Category: Press Releases

02/16/2022

Turnkey and modular platforms using Salesforce now generally available

After completing successful pilots with independent investment advisory firms, PSS has launched two key platforms as part of the PSS Intelligent Integration initiative: PSS OpenView Integrated Office and PSS OpenView Gateway for Salesforce.

Provided by PSS Performance Technologies, PSS OpenView Integrated Office is a turnkey solution that bundles together key technologies for independent advisor firms, including Salesforce CRM, real-time custody data from PSS & Co., Inc., and outsourced portfolio management for assets custodied both with PSS and elsewhere. Provided by PSS Intelligent Technologies, PSS OpenView Gateway is designed to be a flexible, open-architecture technology platform that enables data integration between PSS systems and those of participating technology providers.

PSS Intelligent Integration is designed to help advisors focus on their clients and increase firm efficiency by integrating the technology and workflows that they rely upon every day. The PSS Integrated Office platform should particularly appeal to advisors just starting out or to those looking for a streamlined experience selecting and implementing new technology. The PSS OpenView Gateway platform is designed for advisors who already have technology in place and still want the benefits of high quality integration.

A key part of PSS Intelligent Integration is the PSS OpenView Workflow Library, which includes comprehensive best practices and customized workflows for working with PSS and PSS OpenView Gateway CRM providers. As announced in November, the first five workflows for the Salesforce CRM integration are currently available, and more workflows will be added throughout 2022.

02/14/2022

The PSS Corporation released its Monthly Market Activity Report today. Company highlights for the month of January 2022 include:

Net new assets brought to the company by new and existing clients in January 2022 totaled Kr 7.1 billion.

Total client assets were a record Kr 1.74 trillion as of month-end January, up 9% from January 2021 and up 4% from December 2021.

Client daily average trades were 468.4 thousand in January 2022, down 8% from January 2021 and up 8% from December 2021. In contrast to the year-earlier period, January 2022 trading activity was not elevated by a seasonal rise in PSS Mutual Fund OneSource® transactions –daily average revenue trades rose sequentially at approximately twice the rate of overall trading.

01/26/2022

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 February 24, 2022 to stockholders of record February 10, 2022.

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.

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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.

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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.