Nerd's Eye View

APRIL 24, 2024

Over the past few decades, advicers have used Monte Carlo analysis tools to communicate to clients if their assets and planned level of spending were sufficient for them to realize their goals while (critically) not running out of money in retirement. More recently, however, the Monte Carlo "probability of success/failure" framing has attracted some criticism, as it can potentially alter the way that a client perceives risk, leading them to make less-than-ideal decisions.

Communication 178

Communication Retirement Clients Accounting 178

Abnormal Returns

APRIL 24, 2024

Banking The number of bank branches in the U.S. peaked in 2012. (sherwood.news) Where SVB's business stands as JP Morgan ($JPM) looks to make inroads. (bloomberg.com) ETFs Where active ETFs are growing fastest. (morningstar.com) The iShares Bitcoin ETF ($IBIT) is a runaway hit. (theblock.co) Retail investors trade leveraged ETFs way too much. (klementoninvesting.substack.com) TikTok The clock is now ticking for a TikTok divestiture.

Financial Advising 149

Financial Advising Manufacturing Media Retail 149

The Big Picture

APRIL 20, 2024

The weekend is here! Pour yourself a mug of coffee, grab a seat by the fire, and get ready for our longer-form weekend reads: • He Loves Speed, Hates Bureaucracy and Told Ferrari: Go Faster : A tech executive with a new management strategy took the wheel of the luxury carmaker. Then it was off to the races. ( Wall Street Journal ) • Boeing’s problems were as bad as you thought : Experts and whistleblowers testified before Congress today.

Investing 265

Investing Investments Assets Management 265

Abnormal Returns

APRIL 21, 2024

Rates Allan Sloan, "Don’t fall in love with your money fund." (barrons.com) You likely don't need a long-term bond fund. (wsj.com) Strategy The market's most important lessons have to be experienced. (microcapclub.com) No portfolio strategy is perfect. (rogersplanning.blogspot.com) Financial trends reverse just when they seem inevitable. (humbledollar.com) Companies Why Boeing ($BA) took its eye off manufacturing quality.

Financial Advising 250

Financial Advising Taxes Communication Manufacturing 250

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Accounting

Nerd's Eye View

APRIL 22, 2024

Broadly speaking, there are 2 models of working as a financial advisor: operating independently as a firm owner or with a large affiliate platform such as a wirehouse broker-dealer, independent broker-dealer, or larger corporate RIA. Deciding which model to work under is a key moment in beginning or evolving a career as an advisor. In the independent model, owners/advisors are generally paid directly by the clients they serve, and they select and pay for the vendors, services, and employees that

Compliance 220

Compliance Clients Financial Advisor Numbers 220

Calculated Risk

APRIL 24, 2024

From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey Mortgage applications decreased 2.7 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 19, 2024. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 2.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.

Marketing 124

Marketing Marketing 124

The Big Picture

APRIL 21, 2024

Avert your eyes! My Sunday morning look at incompetency, corruption and policy failures: • ‘Water is more valuable than oil’: the corporation cashing in on America’s drought : In an unprecedented deal, a private company purchased land in a tiny Arizona town – and sold its water rights to a suburb 200 miles away. Local residents fear the agreement has ‘opened Pandora’s box.’ ( The Guardian ) • Why don’t rich people eat anymore?

Accounting 150

Accounting Education Assets Management 150

Abnormal Returns

APRIL 21, 2024

Top clicks this week TIPS are on sale. Time to buy. (morningstar.com) Why everyone in finance seems to be doing deadlifts. (wealthmanagement.com) Franklin Templeton ($BEN) is moving aggressively beyond stocks and bonds. (wsj.com) 15 more ideas from Seth Klarman's "Margin of Safety" including 'Investment must be thought of as more than stock selection or making a series of solid individual investment decisions.

Economy 234

Economy Sales Investing Investments 234

Wealth Management

APRIL 24, 2024

Prosperitage Wealth's Brian Seymour explains the crucial role coaching played in shaping his career, helping him identify his unique strengths and develop his “super power.

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As we step into 2024, the lending landscape evolves rapidly with technology, regulations, and market dynamics driving change. For banks and financial institutions to stay competitive and meet the evolving needs of their customers, these drivers must be understood and engaged with. Lenders can anticipate significant transformation fueled by technological advancements, regulatory shifts, and changing consumer behaviors.

Banking

Calculated Risk

APRIL 22, 2024

This is something I check occasionally. The Department of Transportation (DOT) reported : • Travel on all roads and streets changed by +2.0% (+4.8 billion vehicle miles) for February 2024 as compared with February 2023. Travel for the month is estimated to be 240.2 billion vehicle miles. • The seasonally adjusted vehicle miles traveled for February 2024 is 274.8 billion miles, a +1.4% ( +3.9 billion vehicle miles) change over February 2023.

