Calculated Risk

APRIL 20, 2023

Realtor.com has monthly and weekly data on the existing home market. Here is their weekly report released today from chief economist Danielle Hale: Weekly Housing Trends View — Data Week Ending Apr 15, 2023 • Active inventory growth continued to climb, with for-sale homes up 49% above one year ago. The number of homeowners shifting home listing timelines around spring holidays helped push active inventory growth up this week.

Numbers 362

Numbers Sales Marketing Marketing 362

Wealth Management

APRIL 20, 2023

By not taking ESG factors into account, financial advisors may be shirking their fiduciary duty.

Fiduciary Duty 315

Fiduciary Duty Investing Investments Financial Advisor 315

Nerd's Eye View

APRIL 20, 2023

In any business profession, establishing credibility and trust are important to attracting clients and building a reputation amongst colleagues. A key method to do so is through appropriate business attire. Traditionally, business attire for financial advisors meant wearing the typical suit and tie in all instances of client-facing activities. Because psychologically, a suit and tie has been recognized for many years as a symbol of trust and credibility.

Clients 246

Clients Financial Services Communication Financial Advisor 246

Wealth Management

APRIL 20, 2023

A sample letter of explanation to a trustee about an underfunded policy.

Insurance 298

Insurance 298

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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

Clients

Calculated Risk

APRIL 20, 2023

The DOL reported : In the week ending April 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 245,000 , an increase of 5,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 239,000 to 240,000. The 4-week moving average was 239,750, a decrease of 500 from the previous week's revised average.

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Wealth Management

APRIL 20, 2023

In the past three months, trading in private real estate secondaries, including non-traded REITs, BDCs and private placements, has increased by an order of magnitude compared to last year, says the CEO of LODAS Markets.

Marketing 285

Marketing Marketing 285

Wealth Management

APRIL 20, 2023

The oddly-named scheme, where a fraudster will bleed the victim’s finances in small increments, akin to fattening up a pig before they’re slaughtered, is gaining ground in the crypto space.

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Calculated Risk

APRIL 20, 2023

From CoStar: STR: US Hotel Occupancy Increases During Second Week of April U.S. hotel performance increased from the previous week, according to STR‘s latest data through April 15. April 9-15, 2023 (percentage change from comparable week in 2022): • Occupancy: 64.2% (+3.7%) • Average daily rate (ADR): $155.33 (+4.7%) • Revenue per available room (RevPAR): $99.67 (+8.6%) emphasis added The following graph shows the seasonal pattern for the hotel occupancy rate using the four-week average.

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Wealth Management

APRIL 20, 2023

The SECURE Act eliminated stretch treatment for all inherited IRAs other than by eligible designated beneficiaries—a group which includes those that are disabled or chronically ill.

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Calculated Risk

APRIL 20, 2023

Today, in the CalculatedRisk Real Estate Newsletter: NAR: Existing-Home Sales Decreased to 4.44 million SAAR in March; Median Prices Declined 0.9% YoY Excerpt: On prices, the NAR reported : The median existing-home price for all housing types in March was $375,700, a decline of 0.9% from March 2022 ($379,300). Price climbed slightly in three regions but dropped in the West Median prices are distorted by the mix (repeat sales indexes like Case-Shiller and FHFA are probably better for measuring pr

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Sales 237

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.

Management

Wealth Management

APRIL 20, 2023

It's more than industry knowledge and financial goals. It's about connecting clients with top-notch professionals of all types.

Wealth Advisor 278

Wealth Advisor Clients 278

The Reformed Broker

APRIL 20, 2023

Final Trades: Gilead, Vertex, Wynn & more from CNBC. The post Clips From Today’s Halftime Report appeared first on The Reformed Broker.

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Wealth Management

APRIL 20, 2023

Retirement industry thought leaders answer three probing questions on critical issues, providing an open, honest and candid dialogue.

Retirement 278

Retirement 278

Calculated Risk

APRIL 20, 2023

From the NAR: Existing-Home Sales Slid 2.4% in March Existing-home sales edged lower in March, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Month-over-month sales declined in three out of four major U.S. regions, while sales in the Northeast remained steady. All regions posted year-over-year decreases. Total existing-home sales – completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – fell 2.4% from February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.4

Sales 211

Sales 211

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.

Numbers

Wealth Management

APRIL 20, 2023

The commission unveiled the latest in a series of guidance from SEC staff to better equip firms in meeting the care obligations of Regulation Best Interest.

Commission 277

Commission 277

The Big Picture

APRIL 20, 2023

Over the past few years, I have been featuring more and more fund managers from the private equity space on the podcast. It is a fairly decent and continually expanding list. I was a little concerned about top-ticking PE but decided to ignore that worry. Lots of listeners had asked for more private credit, CRE, and PE investors; many of these folks who had previously maintained a low profile (~ the 2000s and 2010s) became more comfortable being more public this decade.

