Wealth Management
JULY 9, 2025
Modern Wealth’s fourth deal of 2025, and 17th since its founding in 2023, adds a firm in its home state and bolsters a workplace retirement plan division launched last year via acquisition.
Calculated Risk
JULY 11, 2025
From Nick Villa at Moody's The Office Sector’s Double Whammy The ongoing challenges affecting the office sector have not only resulted in deteriorating space market fundamentals—evidenced by the record-high national office vacancy rate in the second quarter of 2025—but have also had a direct negative impact on capital market activities, including the performance of commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS).
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Wealth Management
JULY 7, 2025
Explore how the new $15 million federal estate tax exemption affects lifetime transfer planning and strategies for high-net-worth clients.
Nerd's Eye View
JULY 11, 2025
Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" - this week's edition kicks off with the news that, amidst the growing number of RIAs it supervises, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is moving ahead with a potential plan to raise the $100 million regulatory assets under management threshold for SEC registration, with the regulator having talks with some state securities regulators (which would bear an increasing regulatory burden if the threshold were lifted
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Automation generally supercharges any process and brings its value to the forefront. See how infusing automation such as ART (our month-end close solution), into your close can get you to the next level of closing. We will share a live demo of SkyStem's solution, ART and share the key elements of month-end close automation. Through ART, we'll take a look at: What month-end close automation entails Which process steps can and should be automated Benefits of achieving process automation, and Why i
Abnormal Returns
JULY 7, 2025
Podcasts Michael Batnick talks with Jason Wenk, CEO of Altruist, about the changing custody landscape. (youtube.com) Jeff Bernier talks with Larry Swedroe about the the evolving role of alternative assets like private credit and reinsurance in modern portfolios. (youtube.com) Barry Ritholtz talks with Kate Moore, chief investment officer at Citi Wealth.
The Big Picture
JULY 7, 2025
I had a fun conversation with Adam Gower, who runs Gower Crowd — a real estate capital sourcing firm that “builds digital marketing platforms for real estate sponsors.” He also hosts a podcast, The Real Estate Market Watch ( Apple , Spotify , YouTube ). Discussing risk, noise, and uncertainty from a real state perspective led to a fun conversation.
Financial Advisor Source brings together the best content for financial advisor professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Calculated Risk
JULY 9, 2025
Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Part 1: Current State of the Housing Market; Overview for mid-July 2025 A brief excerpt: This 2-part overview for mid-July provides a snapshot of the current housing market. The key stories for existing homes are that inventory is increasing sharply, and sales are essentially flat compared to last year (and sales in 2024 were the lowest since 1995).
Nerd's Eye View
JULY 9, 2025
Financial planning meetings often fall into categories like "Fix Meetings" (where there is an urgent problem that both the advisor and client want to address), 'Fine Meetings' (where everything is on track and the advisor provides reinforcement), or 'Flourish Meetings' (where clients are thriving and the focus is on expanding possibilities). However, another type of meeting occurs when the client isn't in crisis but has clearly drifted off track (e.g., spending more than planned, which could lea
Abnormal Returns
JULY 11, 2025
The biz The New York Times ($NYT) wants to turn its writers into video stars. (vulture.com) The scam that is using an appearance on a big name podcast as bait. (thewrap.com) Economy Ezra Klein talks the attention economy with Kyla Scanlon, author of "In This Economy?: How Money & Markets Really Work." (podcasts.apple.com) Danny Crichton and Laurence Pevsner talk with Yoni Applebaum, author of “Stuck: How the Privileged and the Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity.
Getting Your Financial Ducks In A Row
JULY 7, 2025
Photo credit: jb We’ve discussed here in the past about how it is a perfectly legal maneuver to make a non-deductible contribution to a traditional IRA and then at some point later convert the same contribution to your Roth IRA (see Is it Really Allowed? for more). If you have no other IRA accounts, this conversion to Roth can be a tax-free event, especially if there has been no growth or gains on the investments in the account.
Speaker: Victor C. Barnes, CPA, MBA
In the climb from contributor to leader, the rules quietly change. If you’re aiming for the summit, the air gets thinner—and what got you here won’t be enough to get you to the top (a concept first popularized by Marshall Goldsmith in his book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There ). What made you successful early in your finance career—technical accuracy, sharp analysis, flawless execution—won’t be what carries you to the next level.
