored solutions for high-net-worth individuals and institutional clients. Ferris holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University Bloomington and an MBA from Boston University. He also completed the Advanced Management Program at IESA in Caracas, Venezuela.
“We are delighted to welcome Leo to Insigneo and to our growing New York team,” noted Alfredo J. Maldonado, Market Head for New York and the U.S. Northeast at Insigneo. “His extensive background in international wealth management, private banking, and cross-border markets will be a valuable addition to our network, and we look forward to supporting him as he continues to build his business and serve his clients.” The addition of Ferris further strengthens Insigneo’s presence in New York and underscores the firm’s ongoing focus on attracting experienced investment professionals seeking a platform built to support independent, client-centric business models.
Photo courtesyTed Stratigos, Global Head of Aladdin Wealth Tech.
As wealth management continues to evolve, institutions are seeking ways to combine the personalization and trust of traditional private banking with the scale, efficiency, and analytical capabilities demanded by today’s clients. In the experience of Ted Stratigos, Global Head of Aladdin Wealth Tech, this requires technology that empowers advisors through a comprehensive view of client needs, deeper portfolio analysis, and the ability to deliver consistent, tailored advice with greater confidence and efficiency. We discussed and reflected on these topics in this interview with him.
What specific needs do wealth management and private banking institutions have?
In addition to seeking technology that empowers advisors, many institutions are expanding their discretionary portfolio management capabilities. This creates demand for technology capable of delivering portfolio construction, execution, and monitoring in a scalable way for large client bases, while maintaining the appropriate levels of personalization and oversight.
What do these institutions value most when selecting a tech provider?
The most important consideration is whether a platform helps advisors deliver more informed and personalized advice, while reinforcing, rather than replacing, the relationship between advisor and client. In markets where private banking is heavily relationship-driven, institutions seek technology that supports more proactive advice, a clearer view of portfolios, and more personalized client interaction at scale. They also demand reliable analytics, risk supervision, and integrated workflows for both advisory and discretionary management, featuring technology that adapts to the systems advisors already use. Increasingly, institutions are also looking for flexibility, transparency, and applicability, including AI capabilities grounded in high-quality data and robust governance frameworks.
What does Aladdin Wealth offer, and why do you think it is one of the most widely used platforms in the market?
Aladdin Wealth is designed to help advisors move from insight to action within a single, connected platform. By integrating data, analytics, portfolio construction, risk supervision, and advisor workflows, it enables institutions to operate from a shared view of the client and their portfolio. The platform brings institutional-grade technology and risk analytics to the wealth management space, helping advisors and discretionary managers handle portfolio complexity more effectively.
What is its key aspect for advisory services?
A key aspect is that Aladdin Wealth supports both advisory and discretionary management business models. As wealth managers seek to scale their management capabilities while preserving a personalized client experience, institutions demand technology capable of connecting investment ideas, model portfolios, execution, and ongoing oversight across the entire value chain. Furthermore, it is important to note that the transformation of wealth management extends beyond traditional private banking. Institutions are seeking technology platforms that can support a broader range of client segments and business models.
Aladdin Wealth offers integrated workflows across various wealth management businesses, supporting private banking, asset managers, mass affluent, and retail banking segments. This helps institutions create a more connected, consistent, and scalable ecosystem for portfolio management, client interaction, and investment decision-making. Instead of devoting resources to maintaining fragmented tech environments, institutions can focus on what sets them apart most: delivering high-quality advice, superior client service, and a more personalized experience.
Where is technology heading in the wealth management and private banking sector?
The sector is moving toward a future where technology, data, and human expertise collaborate to deliver more personalized advice at scale. Technology will play a crucial role by allowing managers to execute their investment ideas, monitor risk, and maintain portfolio oversight, enabling personalization where appropriate. We anticipate that AI and intelligent automation will become increasingly integrated into the advisor’s workflow—from synthesizing portfolio insights and detecting opportunities to supporting client communication and generating investment proposals.
Wealth management firms are shifting from building and maintaining tech infrastructure to using technology as a strategic driver of growth, differentiation, and client service. The winning institutions will be those that combine reliable data, intelligent automation, and human judgment, allowing advisors to deepen client relationships, respond faster to changing market conditions, and deliver more relevant advice in an increasingly complex investment environment.
How is Aladdin Wealth responding to this evolution?
Aladdin Wealth already incorporates AI-based capabilities designed to help advisors work more efficiently and make more informed decisions. However, the effectiveness of these tools will ultimately depend on the quality of the underlying data, the strength of governance frameworks, and the ability to explain analytics in a way that advisors and clients can understand and trust. Importantly, we view AI as an enhancement to the advisor’s capabilities and workflows, never as a replacement. Wealth management is built on personal relationships and trust; AI represents an opportunity to free up advisor time so they can focus on what truly matters.
The U.S. ETF sector has expanded significantly over recent decades, both in product variety and total volume. According to JPMorgan data, as of late August, there were more than 5,100 ETFs listed in the United States, representing approximately $16.4 trillion in assets under management. "New launches remain robust as providers address new investment themes, offer more granular exposures, expand investment universe coverage, diversify the range of structured outcomes, and continue transferring active management strategies into the ETF wrapper," the firm notes.