Management 163

Management Assets Investments Investing 163

Wealth Management

APRIL 20, 2023

Potential pitfalls and drafting guidelines.

Planning 273

Planning 273

A Wealth of Common Sense

APRIL 20, 2023

A reader asks: I manage my investment portfolio, largely with a very boring mix of three funds: U.S. index fund, international index fund and a total bond fund. Looking at the yield on my bond index fund, it looks like I may be able to get I better yield in a money market fund. Is there any reason to keep my bond allocation where it is rather than moving it into a money market fund?

Investing 143

Investing Investments Portfolio Management 143

Speaker: Erroll Amacker

Automation is transforming finance but without strong financial oversight it can introduce more risk than reward. From missed discrepancies to strained vendor relationships, accounts payable automation needs a human touch to deliver lasting value. This session is your playbook to get automation right. We’ll explore how to balance speed with control, boost decision-making through human-machine collaboration, and unlock ROI with fewer errors, stronger fraud prevention, and smoother operations.

Accounting

Wealth Management

APRIL 20, 2023

Absolute Engagement's Julie Littlechild discusses taking client engagement feedback to the next level.

Engineering 264

Engineering Clients 264

Advisor Perspectives

APRIL 20, 2023

The latest Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) for March dropped to 108.4 from February's revised figure of 109.7, marking the 12th consecutive monthly decline and the lowest reading since November 2020. Today's reading represented a 1.2% month-over-month decline, worse than the forecasted 0.6% decline, and the sharpest drop since April 2020.

Economics 131

Economics 131

Wealth Management

APRIL 20, 2023

Blackstone’s co-head of real estate sat down with Bisnow to discuss how it will invest its new massive fund. Life insurance companies are snubbing the office sector, reported The Wall Street Journal. These are among some of the best stories we read this week from around the real estate investment world.

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Insurance Investing Investments 264

Advisor Perspectives

APRIL 20, 2023

The latest manufacturing index came in at -31.3, down 8.1 from last month's -23.2, marking the index's eighth negative reading in a row and its lowest since May 2020. The six-month outlook was up 6.5 points from last month but still remains in negative territory at -1.5. Since this is a diffusion index, negative readings indicate contraction, positive ones indicate expansion.

Manufacturing 130

Manufacturing 130

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Based off SkyStem's popular e-Book, the book of secrets to the month-end close will be revealed in this one-hour webinar. Learn leading practices when it comes to building a strong and sustainable month-end close that has room to grow and evolve. Learn about the power of precise estimates, why reconciliations are critical to closing the books, how and when to automate, and how the chart of accounts play into your close process.

Accounting

Wealth Management

APRIL 20, 2023

A value proposition worth considering.

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Abnormal Returns

APRIL 20, 2023

Books An excerpt from Jean M. Twenge’s book "Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents—And What They Mean for America’s Future." (theatlantic.com) An excerpt from "Quitting: A Life Strategy" by Julia Keller. (bigthink.com) A Q&A with Alexander Field author of "The Economic Consequences of US Mobilization for the Second World War.

Economics 130

Economics Marketing Marketing 130

Wealth Management

APRIL 20, 2023

The nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court listed assets between $24 million and $68 million.

Assets 255

Assets 255

The Irrelevant Investor

APRIL 20, 2023

One of the things we discussed ad nauseam on the pods last year was how prepared the consumer and corporations were to enter a recession. The consumer was flush with cash from fiscal stimulus, and businesses were also sitting on a ton of cash after binging on debt in 2021. I was thinking about this idea while reading Amazon’s 2022 shareholder letter, emphasis mine: AWS has an $85B annualized revenue run rate, is sti.

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Like being inches from the end zone, many advisors are frustratingly close to their next level of success. You work hard. You put in the hours. But if your closing rate is stuck or your pipeline feels like a revolving door… something has to change. Most advisors are just one small shift away from dramatically increasing their revenue. The difference?

Sales

Wealth Management

APRIL 20, 2023

These funds took in the most money over the pst 30 days.

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246

Validea

APRIL 20, 2023

Industries across the board are experimenting with AI with varying degrees of success, but one area that it hasn’t conquered yet is beating the market, reports an article in The Wall Street Journal. While ChatGPT may show promising results in bolstering sales, applying AI to investing has had limited progress. Wall Street had a jump on implementing AI about 40 years ago, when Jim Simons of Renaissance Technologies created algorithms that gave their computers the power to make investing decisions

Marketing 98

Marketing Marketing Sales Investing 98

Wealth Management

APRIL 20, 2023

The industry legend shares a glimpse of life back-in-the-day at Goldman Sachs, his early leap to independence, plus his prescription for the incredible organic growth at Hirtle, Callahan & Co., the impact of the OCIO model, and much more.

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245

Advisor Perspectives

APRIL 20, 2023

Our entire financial system revolves around credit. This includes the ability to access credit for new loans, and more importantly, the refinancing of existing loans.

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98

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Accounting