Wealth Management
JULY 8, 2025
BlackRock made another move to bolster its private market capabilities with the acquisition of net lease real estate firm ElmTree Funds. Private investment platform Linqto, which promised access to pre-IPO firms, filed for bankruptcy amid SEC scrutiny of its practices. These are among the investment must-reads we found this week for financial advisors.
Calculated Risk
JULY 9, 2025
Different views on possible rate cuts (see paragraph 2). From the Fed: Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee, June 17–18, 2025. Excerpt: In considering the outlook for monetary policy, participants generally agreed that, with economic growth and the labor market still solid and current monetary policy moderately or modestly restrictive, the Committee was well positioned to wait for more clarity on the outlook for inflation and economic activity.
Nerd's Eye View
JULY 10, 2025
As the financial advice profession has matured, behavioral finance has become an increasingly important element of modern advice. This holistic approach to financial advice, often referred to as life planning, focuses on helping the advisor understand the client’s financial history, deep-seated goals, and overall relationship with money, which can allow for more targeted and comprehensive advice.
Abnormal Returns
JULY 8, 2025
Research If you are going to hedge, just hedge. (klementoninvesting.substack.com) Do factors matter for bond returns? Yes, they do. (alphaarchitect.com) Why there's alpha in the intangibles. (philbak.substack.com) AI models love momentum. (ft.com) Should you separate or combine your factor exposures? (alphaarchitect.com) Just how good a signal is insider ownership?
Speaker: Kim Beynon, CPA, CGMA, PMP
The most overlooked, yet most critical, element of transformation is preparing people for change. Automation and AI aren't just technical upgrades, they’re cultural shifts which can challenge identities. That’s why change management isn’t a side project—it’s the foundation. In finance, where precision and process rule, navigating change can feel especially disruptive.
The Big Picture
JULY 9, 2025
At The Money: Managing Business Model Changes (July 9, 2025) What do you do when the business model of your chosen career changes radically? How can you adapt to changing conditions? (Full transcript coming tomorrow). ~~~ About this week’s guest: Sam Ro is a veteran financial journalist and CFA known for his clear, data-driven insights into markets and and the economy.
Calculated Risk
JULY 12, 2025
The key reports this week are June CPI, Retail Sales and Housing Starts. For manufacturing, the June Industrial Production report and the July New York and Philly Fed manufacturing surveys will be released. -- Monday, July 14th -- No major economic releases scheduled. -- Tuesday, July 15th -- 8:30 AM: The Consumer Price Index for June from the BLS. The consensus is for a 0.3% increase in CPI, and a 0.3% increase in core CPI.
Nerd's Eye View
JULY 8, 2025
Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 445th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast ! My guest on today's podcast is James Conole. James is the founder of Root Financial, an RIA based in Encinitas, California, that oversees $1.3 billion in assets under management for 630 client households. What's unique about James, though, is how his firm has experienced massive growth (expecting to grow its revenue from $4.6 million to more than $10 million in 2025 alone) thanks in part by attracting clien
Abnormal Returns
JULY 8, 2025
Markets No matter how you slice it, U.S. stocks are still expensive. (on.ft.com) Why gold has been moving higher: safe asset demand. (mrzepczynski.blogspot.com) Crypto The iShares Bitcoin ETF ($IBIT) holds more than 700,000 Bitcoin. (theblock.co) Another day, another new crypto Treasury company. (theblock.co) And another. (sherwood.news) Finance How private equity fund performance peaks and degrades over time.
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Where are top advisors focusing in 2025? AcquireUp’s 2025 Industry Index reveals it all. Based on insights from 200+ financial professionals nationwide, discover why 74% say seminars and referrals deliver the best ROI, how automation is helping advisors scale faster, and why only 8% are tapping into niche marketing (a major growth opportunity!). Whether you're refining your client acquisition strategy or scaling your practice, this report gives you the real-world data, benchmarks, and action ste
Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT)
JULY 10, 2025
By Kennedy Sumarlie, AWP Running out of prospects is a common concern for many financial advisors. It’s an issue we must face and take action on now if we want to have future clients. One way to address this is to ask existing clients for new contacts. For this to work well, though, we must go about it effectively. One of my good friends, Arvita Mersilia , a six-year MDRT member and Court of the Table member, asks for at least three recommendations from her clients when she delivers the insuranc
Wealth Management
JULY 9, 2025
Explore how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act impacts estate planning across wealth levels, emphasizing flexibility and income tax strategies for advisors.