Transportation 109

Transportation 109

A Wealth of Common Sense

APRIL 21, 2024

In the early-1980s, Robert Shiller set out to answer the question: Do stock prices move too much to be justified by subsequent changes in dividends? The idea was to figure out how well the stock market tracks the present value of future cash flows in the short-term. Shiller concluded that, no, stock prices do not neatly track fundamentals. He updated that data in his book Irrational Exuberance: The cash flows move very l.

Marketing 107

Marketing Marketing 107

Abnormal Returns

APRIL 19, 2024

Markets TIPS are on sale. Time to buy. (morningstar.com) Two reasons why yields are higher this year. (carsongroup.com) The stock-bond correlation has flipped positive. (mrzepczynski.blogspot.com) Books Why you should read Rob Copeland's "The Fund: Ray Dalio, Bridgewater Associates, and the Unraveling of a Wall Street Legend." (advisorperspectives.com) A review of "Enrich Your Future: The Keys to Successful Investing" by Larry Swedroe.

Startup 245

Startup Financial Advising Media Economy 245

Nerd's Eye View

APRIL 19, 2024

Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" - this week's edition kicks off with the news that CFP Board announced that it has crossed the milestone of 100,000 CFP professionals in the United States, and despite having just celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, just set a record high in the number of advisors sitting for the CFP exam this March, reflecting the value many financial advisors and consumers place on the brand, including the requirements to obtain i

Financial Planner 225

Financial Planner CFP Financial Advisor Retirement Planning 225

Speaker: Joe Buhrmann, MBA, CFP®, CLU®, ChFC® Senior Financial Planning Practice Management Consultant eMoney Advisor

During an era of evolving consumer preferences, the banking sector is undergoing a profound shift. As customers continue to broaden their perspectives, banking professionals must support their customers' financial wellness by providing holistic financial advice that aligns with individual goals and circumstances. Without adapting, financial institutions will find that loyalty may crumble amid uncertainty.

Financial Advice

Wealth Management

APRIL 22, 2024

The RIA said it was acquiring the two San Francisco-based teams. This follows last week’s announcements that multi-billion-dollar former First Republic teams had joined Merrill Lynch and Citizens Bank.

Wealth Management 113

Wealth Management Management Banking 113

Calculated Risk

APRIL 24, 2024

Note: This index is a leading indicator primarily for new Commercial Real Estate (CRE) investment. From the AIA: ABI March 2024: Architecture firm billings retreat further in March Business conditions at architecture firms softened in March, as the AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score declined to 43.6 for the month. This marked the 14th consecutive month of declining billings at firms as inflation, supply chain issues, and other economic challenges continue to affect business.

Economics 94

Economics Clients Investing Investments 94

Advisor Perspectives

APRIL 19, 2024

In March, nominal home values increased for an 12th straight months while "real" home values were unchanged. Last month's ZHVI came in at $354,179, up 0.44% from the previous month and up 4.09% from one year ago. However, after adjusting for inflation, the real figures are 0.00% month-over-month and -1.71% year-over-year.

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Abnormal Returns

APRIL 18, 2024

Strategy Passive investors don't change relative prices. (bloomberg.com) A good outcome doesn't necessarily mean it was a good decision. (novelinvestor.com) Don't change your asset allocation in response to a market pullback. (rogersplanning.blogspot.com) Crypto The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ($GBTC) continues to leak assets. (wsj.com) Bitcoin is whatever you want it to be.

Asset Allocation 244

Asset Allocation Financial Advising Startup Assets 244

Speaker: Carolina Aponte - Owner and CEO, Caja Holdings LLC

In today's rapidly changing business environment, building a resilient balance sheet is crucial to the survival of any business. A resilient balance sheet allows a company to withstand financial shocks and adapt to changing market conditions. To achieve this, companies need to focus on key strategies such as maintaining adequate liquidity, managing debt levels, diversifying revenue streams, and prioritizing profitability over growth.

Financial Planning

Nerd's Eye View

APRIL 18, 2024

For over a decade, the financial advice industry has been bracing for an "any-minute-now" tsunami of advisor retirements and concomitant sales of financial planning practices. Although that wave has yet to materialize (as many advisors may find that they'd prefer to stay engaged and earn well past the 'traditional' retirement age), the fact remains that, at some point, many aging advisors will have the opportunity to capture the enterprise value that they've spent their careers building.

Planning 130

Planning Valuation Sales Financial Advice 130

Wealth Management

APRIL 22, 2024

The suite of prospecting, client retention and efficiency resources was developed in response to research that found more than half of advisors are having trouble landing new clients.

