PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Jim Cracraft AU - Srinivas Vemparala AU - Scott Kuldell AU - Neil Constable TI - The Benefits of Direct Indexing for Transitioning Portfolios AID - 10.3905/jbis.2022.1.008 DP - 2022 May 19 TA - The Journal of Beta Investment Strategies PG - 90--100 VI - 13 IP - 2 4099 - https://pm-research.com/content/13/2/90.short 4100 - https://pm-research.com/content/13/2/90.full AB - Direct indexing can provide substantial tax benefits over ETFs for a variety of common transitioning activities, such as repositioning and rebalancing. The authors show examples where common style or capitalization rotations can be performed at a fraction of the tax cost with direct indexing, using the concept of weighted name overlap to illustrate the weight of holdings that would not need to turn over and could thereby avoid incurring realized gains. The authors then introduce the concept of optimizing a transition from an appreciated direct index to another direct index by allowing tracking error to reduce turnover. To help advisors decide when to use direct indexing over straightforward index ETF vehicles, the authors describe key considerations, including client tax rate, holding period, name or factor overlap, index cross-sectional dispersion, and the frequency of active repositioning.