Against a backdrop of global growth in exchange-traded funds, JPMorgan highlights four prominent trends currently shaping the global ETF industry:
1. Active ETFs Continue Rapid Expansion
Active products have accounted for more than 60% of new ETF launches in each of the last six years. In the United States, active ETFs now outnumber passive ones, with year-over-year asset growth of around 80%, reaching $1.8 trillion. They are also a key driver for issuers and investors in international markets such as EMEA, where assets under management have roughly doubled year-over-year to $122 billion.
2. Option-Based ETFs Are Booming
Option-based ETFs utilize options contracts (calls and puts) to achieve specific objectives, most commonly income generation (yield) and downside risk mitigation (hedging). Assets in U.S. option-based ETF strategies grew approximately 50% year-over-year to roughly $280 billion (as of mid-May 2026). Covered call funds, which sell call options to generate income, remain the largest segment. However, the fastest growth is occurring in structured outcome ETFs, which aim to deliver payoff profiles similar to structured products.
3. Rise of Leveraged ETFs
Leveraged ETFs, which use debt and financial derivatives to amplify the daily returns of an underlying benchmark index, have also gained popularity. Over the past decade, assets under management (AUM) in U.S.-listed leveraged ETFs have increased nearly sixfold, reaching around $175 billion in equity strategies and over $190 billion across all asset classes (as of mid-May 2026). Growth has been increasingly concentrated in technology-linked exposures, including the Nasdaq, and single-stock leveraged products.
4. Resurgence of Thematic ETFs
Thematic ETFs experienced a major surge early in the pandemic as investor demand grew for exposures tied to innovation and digitalization. Many of these themes subsequently underperformed significantly in late 2021 and throughout 2022 due to market saturation and valuation compression, resulting in a prolonged demand slump. However, they have rebounded over the past year, with themes linked to artificial intelligence development and physical infrastructure buildout attracting substantial capital inflows.
Amerant Investments is bolstering its commitment to the Latin American wealth management market with a strategy that extends beyond expanding its product offerings: it is recruiting executives with extensive experience from top U.S. wealth management platforms into its ranks.
The firm, a subsidiary of Amerant Bank, announced the hiring of Jorge Morasso as Vice President and Wealth Management Advisor, following a career of more than 25 years serving high-net-worth international clients, particularly from Latin America. Morasso worked as a financial advisor at Citi and previously spent over a decade at Morgan Stanley.
Based in Coral Gables, Florida, his new responsibilities will focus on serving individuals, families, entrepreneurs, and business owners across Latin America, with specialized expertise in clients connected to Venezuela.
The move carries added significance when viewed alongside another recent key hire. In July, Amerant Investments appointed Ricardo Sucre, who also brings experience from Morgan Stanley, as Head of Business Development for International Wealth Management. Sucre joined with over two decades of experience serving international clients and an explicit mandate to expand the business and attract experienced financial advisors.
Rather than two isolated moves, these hires point toward a platform-building strategy: Amerant seeks to combine the investment capabilities of its broker-dealer with the banking and credit infrastructure of Amerant Bank to compete for a share of Latin American wealth managed from the United States.
The company itself has defined its platform as an integrated model to serve Latin American clients, while its corporate strategy includes selective investments in business development and wealth management talent.
A Florida Bank Focused on Latin American Wealth
The strategic push also has a clear quantitative dimension. Amerant Bancorp closed 2025 with approximately $3.3 billion in assets under management and custody. By the second quarter of 2026, that figure reached $3.37 billion, according to its financial results.
The bank also reported $10.3 billion in total assets and $8.4 billion in deposits at the end of June 2026, demonstrating that the wealth management platform is part of a larger-scale banking operation.
There is another particularly telling detail for the Latin American market: in the first quarter of 2026, Amerant reported approximately $2.006 billion in deposits from clients domiciled in Venezuela, compared to around $705 million from other foreign clients.
This figure explains why Venezuela explicitly features in the firm’s international strategy, even though Amerant’s stated target is regional, encompassing clients throughout Latin America.
Amerant’s move occurs in a market where U.S. financial institutions compete not only to capture assets, but also to recruit advisors who maintain long-standing relationships with Latin American families.
This logic is especially critical in the offshore business, where the advisor serves as the entry point for wealth requiring simultaneous investment, credit, banking, estate planning, and structures across multiple jurisdictions.
In this context, Amerant’s narrative places the integration of banking and investments at the center of its value proposition. The firm offers personalized wealth management and a platform that combines investments, banking, and financial planning, with access to products such as funds, ETFs, fixed income, structured products, and alternatives.
Morasso’s arrival thus reinforces a strategy aimed at more than organic growth; at its core, it seeks to integrate relationships, expertise, and deep understanding of the Latin American client to accelerate the expansion of its international wealth management business.
For Amerant, the challenge will be translating this platform and new talent from major global firms into greater Latin American wealth capture. For established competitors in Miami, the signal is distinct yet equally clear: the international business continues to attract capital—and with it, a renewed battle for the advisors capable of managing it.