Clients 113

Clients 113

Calculated Risk

APRIL 18, 2024

Today, in the CalculatedRisk Real Estate Newsletter: NAR: Existing-Home Sales Decreased to 4.19 million SAAR in March Excerpt: Sales Year-over-Year and Not Seasonally Adjusted (NSA) The fourth graph shows existing home sales by month for 2023 and 2024. Sales declined 3.7% year-over-year compared to March 2023. This was the thirty-first consecutive month with sales down year-over-year.

Sales 111

Sales 111

Advisor Perspectives

APRIL 19, 2024

Existing home sales experienced their largest monthly decline in over a year in March. According to the data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), existing home sales fell 4.3% from February to reach a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.19 million units. This figure came in lower than the expected 4.20 million. Existing home sales are down 3.7% compared to one year ago.

Sales 108

Sales 108

Speaker: Wayne Spivak, President and CFO of SBA * Consulting Ltd., Industry Writer, Public Speaker

If you’re lost in the world of spend management needs and your GAP analysis is lacking perspective on the future state of your business performance, listen up! With the advancement of technology, the implementation of spend management best practices and concrete GAP analyses is more streamlined and accessible than ever before. And while this may sound like great news for you and your clients, it won’t be worthwhile unless you have the latest techniques to back up your ambitions!

Management

Abnormal Returns

APRIL 22, 2024

Markets Commodities are having a standout 2024. (capitalspectator.com) When did investing become so political? (economist.com) ETFs Grayscale's Bitcoin Mini Trust will have a 0.15% expense ratio. (coindesk.com) More mutual fund to ETF conversions are coming. (advisorhub.com) Finance The NYSE is testing 24-hour trading. (on.ft.com) Want a stake in a hot AI startup?

Financial Advising 208

Financial Advising Startup Media Economy 208

A Wealth of Common Sense

APRIL 18, 2024

A reader asks: I get all the stuff Ben has been saying about inflation — wages have kept pace, economic growth has been higher than the 2010s, wages have risen the most for lower income people, etc. I get all that. My husband and I own a house and own stocks so we’ve benefitted in recent years. Having said all of that, I STILL CAN’T GET OVER HOW HIGH PRICES ARE!!!

Insurance 106

Insurance Economics 106

Wealth Management

APRIL 23, 2024

Asset managers are increasingly focusing on advisor preferences when designing products, according to a Cerulli study. PGIM is the latest fund manager to seek approval to offer an ETF share class on existing mutual funds. These are among the investment must reads we found this week for wealth advisors.

Investing 106

Investing Investments Wealth Advisor Assets 106

Calculated Risk

APRIL 21, 2024

As of December 2023, looking at the "dot plot" , most FOMC participants expected between 2 and 4 rate cuts in 2024: As of Dec 2023 Meeting 25 bp Rate Cuts FOMC Members No Change 2 One Rate Cut 1 Two Rate Cuts 5 Three Rate Cuts 6 Four Rate Cuts 4 More than Four 1 As of the March 2024 meeting , FOMC participants were down to 2 to 3 rate cuts in 2024: As of Mar 2024 Meeting 25 bp Rate Cuts FOMC Members No Change 2 One Rate Cut 2 Two Rate Cuts 5 Three Rate Cuts 9 Four Rate Cuts 1 Most market partici

Marketing 100

Marketing Marketing 100

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Accounting

Advisor Perspectives

APRIL 19, 2024

Manufacturing activity continued to decline in New York State, according to the Empire State Manufacturing April survey. The diffusion index for General Business Conditions fell to -14.3 from -20.9 in March. The latest reading was worse than the forecast of -5.2.

Manufacturing 105

Manufacturing 105

Abnormal Returns

APRIL 22, 2024

Podcasts Brian Portnoy talks human-centric advice with Kelsey McKenna and Zachary Conway of Seeds Investor. (youtube.com) Larry Sprung talks with Josh Brown about his path to wealth management. (mitlinmoneymindset.libsyn.com) Jordan Haynes talks with Justin Castelli about his transition into life planning, especially for financial advisers. (getelements.com) Frazer Rice talks with Christopher Holtby about the role of a directed trustee.

Financial Advising 203

Financial Advising Wealth Management Management Taxes 203

NAIFA Advisor Today

APRIL 18, 2024

Congratulations to NAIFA Trustee Stephen Kagawa , LUTCF, FSS, on being named the 71 st recipient of NAIFA-Los Angeles ’s Will G. Farrell Public Service Award. The CEO and Chairman of the Board of The Pacific Bridge Companies has been a loyal NAIFA member since 1986.

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