Gaining Perspective

Asset allocation, manager diligence and selection and risk control are the core contributors to investment performance.  As investors face a subdued economic outlook with increased volatility, making the right decisions in each of those disciplines is essential. 

One of the most consequential decisions in every one of our lives is enrolling in Medicare. We will make fateful decisions that will affect our healthcare for the rest of our lives. Danielle Roberts, an expert on Medicare enrolment, examines the choices we must make.

Dr. Suzanne Peterson delivered a keynote presentation at the NAPFA spring conference, and Bob discusses her penetrating insights about the unconventional questions advisors should ask to select for exceptional new hires. Bob also tells us what he really thinks about Reg BI - and what is in store for attendees of his upcoming conference.

Several years ago, Allison Schrager walked into the Moonlite BunnyRanch, a legal brothel in Nevada. She was there to study economics – specifically how the owners and sex workers dealt with and reduced the risks of their professions. Allison discusses the lessons from that experience, as well as a number of other professions she has studied - including the recent Jeopardy champion, James Holtzhaue...

ONLN is the only ETF that lets investors tap into the explosive growth of online retail by pinpointing retailers that principally sell online—and then zeroing in on its largest, most iconic companies, like Amazon and Alibaba.

A barrier to ESG and SRI adoption is the one-size-fits-all approach inherent in mutual funds and ETFs. But a new solution allows advisors to create SMAs that are customized based on each of your clients’ values, needs and preferences.

Do you play the piano with one or both hands? That is how Nasdaq Dorsey Wright describes the relationship between using fundamental and technical research for thousands of advisors who use both in their investment practice. Technical analysis focuses on the steadfast relationship between supply and demand in the markets. No firm has been as dominant and successful in the field of technical analysi...

A white label approach streamlines the ETF launching process, by using filings and approvals that are already in place with the SEC

If there is one asset class where advisors have taken a do-it-yourself approach, it is municipal bonds. Advisors and their clients often buy individual muni bonds and hold them until maturity. But the muni market is very broad, diverse and complex – and those are the ingredients that favor professional management.

Recessionary fears have subsided and all signs are that the global economy has stabilized, albeit at a less-than-desired growth rate. But risks abound – tariffs on Chinese goods that could trigger a trade war, Brexit negotiations, rising oil prices and a possible Fed rate hike.

Ever since the growth of robo advisors began to accelerate nearly a decade ago, the dominant trend facing advisors has been the commoditization of investment advice. With the proliferation of high-quality, low-cost investment solutions, advisors have increasingly outsourced their investing, freeing up valuable resources to help clients in other ways. But that doesn’t mean that all outsourced solut...

The most successful advisory firms are building their technology framework around their optimal client and the experience they want to deliver to that client. What’s most important when designing an experience is considering how it adds value to the advisor-client relationship.

Many advisors have yet to take the plunge into ESG Investing. They see the ESG label, and fear client portfolio performance will suffer for the sake of impact. Strip away that label, and advisors immediately see the value of planning for sustainability and avoiding companies exposed to negative events such as fraud, ethics violations and environmental catastrophes.

After the tumult of Q4 2018, investors deserved an easy quarter, and they got it. The Q4 trends of falling rates and rising economic concerns continued. But risk assets, like stocks and non-government fixed income spread products, pulled out of their nose dives with strong performances in Q1 2019. As we look ahead to the remainder of this year, what should bond investors expect?

There are three legs to the retirement problem: determining an appropriate savings and spending plan, having the right amount of insurance, and constructing an appropriate portfolio. Achieving those three goals and smoothing consumption, especially during the critical period just before and after retirement, is a complex and computationally intensive undertaking.

Value investors have fared poorly over the last decade, as traditional value indices have trailed their corresponding growth counterparts. But that doesn’t mean that all value funds have done poorly. Indeed, one notable exception has been the Matthews Asia Value Fund (MAVRX).

With equity valuations at elevated levels, subdued economic growth due to changing demographics and stubbornly low productivity gains, as well as a bleak outlook for fixed income, advisors are challenged to rethink foundational portfolio elements of investor portfolios—which means seeking out strategies that bolster the core going forward.

Nearly two million financial plans were created in the last year using MoneyGuidePro®. The two individuals who are charged with overseeing the success of the acquisition of PIEtech®, the parent company of MoneyGuidePro®, discuss what that means for their clients.

As advisors have expanded their suite of financial planning services and sought new ways to add value to their client relationships, they have also committed to solutions to streamline their investment management. One of those solutions is a model portfolio, which consist of allocations to a group of mutual funds that meet the goals and risk tolerances of their clients.

While there are many ways to gain individual exposure to the value, size, quality, momentum and low volatility factors, multifactor strategies combine exposure to all of them. Choosing the right one for client portfolios is incredibly difficult.

The chief investment strategist at one of the world’s largest asset managers provides insight into the six themes that will drive the global economy and capital market returns.

The traditional role of asset managers has been limited to investment management, which is understandable considering the challenge of consistently delivering superior returns. While many asset managers provide resources and education to advisors, rarely do they make that part of their core mission.

American investors are confronted by accelerating complexity, sub-par returns and minimal coordination between their assets, investment strategies and underlying liabilities. When one considers that millions of investors struggle with the same challenges, you realize that America’s multi-trillion-dollar personal savings market is plagued by systemic inefficiency.

In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, many individual investors were left questioning the effectiveness of their investment strategies. While many believed their portfolios were well-diversified, as the financial system faltered, they saw a large portion of their investments decline. Investors have grown weary of fund managers who profess to provide excess returns, while gains they real...

VSL uses a volatility-driven, short-term capital appreciation model. Don Catrambone explains how that has made VSL the top performing large-cap ETF in 2019 year-to-date.