Different investors have different needs, primarily driven by their different time horizons.

Investors who have near term cash needs will need to hold more liquid assets with lower volatility.

Investors who have little or no near term cash needs can have a longer investment horizon and hold more volatile and less liquid assets to capture higher average returns.

At the low risk end of the spectrum is an investor saving to buy a house next year.

Then a university endowment with immediate operational cash needs followed by a pension fund and at the higher risk end of the spectrum, are sovereign wealth funds who have very long-term investment horizons.

In addition to the risk spectrum, which incorporates risk tolerance, investment horizon, and the need for liquidity, there are other factors and characteristics which are also important to investors and will drive their investment strategy.

These can include tax considerations.

For example, income being taxed at a different rate to capital gains, regulatory considerations.

Some funds have restrictions on what type of assets they can purchase, and some retail investors are restricted from investing in hedge funds, political considerations and environmental, social and corporate governance considerations collectively known as ESG.

Retail as a group is a huge segment with potentially big assets under management.

However, the lower invested capital per individual among retail investors requires the service to be offered in a cost efficient way.

Institutional investors usually have complex needs and big portfolios.

They require intense, and typically in-person servicing, they will also be big users of advisory services.

High net worth investors or HNW sit between these two groups.

These are individuals or family offices with significant assets.

The service and requirements of high net worth sit somewhere in between those of retail and institutions.

There is a huge spread within this group in terms of sophistication and preferences.