“How they are operating and what they are doing, they have all had beta at their backs, now they don’t. It’s back to basics and fundamentals.” The RogersCasey house view is that it’s easier to get alpha in some places than others, and these naturally should be the areas of focus for investors. Generally, small is easier than larger, parts of growth and value are easier, global is an approach that allows much more opportunity than regional or country investing, and emerging markets create a great opportunity as an asset class and an active opportunity. Accordingly, the RogersCasey alpha research team is divided into four groups: equity oriented, income focused, real and inflation oriented, and opportunistic.

“Finally this is a time where a good solid understanding of fundamentals and companies, and doing credit analysis will benefit you. It gets back to the work being done,” Barron says. And consulting firms are not exempt from the scrutiny and pressure the asset management firms are under. There is pressure on fees, pressure from clients being unhappy with their portfolios, and more pressure on fundamental research. “For those firms with less robust research capabilities it is an issue. They will have to broaden their horizon. You can’t think you have four people covering hedge funds and five covering large cap value, you can’t think like that because the lines are blurring. You have to have a more nimble approach,” he says. “We don’t think the boutique approach of looking at asset managers works anymore. You have to look across asset managers and ask the fundamental questions of where can I find the best alpha, the best return sources for more clients.”