Calculated Risk
JULY 9, 2025
From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey Mortgage applications increased 9.4 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending July 4, 2025. Last week’s results included an adjustment for the July 4th holiday. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 9.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.
Nerd's Eye View
JULY 14, 2025
For a financial advisor and their new client, the first year working together can be a particularly intense period, typically involving multiple in-person or virtual meetings. After this first year, though, the number of scheduled meetings typically declines, often including only one or two formal meetings per year to check on progress toward financial goals and answer questions.
Speaker: Claire Grosjean, Global Finance & Operations Executive
Finance teams are drowning in data—but is it actually helping them spend smarter? Without the right approach, excess spending, inefficiencies, and missed opportunities continue to drain profitability. While analytics offers powerful insights, financial intelligence requires more than just numbers—it takes the right blend of automation, strategy, and human expertise.
Abnormal Returns
JULY 7, 2025
Markets You can't be a long-term investor if you aren't an optimist. (optimisticallie.com) You never could have predicted the stock market's first half 2025 performance. (mrzepczynski.blogspot.com) Crypto Crypto projects need revenue. (tomtunguz.com) CoreWeave ($CRWV) is buying miner Core Scientific ($CORZ). (theblock.co) Private equity Some endowment fund are doubling down on private equity.
A Wealth of Common Sense
JULY 13, 2025
Deutsche Bank has a chart that shows we’re looking at the worst 10 year period ever for U.S. government bonds: That doesn’t seem good. Being a market returns geek I decided to take this a step further by looking at the returns by decade for various maturities in government bonds to see how the 2020s stack up historically. Here’s the data for 5 year, 10 year and long-term (20+ years) U.S.
Wealth Management
JULY 10, 2025
The commitments from T. Rowe Price, SurgoCap, BNY, State Street and others bring iCapital's valuation to $7.5 billion.
Calculated Risk
JULY 10, 2025
From Dodge Data Analytics: Dodge Momentum Index Expands 7% in June The Dodge Momentum Index (DMI), issued by Dodge Construction Network, grew 6.8% in June to 225.1 (2000=100) from the downwardly revised May reading of 210.9. Over the month, commercial planning grew 7.3% while institutional planning improved 5.7%. “Nonresidential planning steadily improved in June, alongside strength in warehouse, recreational and data center planning,” stated Sarah Martin, associate director of forecasting at Do
Speaker: David Worrell, CFO, Author & Speaker
Your financial statements hold powerful insights—but are you truly paying attention? Many finance professionals focus on the income statement while overlooking key signals hidden in the balance sheet and cash flow statement. Understanding these numbers can unlock smarter decision-making, uncover risks, and drive long-term success. Join David Worrell, accomplished CFO, finance expert, and author, for an engaging, nontraditional take on reading financial statements.
Nerd's Eye View
JULY 7, 2025
Welcome to the July 2025 issue of the Latest News in Financial #AdvisorTech – where we look at the big news, announcements, and underlying trends and developments that are emerging in the world of technology solutions for financial advisors! This month's edition kicks off with the news that CRM provider Wealthbox has sold a majority stake in itself to PE firm Sixth Street, marking a new phase in its growth from having a customer base primarily concentrated among small and midsize RIA firms
Abnormal Returns
JULY 11, 2025
Strategy Investors need to understand their circle of competence. (safalniveshak.com) Brett Steenbarger, "Successful traders, I've found, are distinguished by the questions they ask, not just by answers they've come up with." (traderfeed.blogspot.com) Crypto Tether holds a big slug of gold. (mining.com) A look at stablecoin demand for Treasuries. (apolloacademy.com) Coinbase ($COIN) has partnered with Perplexity AI on a real-time crypto data service.
A Wealth of Common Sense
JULY 11, 2025
One of the biggest financial trends this century is the rising cost of living in many necessities. That trend has been supercharged in the 2020s. The cost of vehicles. The cost of auto insurance. The cost of housing. The cost of health insurance. It’s all getting more and more expensive. This chart from The New York Times shows the changes in the proportion of different spending categories over the past 96 years: T.
Wealth Management
JULY 8, 2025
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Speaker: Cheryl J. Muldrew-McMurtry
Remote finance teams are rewriting how the back-office runs—and attackers are taking notes. Disconnected workflows, process blind spots, and rising cyber threats have become more than just “growing pains”. They’re now liabilities. The challenge isn’t just team distribution, but building resilient systems that protect accuracy, control, and speed across every transaction and touchpoint.
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