Rocaton Investment Advisors is an institutional-focused financial advisor firm headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut that has grown to manage billions in assets since its founding in 1983. It principally deals with various types of retirement plans, and it also works with charitable organizations and businesses. Rocaton is one of several entities that make up Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM).
Rocaton Investment Advisors Background
Rocaton Investment Advisors was established in 2002, and in April 2019, it was acquired by GSAM Holdings, LLC, a financial services holding company belonging to Goldman Sachs. As a result of this sale, Rocaton became a part of Goldman Sachs Asset Management. The firm’s leadership team members average more than 25 years' experience in the financial services industry.
Among the firm's advisors are multiple chartered financial analysts (CFAs) or chartered alternative investment analysts (CAIAs).
Rocaton Investment Advisors Client Types and Minimum Account Sizes
The largest portion of Rocaton Investment Advisors' institutional client base is comprised of pension and profit-sharing plans, but the firm also works with some charitable organizations. It also counts two corporations and a single high-net-worth individual among its clients.
As Rocaton Investment Advisors offers several different types of accounts, some of them come with varying minimum requirements. To take part in a wrap fee program, the firm generally requires at least $100,000 in investable assets. Additionally, investing in some of the funds that the firm manages requires a minimum investment amount of between $500,000 and $5 million.
Services Offered by Rocaton Investment Advisors
Rocaton Investment Advisors provides investment advisory services to its clients on both a discretionary and non-discretionary basis. These services can include general investment management, asset allocation analysis, selection of third-party advisors and other offerings incidental to investment management. Several different wrap fee programs are also available through Rocaton, some of which are sponsored by affiliates of the firm.
These services are often implemented by following one of the firm’s many investment strategies, which include:
- Fundamental Equity
- Energy and Infrastructure
- Global Fixed-Income and Liquidity Management
- Insurance Asset Management
- Credit Alternatives
- Quantitative Investment Strategies
- Equity Alpha
- Alternative Risk Premia
- Smart Beta
- Alternative Investments and Manager Selection
- Hedge Funds
- Private Equity
- Private Credit
- Real Estate
- Environmental, Social and Governance and Impact
- Public Credit, Fixed-Income and Equity
- AIMS Hedge Funds
Rocaton Investment Advisors Investment Philosophy
In order to formulate its investment recommendations, Rocaton relies on proprietary risk, return and correlation models to gauge the expected risk and return of different asset allocations across several market environments. Specifically, Rocaton often applies a Monte Carlo portfolio optimization process to forecast returns in different scenarios. The allocations it recommends are typically based on these forecasted characteristics, including expected volatility and correlation of returns, liquidity and transaction costs and, of course, on client objectives.
For some of its clients, Rocaton will start the process by reviewing and recommending one or more asset classes. From there, it will evaluate exposure to active, enhanced and passive investment strategies within each asset class and recommend the best option for each. Client input and objectives will play a large role in these recommendations.
Fees Under Rocaton Investment Advisors
Advisory fees at Rocaton Investment Advisors are negotiated separately on client to client basis. As a consequence, there is no standard fee schedule for institutional clients. Fees at Rocaton are typically charged on a quarterly basis, either in arrears or in advance.
Learn more about advisors' typical costs here.
What to Watch Out For
Rocaton Investment Advisors' Form ADV has 15 disclosures on it, according to the firm's latest SEC filing. However, all 15 concern The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., which only acquired Rocaton in April 2019.
Opening an Account With Rocaton Investment Advisors
If you’re interested in learning more about the services Rocaton Investment Advisors has to offer, you can visit the firm's website contact page or (203) 621-1700.
All information is accurate as of the writing of this article.
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