State Street Investment Management has announced the launch of the State Street SPDR UC Investments 90/10 Endowment Strategy Index ETF, an asset allocation exchange-traded fund developed in collaboration with UC Investments, the investment division of the University of California and the provider of the fund’s index. The launch is backed by a $2.5 billion seed investment from UC Investments. The ETF has been trading on NYSE Arca since September 1.
The fund aims to track the UC Investments 90/10 Endowment Strategy Index, which combines broad exposure to U.S. equities with exposure to short-duration investment-grade corporate bonds. The index allocates 90% of its weight to the S&P 500 Index and the remaining 10% to the S&P U.S. Investment Grade Corporate Bond 1-3 Year Index, which includes U.S. dollar-denominated, investment-grade corporate bonds with maturities between one and three years.
UC Investments and S&P Dow Jones Indices custom-developed this index, inspired by the institution’s $7.9 billion “Blue and Gold Endowment Pool”—a long-term strategy in public markets that, since its inception seven years ago, has been the top-performing product within UC Investments’ portfolio. The strategy reflects UC Investments’ conviction that low-cost, liquid, and diversified public market exposure can generate attractive long-term returns while avoiding the complexity and illiquidity of traditional endowment models.
By embedding this philosophy into an ETF, UCBG offers long-term investors access to UC Investments’ approach, which was previously only available within the institution’s portfolio and directly to employees across its ten campuses and six medical centers through its retirement savings program—the second-largest public defined contribution program in the nation, behind only the federal government’s.
“At UC Investments, we are focused on building long-term, cost-effective portfolios to support our hundreds of thousands of students, faculty, staff, and alumni for generations to come,” said Jagdeep Singh Bachher, Chief Investment Officer of the University of California. “The launch of this ETF brings our institutional investment philosophy within reach of a broader investor community through the transparency, efficiency, and accessibility of the ETF structure, while staying true to the principles that have guided our investment approach,” he added.
The ETF builds on State Street’s longstanding relationship with UC Investments. State Street Investment Management currently provides asset management services to UC Investments’ portfolio of over $200 billion, spanning pensions, endowments, and other assets, while State Street Bank and Trust Company provides custody and other investment services.
“Our relationship with UC Investments spans more than two decades and has always been driven by innovation. With this launch, we are bringing an endowment-inspired strategy to a much broader range of investors with the low cost and transparency that make ETFs so powerful,” said Ronald O’Hanley, Chairman and CEO of State Street Corporation.
“This collaboration demonstrates what can be achieved when a leading asset owner and asset manager work together to turn a successful institutional investment strategy into an accessible solution for investors,” said Yie-Hsin Hung, President and CEO of State Street Investment Management. “It reflects our commitment to helping clients expand their investment priorities into new markets and investor communities.”
Photo courtesyRepresentatives of the ReachingU Foundation, from Left to Right: Gustavo Civetta, Director; Paula Mosera, Executive Director; Beatriz Ponce de León, Board Chair; Pía Sojo, Director; Nick Stanham, Director; Pablo Haberer, Director; and Ricardo Salmon, Director
Artificial intelligence and education may seem like distant worlds, but they were precisely the two ends of a single conversation during ReachingU’s 25th anniversary celebration dinner in Miami.
The Uruguayan foundation, dedicated to expanding educational opportunities for children and adolescents in the country, brought together members of its community and allies on Wednesday, September 16, at the EAST Miami Hotel for an evening that combined philanthropy, technology, and art.
One of the central themes of the night was the transformation being driven by artificial intelligence. Nicolás Loeff, co-founder and CTO of BrainLogic AI, shared a perspective on the global evolution of this technology and the changes it is generating across various fields.
Another perspective came directly from Uruguayan classrooms. Teacher Pablo Mollo brought a much more concrete reality to the table: the daily challenges of education and the impact of programs aimed at expanding opportunities for students.
The contrast between both perspectives ultimately gave the gathering a significance that extended beyond the anniversary itself. As technology redefines the tools and capabilities available to new generations, educational systems face the challenge of ensuring those opportunities effectively reach children and youth.
The program also featured an artistic component. During the evening, a live auction was held for works donated by artists connected to the foundation. Among the auctioned pieces was “Fuente de Luz,” a sculpture created by Pablo Atchugarry specifically to commemorate ReachingU’s 25 years, alongside a work by Guillermo García Cruz and two silkscreen prints by Daniel Supervielle.
The event featured UBS as the main sponsor and partner of the foundation, while EAST Miami Hotel hosted the evening. Vinos Santa Rosa and Chocolates Haas also participated as event supporters.
Beyond the celebration, fundraising remained the core focus. The resources raised during the night will go toward the educational programs ReachingU develops in Uruguay, which aim to expand opportunities for thousands of children and adolescents.
The anniversary arrives at a time when education faces a dual transformation: on one hand, the accelerated adoption of artificial intelligence tools; on the other, the persistence of gaps that determine who can truly access better educational opportunities.
For ReachingU, the commitment remains firmly at that intersection: turning education into a pathway to expand possibilities for future generations while mobilizing private resources toward that goal from Miami and other international communities.
