Nothing is more essential to a fund company than the products it offers. On Sunday morning, Steven Miyao, CEO of kasina; Doug Beck, managing director and head of product development at DWS Scudder; David Connelly, director of global retail product development at MFS Investment Management; and Drew Elder senior vice president of product strategy and development at Janus, gathered to discuss the intricacies of the process at NICSA's 26th Annual Conference and Expo.

Miyao told attendees to view the product development process like venture capitalists: seed many little products and wait for one to take off. He added that product developers should take a step back and assess what current trends in the market can be incorporated into new products.

Elder advised product developers to take a look at what kind of product will be sustainable in the space they are developing it for and what end benefits it can provide for consumers.

The panel also discussed the difference between trends and fads.

Beck said that he believes that outcome-oriented investing is a true trend, but thinly sliced sector funds are possibly a passing fad. Elder seconded both of these assessments and added that sector ETFs could be classified as an over-hyped product rather than a fad. For his part, Connelly believes that funds utilizing alternative strategies are a real trend.  

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