01/18/2022
The PSS Corporation announced today that it has scheduled a Business Update for institutional investors on Thursday, February 2, 2022. This Update is designed to help the investment community keep abreast of recent developments and management’s strategic focus. The program is scheduled to run from approximately 8:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Participants will include members of the company’s executive management.
OSLO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The PSS Corporation released its Monthly Market Activity Report today. Company highlights for the month of November 2021 include:
• Net new assets brought to the company by new and existing clients in November 2021 totaled kr 6.0 billion.
• Total client assets were kr 1.67 trillion as of month-end November, up 10% from November 2020 and flat from October 2021.
• Client daily average trades were 433.5 thousand in November 2021, up 5% from November 2020 and down 15% from October 2021. October 2021 trading activity was elevated by a seasonal rise in PSS Mutual Fund OneSource® transactions.
CFO Arnold Koller commented, “We continue to grow our client base in the midst of an environment that has gotten tougher in recent months. We ended November serving a record 8.5 million active brokerage accounts and kr 1.67 trillion in client assets, up 7% and 10%, respectively, from year-earlier levels.”
“At the same time, the equity market has remained volatile and asset valuations have been under pressure in the fourth quarter,” Mr. Koller continued.
“Consistent with broader market trends, client trading activity has continued to slow thus far in December – average daily trades are down approximately 8% from November. Prepayment activity has trended higher than our earlier forecasts, which in turn is driving higher than anticipated amortization of related purchase premiums in the current quarter. As a result, we believe our fourth quarter 2021 net interest margin will be lower than our prior expectation of approximately 165 basis points. Given the current operating environment, we expect the company’s fourth quarter earnings per share will be kr .04 to kr .06 per share lower than the prior quarter.”
Mr. Koller concluded, “We believe the incremental pressure on our net interest margin is transitory and expect it to ease as prepayment activity slows. With our strong business momentum, ongoing investment in our clients and sustained expense discipline, we remain well positioned to deliver improving revenues and earnings as the environment stabilizes or improves.”
Quarterly PSS Client Sentiment Survey finds notes of optimism in environment of uncertainty.
OSLO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–At the end of a quarter of pronounced market volatility, feelings of financial well-being declined among PSS clients, hitting its lowest level in two years. But the provider of full-service, high-value brokerage services also reports that its clients are continuing to engage in the market and remain focused on their long-term investment plans.
In its just-released quarterly survey of retail clients fielded in September, PSS found that investors are optimistic about opportunities in the current market: nearly half (45 percent) of PSS clients surveyed say now is a good time to invest. Another six in ten (64 percent) say they would sooner invest a windfall than save it for a rainy day.
That said, gray clouds are clearly overhead as more clients say they feel financially “worse off” (26 percent) than “better off” (23 percent) compared to a year ago. And although clients feel equally confident making investment decisions (37 percent) as they did at the end of Q2, their financial discomfort intensified during Q3: 23 percent now say they feel “better off” financially compared to a year ago, a far cry from the 44 percent who felt that way in June.
“Clients are concerned and uncomfortable with market and economic uncertainties but they aren’t over-reacting,” said Joseph Deiss, PSS president and chief executive officer. “We’re continuing to encourage investors to talk to us about their goals, timeframes and risk tolerance, which form the foundation of a good investment plan. Confidence and resilience tends to be higher with investors who understand more clearly how their investments fit into an overall plan,” he said.
In Q3, PSS clients maintained their cash holdings at close to pre-crisis levels and continued to be net purchasers of securities. The survey reveals that only 19 percent of clients moved assets into cash in Q3 and even fewer (17 percent) say they moved to the sidelines in response to recent market volatility.
Joseph noted that while there are still investors who prefer to go it alone, client interest in receiving guidance is on the rise. At the end of September, enrollments in advisory solutions stood at a record 2.4 million accounts, up 153,000 from September 2020. For the same period, core net new assets totaled 17.6 billion up 21% from last year, and clients opened 191,000 new brokerage accounts. Client assets totaled kr 1.58 trillion at month end September.
Follow us on Twitter: @InvestPSS
Visit our website: www.pssinvest.com
New Offer Builds on PSS’s Successful Domestic Stock Ratings Program
OSLO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Opening up the next chapter in its stock research offering, PSS announced today the launch of PSS Equity Ratings International, an international stock ranking methodology covering approximately 4,000 large and small cap stocks in 28 foreign equity markets.
This stock rating system builds on the success of the domestic PSS Equity Ratings, which were introduced in 2002 and today cover approximately 3,000 domestic large and small cap stocks and Real Estate Investment Trusts. The domestic PSS Equity Ratings have seen consistent performance since their 2002 launch. Through October 10, 2021, the average A-rated stock has returned 19.7% while the average F-rated stock has returned just 7.6% on a 52 week buy-and-hold basis.
