Calculated Risk
MAY 6, 2025
Note: Mortgage rates are from MortgageNewsDaily.com and are for top tier scenarios. Wednesday: At 7:00 AM ET, The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will release the results for the mortgage purchase applications index. At 2:00 PM, FOMC Meeting Announcement. No change to to the Fed funds rate is expected at this meeting. At 2:30 PM, Fed Chair Jerome Powell holds a press briefing following the FOMC announcement.
Nerd's Eye View
MAY 6, 2025
Welcome everyone! Welcome to the 436th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast ! My guest on today's podcast is Nicole Gopoian Wirick. Nicole is the president of Prosperity Wealth Strategies, an RIA based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, that oversees $70 million in assets under management for 40 client households. What's unique about Nicole, though, is how she hired a branding consultant soon after going out on her own as an independent advisory firm to help her create a unique brand ide
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Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT)
MAY 6, 2025
By Augustine Seah, BSc I wanted to grow my business by 30% by working smarter but not necessarily harder. To accomplish this, I focused on: Detaching my business decisions from my emotions Assessing my business in each area, so I could focus on what will exponentially grow the rest of my resources, including looking at what could be outsourced Improving marketing and awareness, so everyone around me knows what I do and that Im excellent at it By doing this, I wanted to create a flow of inquiries
Abnormal Returns
MAY 6, 2025
Quant stuff The case for upping the complexity of your models. (alphaarchitect.com) Some recent academic research including 'Bond Factor Momentum and Its Predictability for Stock Returns.' (alphainacademia.substack.com) A review of "Reminiscences of a Bond Operator: A Guide to Investing in Corporate Debt" by Mark A. Rieder. (blogs.cfainstitute.org) Research Why profitability matters.
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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
Random Roger's Retirement Planning
MAY 6, 2025
Simplify announced it is closing four ETFs including the Simplify US Equity PLUS QIS ETF (SPQ ) and the Simplify Macro Strategy ETF (FIG). Despite the firm's name, they've bundled a lot of very complex strategies into ETFs. While I have been critical of quite a few of their funds and have found a some that appear to work well, I have to tip my hat at their willingness to try a lot of very different ideas.
Advisor Perspectives
MAY 6, 2025
Noise about tariffs, business uncertainty, a constitutional fight, and a drop in stock prices had already created fear of a recession. When real GDP declined in the first quarter of 2025, some started to question if a recession is already here. Let’s take a deep breath and consider the facts.
Financial Advisor Source brings together the best content for financial advisor professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Advisor Perspectives
MAY 6, 2025
For investors looking to add bonds, muni bonds remain an attractive option for an ideal blend of yield and stability.
The Big Picture
MAY 6, 2025
The transcript from this weeks, MiB: Sander Gerber, CEO and CIO Hudson Bay Capital , is below. You can stream and download our full conversation, including any podcast extras, on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube , and Bloomberg. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here. ~~~ This is Masters in business with Barry Riol on Bloomberg Radio.
Advisor Perspectives
MAY 6, 2025
In recent times, central bank independence has been taken as gospel. Political pressure for easy money contributed to extremes of inflation in the 1970s.
Wealth Management
MAY 6, 2025
A merger of VisionPoint Advisory Group and Navitas Wealth Advisors brings together a team of 60 for wealth management, tax planning and corporate retirement plan advisement.
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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
Advisor Perspectives
MAY 6, 2025
US markets struggled in the first half of April due to tariff-related worries. The second half saw rallies amid policy reversal.
Wealth Management
MAY 6, 2025
In a roundup of news regarding alternative investments, Hamilton Lane launches a new venture capital fund, Goldman Sachs goes live with its custom model portfolios and Venturi Private Wealth taps Opto to bolster its private markets investing capabilities.
Advisor Perspectives
MAY 6, 2025
Results from some of the Magnificent 7 names last week reignited the AI trade.
Wealth Management
MAY 6, 2025
In a response to several media statements, FINRA argued that reps wont have to report on whether they personally purchase Bitcoin or beach houses, and that the rule actually cuts down on required reporting.
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.
