As the Chairman of Diffractive Managers Group, John Hailer is uniquely focused on helping his clients to foster positive growth in their financial portfolios. A seasoned veteran in the field with decades of experience as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Natixis John Hailer took to a string of interviews to explore what can make for a successful portfolio. During his questions, Hailer also underscored the idea of fostering trust between clients and asset managers.
Placing Investors at the Forefront
When the market crashed in 2008, it left people around the nation with portfolios worth next to nothing. This financial disaster could have been avoided, at least in the mind of John Hailer. Hailer pointed to the industry’s decision to step away from the Prudent Man Rule at the time, a methodology of investing that made sure the income and safety of the principal were never in question.
Hailer stated in his interview on the market collapse, “We failed people. This never should have happened. If investors’ portfolios were properly diversified, we would’ve seen much more resilience.”
The crash, from John Hailer’s perspective, was due in large part to investors being sold bold strategies with little regard to how they might actually fit in with the rest of their portfolio. To emphasize his point, Hailer added, “A basket filled with every type of fruit imaginable is still just a basket of fruit.”
Through information and education, Hailer was one of the key figures in sweeping changes throughout the industry. Hailer said, “We were able to help them make better investment decisions, get more consistent returns in their portfolios, and ultimately be better fiduciaries for their investors.”
Ultimately, Hailer continues to hope that they can reduce the commodification of the industry by making it less sales-oriented, and providing a service instead of a product.
Placing Ideas Into the Playing Field
After departing from Natixis Global Asset Management, John Hailer would engineer the development of the Durable Portfolio Construction Research Center to better offer free portfolio services to potential clients. Through this service center, Hailer’s team is able to meet the needs of product-agnostic investors, providing them with strategies and tools to become successful down the line.
Hailer’s suggestion to offer free services wasn’t immediately embraced by the industry around him. Hailer said, “At the time, I took some grief over it because companies need to run on financials.”
Through the free portfolio investing services offered by the DPCRC, Hailer and his team were able to build trust with their clients while fostering positive growth within the industry. Hailer said, “We showed that helping clients become better fiduciaries and helping them remain relevant in various market conditions built a lot of trust.”
Through his efforts, Natixis would grow from $130 billion to more than $900 billion in just 145 years with the program serving as a key vanguard for industry-wide change.