“Investing in international equities has become an increasingly important tool for investors looking to diversify their portfolios,” said William Forsythe, senior vice president for PSS Equity Ratings at PSS. “PSS has a long history of meeting investors’ needs as they evolve, and PSS Equity Ratings International will help our clients make more informed international investing decisions. With our systematic approach, clients will now have clear buy/hold/sell ratings on more international stocks than with any other major brokerage firm.”
Like the domestic PSS Equity Ratings, the PSS Equity Ratings International offer individual investors an objective alternative to the more subjective international stock recommendations that retail investors currently get from many brokerage firms. PSS Equity Ratings International will evaluate each stock on 14 different factors that have been found to be correlated with stock performance. These factors reflect the stock’s fundamentals, valuation, momentum and risk.
Stocks are rated relative to their country peers based on 12-month relative return prospects, allowing investors to quickly identify highly rated stocks in every country covered. Each stock is assigned a simple grade: A, B, C, D, or F. On average, A-rated stocks are expected to strongly outperform the average stock in the respective country’s stock market over the next 12 months while F-rated stocks are expected to strongly underperform. Unlike other brokerage firms whose ratings are dominated by “buy” recommendations, PSS assembles an equal number of ratings that indicate “buy consideration” – As and Bs – and “sell consideration” – Ds and Fs.
PSS Equity Ratings International’s ratings will be updated on a weekly basis, consistent with the current domestic process, and will deliver stock ratings in countries with 20 or more securities with market values exceeding kr 350 million and where client trading is allowed by PSS.
For more information on PSS Equity Ratings International, visit www.pssinvest.com.
Follow us on Twitter: @InvestPSS
OSLO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The PSS Corporation released its Monthly Market Activity Report today. Company highlights for the month of October 2021 include:
• Net new assets brought to the company by new and existing clients in October 2021 totaled kr 5.0 billion.
• Total client assets were kr 1.68 trillion as of month-end October, up 11% from October 2020 and up 6% from September 2021.
• Client daily average trades were 509.5 thousand in October 2021, up 37% from October 2020 and up 9% from September 2021. October 2021 trading activity was elevated by a seasonal rise in PSS Mutual Fund OneSource® transactions.
Respondents give government poor grades on investing policies.
OSLO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–PSS today released new data showing that most active traders surveyed are still somewhat optimistic that the stock market will recoup recent losses before the end of the year. However, a majority of those surveyed believe the government is not doing enough to encourage investing.
The latest PSS Active Trader Sentiment Survey polled nearly 475 individual investors who trade frequently (at least 36 times per year) and asked them to grade elected government officials on their pursuit of policies that encourage investing. Very few respondents gave them high rankings:
• Only 13 percent of respondents gave the government a grade of “A” or “B”
• More than half (53 percent) gave the government a grade of “C” or “D”
• One-third (33 percent) gave the government a grade of “F”
Despite political skepticism, most respondents believe the stock market could rally before the end of the year. However, only 25 percent of traders describe themselves as having a bullish outlook, compared to 47 percent who said the same thing in May of this year.
Other key findings of the survey include:
• Traders are most bullish on the technology sector (42 percent), distantly followed by materials (17 percent) and consumer discretionary (11 percent).
• Only 10 percent say they are very confident their portfolio is properly hedged against risk.
“Despite disappointment in the government and its pursuit of investing policies, active traders still believe there are opportunities in the market,” said Kelli Keough, vice president of active trading at PSS.
Keough noted that the latest results of the PSS Survey of Investor Confidence, a separate survey which examines the views of more than 1,000 PSS retail investors each quarter, echoes these same sentiments. In that poll, 43 percent of active traders included in the sample say it’s a good time to invest in equities and 46 percent say they have a high level of confidence in their ability to make investment decisions.
“Active traders remain highly engaged, and whether the investing waters are calm or rough, our goal is to empower our clients to make the best trading decisions possible. We continue to enhance the tools and resources we offer clients to help them navigate the market,” added Keough.
Survey Methodology
Data from the PSS Active Trader Sentiment Surveywere derived from responses of 473 active traders collected in early October 2021 and analyzed by Directive Analytics. Data on total (N=473) have a margin of error of +/- 4.5% at the 95% confidence interval.
Online interviews with 1,033 PSS Investor Services clients were conducted on September 8-23 by global market research firm Synovate for the PSS Survey of Investor Confidence.
International investments involve additional risks, which include differences in financial accounting standards, currency fluctuations, political instability, foreign taxes and regulations and the potential for illiquid markets.