Advisor Perspectives
MAY 6, 2025
One of the advantages of individual bonds is the ability to custom-select bonds that fit individual needs and/or goals
Wealth Management
MAY 6, 2025
Morningstar's system will rate interval funds, tender offer funds, non-traded REITs and non-traded BDCs in the U.S. and other fund structures used internationally.
Calculated Risk
MAY 6, 2025
Today, in the Real Estate Newsletter: Asking Rents Mostly Unchanged Year-over-year Brief excerpt: Another monthly update on rents. Tracking rents is important for understanding the dynamics of the housing market. Slower household formation and increased supply (more multi-family completions) has kept asking rents under pressure. More recently, immigration policy has become a negative for rentals.
Wealth Management
MAY 6, 2025
A study of fund manager brand familiarity among advisors finds alternative managers making headway, although traditional asset managers still rule. Industry pros weigh Warren Buffetts influence in the wake of his announced retirement. These are among the investment must reads we found this week for financial advisors.
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.
Abnormal Returns
MAY 6, 2025
Quant stuff AI models in finance have an accuracy problem, per Morningstar's ($MORN) CEO. (bloomberg.com) Some recent academic research including "Compounding Effects in Leveraged ETFs: Beyond the Volatility Drag Paradigm." (alphainacademia.substack.com) Hire more quants! (klementoninvesting.substack.com) Economics Remote work tends to increase career length.
Wealth Management
MAY 6, 2025
Discover how a Single Pane of Glass approach to communications supervision can streamline compliance efforts, reduce risks, and meet regulatory requirements in the digital-first workplace.
Calculated Risk
MAY 6, 2025
Anecdotally, I've heard that airlines ticket prices are falling. That suggests less travel. Also, the Real ID restrictions go in place tomorrow , and that might impact domestic airline travel. This is also something to watch with less international travel. Here are the daily travel numbers from the TSA. This data is as of May 5, 2025. Click on graph for larger image.
Wealth Management
MAY 6, 2025
Julian Lopez will return to Schwab to work with its largest and most complex independent advisors after a stint as LPL's lead RIA relationship manager.
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.
Abnormal Returns
MAY 6, 2025
Strategy Living with leverage is difficult, to say the least. (ofdollarsanddata.com) Loud does not equal correct. (investing101.substack.com) Financial columnists didn't sign up to be political analysts. (spencerjakab.substack.com) Warren Buffett Some wit and wisdom from Warren Buffet at the 2025 shareholder meeting. (ted-merz.com) Five things that made Warren Buffett, Warren Buffett.
Wealth Management
MAY 6, 2025
AdvizorPro finds Schwab still dominates as the RIA custodian of choice for separately managed accounts, but upstart Altruist has jumped ahead of Pershing into fourth place by number of relationships.
Calculated Risk
MAY 6, 2025
The Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported : The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis announced today that the goods and services deficit was $140.5 billion in March, up $17.3 billion from $123.2 billion in February, revised. March exports were $278.5 billion, $0.5 billion more than February exports. March imports were $419.0 billion, $17.8 billion more than February imports. emphasis added Click on graph for larger image.
Wealth Management
MAY 6, 2025
Emigrant diversifies into the breakaway advisor space as it invests in Elevation Point, which has a similar business model but a different market segment.
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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.
A Wealth of Common Sense
MAY 6, 2025
“The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.” -Warren Buffett The Wall Street Journal highlighted a new study showing that the median investor spends just six minutes researching a stock before buying it. It’s no wonder the average holding period for a stock has dropped from roughly 8-10 years back in the 1950s and 1960s to just a few months today.
Advisor Perspectives
MAY 6, 2025
With investors experiencing heightened anxiety about their financial futures, your approach can make the difference between client retention and attrition. This comprehensive guide from our senior consultants explores actionable strategies for effective client communication during market volatility.
Financial Symmetry
MAY 6, 2025
What are some of the major moves in US and international markets from the past quarter, and what does it show us about diversification? In this episode, we talk about navigating market volatility, discuss the impact of recent tariff news and what those headlines might mean for the economy and your portfolio, and share evidence-based strategies for taking action (or not!
Advisor Perspectives
MAY 6, 2025
Gas prices were essentially flat this week, remaining near their lowest levels in six weeks. As of May 5th, the price of regular was up 1 cent while premium gas was unchanged from the previous week.
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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?
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