The O’Shaughnessy Asset Management president told InvestmentNews that volatility is fueling — not slowing — advisor adoption of personalized, tax-managed portfolios, as after-tax returns and transition support become defining competitive advantages.
For Chris Loveless, president of O’Shaughnessy Asset Management (OSAM), the market’s unpredictability has increasingly highlighted the value of personalized, tax-managed portfolio solutions. Loveless, who has spent decades working with advisors, says the recent environment has reinforced both investor resilience and the structural tailwinds supporting OSAM’s approach.
Loveless noted that uncertainty has not derailed client confidence. “It just seems like we continue to roll with it… there seems to be a vibe… that I don’t see a curve ball that’s going to come immediately that’s going to change the trajectory,” Loveless told InvestmentNews during the 2025 Schwab IMPACT conference.
Even bouts of volatility have created opportunities for OSAM’s tax-managed strategies. “It’s like making lemonade out of lemons, because it creates an opportunity to reset bases and create losses. That may play into my laissez faire approach – whatever the market gives us we’ll take either way, but it just seems like it keeps on trucking.”
Advisors seek personalized transitions
At the core of OSAM’s rapid growth is a deepening demand from advisors who are inheriting client portfolios that lack tax management or customization. “They are wanting to move from portfolios that are invested without tax management or the ability to personalize.”
Loveless describes OSAM’s value proposition: “You can bend the portfolio for taxes, you can bend it for values. You can bend it for concentrated stock positions… and bend the portfolio for transition.”
This matters most when advisors win new client relationships and need to align portfolios with what those clients truly want. “The advisor sits down with the client, learns their hopes and goals and dreams and what scares them and says, ‘You know what, I think we [need] a different allocation… and they have to transition it.” OSAM’s goal is to remove the operational burden. “We can help the advisor manage that process, take all the complexity of that off their table.”
Even in a significant downturn, he expects OSAM’s model to continue attracting advisors. “I think we’ll still grow,” Loveless said.
A quant firm built on factor expertise
A major differentiator for OSAM is its bottom-up, research-driven quantitative process. “We are quants at heart. We regard ourselves as factor experts.” Where many firms rely on externally sourced factor definitions, OSAM takes a more exacting route. “I would bet money that we’re the only manager in here… we’re actually calculating that because we understand that factor so well.”
The firm’s approach begins with a filtered universe of securities. “We get rid of stocks that score the worst across value, momentum, yield and quality… then based on whatever the strategy is, we’ll lean toward growth or value or yield.”
OSAM also manages a suite of passive replication portfolios designed for tax efficiency. “We try to manage to no more than 1% tracking error… but it gives us a little wiggle room so that we can deviate, so that we can sell stocks that are at a loss… and then come back to them.”
Innovation and Expansion in 2026
OSAM plans to broaden its platform next year with more options across asset classes and strategy types. “We’ve got enhancements… extension strategies… more fixed income capabilities… We’re going to make it even broader.”
As part of Franklin Templeton for nearly four years, the firm has maintained its identity while accelerating innovation. The relationship has exceeded expectations. “It’s actually exceeded my expectations… [Franklin Templeton has] been incredibly supportive.”
“We have a unique culture… to move at a very fast pace… and you know, that’s tricky to do, but we’re very explicit about it.”
Looking ahead, OSAM defines success by its ability to expand on multiple fronts. “It is assets and accounts and advisors… if we’re not [expanding], something’s off, because we are in a high growth space with a really compelling offering.”