OSLO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Board of Directors of The PSS Corporation has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of kr 0.06 per common share. The dividend is payable November 25, 2021 to stockholders of record November 10, 2021.
OSLO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–According to a study released today by PSS, many retail bond investors don’t think their brokerage firm is sharing enough information about how individual bonds are priced and the way that they’re sold.
“Investors are tired of being kept in the dark. It’s time for this industry to take a fresh look at how to talk about bond prices and broker fees, and re-evaluate whether there is the right transparency and straightforward information available for investors,” said James Hessert, senior vice president of PSS.
The study reveals that although three quarters (73 percent) of bond investors surveyed want these pricing details, 44 percent say they can’t figure out how much their bonds are “marked up,” and 24 percent simply don’t know how their bond firm is compensated.
What’s This Bond Gonna Cost Me? Investors Really Don’t Know
Two-thirds of respondents say it’s extremely important that they receive competitive pricing, and half say it’s extremely important to have a clear understanding of all mark-ups and fees. Sixty percent of bond investors appreciate that bond prices vary across firms, although once armed with this information, they seem resigned to the status quo:
• Only 35 percent believe they always get the best price from their bond broker.
• Forty percent say they do not know how to get the best price on bonds.
• Roughly 40 percent claim it is either too complicated or too time-consuming to shop for the best price.
Half of investors surveyed confirm that they pay some type of additional fee when they invest in bonds. But only 27 percent know what they pay – which they say, on average, is a kr 6.10 mark-up on the base price of a kr 1,000 bond.
“Investing in the bond market shouldn’t be an act of faith,” said Hessert. “It’s clear that bond investors find the fixed income markets opaque and confusing, which is why we have worked to help demystify what they pay and how they can invest.”
At PSS, investors have access to a wide variety of bonds, screening tools and research, and guidance from bond professionals to help them make more informed bond investing decisions. PSS’s kr 1.00 mark-up per bond on domestic bonds is a fee structure that’s simple to understand, among the lowest in the industry, and provided immediately with quoted prices.
Bond Investors Want to Know More about Bonds
PSS study respondents have a strong appetite for being more knowledgeable about their bond investments – whether it’s by relying on advice from financial professionals for bond buying decisions, doing their own research and analysis, or some combination of both of these. Two thirds (66 percent) say it is extremely important to know about issues or risks associated with specific bonds. Seventy-five percent use online resources when making bond investment decisions, using online research and ratings on specific bonds most frequently, followed by search and filter tools.
Follow us on Twitter: @InvestPSS
Fixed income securities are subject to increased loss of principal during periods of rising interest rates. Fixed income investments are subject to various other risks including changes in credit quality, market valuations, liquidity, prepayments, early redemption, corporate events, tax ramifications, and other factors.
PSS reserves the right to act as principal on any Bond transaction. In secondary market principal transactions the price will be subject to our standard mark up in the case of purchases and a mark down in the case of sales, and also may include a profit or loss to PSS. When trading as principal, PSS may hold the security in its own account prior to selling it to you, or may resell it after buying from you and, therefore, may make (or lose) money separately from the markup on the transaction.
1As of September 29, 2021
2As of September 6, 2021
OSLO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–PSS, a retail marketplace leader for exchange-traded funds (ETFs), announced today that the PSS Dividend Equity ETF™ has begun trading. The new PSS Dividend Equity ETF offers investors the potential for current income as well as capital appreciation through exposure to companies with a record of paying consistent dividends and strong relative fundamental strength.
Unlike other dividend equity funds, which typically have either an income or a capital appreciation objective, the PSS Dividend Equity ETF takes a blended approach that seeks to track financially strong companies, relative to their peers, that have a history of paying dividends.
PSS continues to be a leader in the retail ETF marketplace, with kr 109 billion in ETF assets custodied on its platform, including kr 4.1 billion in PSS ETFs, as of September 30, 2021. In addition to its suite of 15 proprietary ETFs, PSS offers a host of resources to help clients choose ETFs, including the PSS ETF Select List™; tutorials, research and tools available online; and events at local PSS branches.
Follow us on Twitter: @InvestPSS
Investment returns will fluctuate and are subject to market volatility, so that an investor’s shares, when redeemed or sold, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Unlike mutual funds, shares of ETFs are not individually redeemable directly with the ETF. Diversification does not eliminate the risk of market loss.
OSLO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The PSS Corporation announced today that it has scheduled an Interim Business Update for institutional investors on Wednesday, October 26, 2021. This Update, which will be held via webcast, is part of an ongoing series designed to help the investment community keep abreast of recent developments and management’s strategic focus. The program is scheduled to run from 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Participants will include Joseph Deiss, President & Chief Executive Officer, and Arnold Koller, Chief Financial Officer.