Nerd's Eye View
JANUARY 31, 2025
Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" – this week's edition kicks off with the news that following the change of administration (and a new incoming chair of the SEC), the Investment Adviser Association is seeking to find ways to help RIAs (particularly smaller firms) manage the compliance responsibilities they face.
Calculated Risk
JANUARY 31, 2025
Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Freddie Mac House Price Index Increased in December; Up 4.0% Year-over-year A brief excerpt: Freddie Mac reported that its National Home Price Index (FMHPI) increased 0.54% month-over-month on a seasonally adjusted (SA) basis in December. On a year-over-year basis, the National FMHPI was up 4.0% in December, up from up 3.9% YoY in November.
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Abnormal Returns
JANUARY 31, 2025
Strategy Timing the market requires getting two decision right. (awealthofcommonsense.com) On the benefits of embracing failure. (theatlantic.com) Trading Questions remain about how all-day stock trading would work. (on.ft.com) Kalshi is moving to make its contracts available more widely. (nytimes.com) Apple Services revenue keeps growing at Apple ($AAPL).
Calculated Risk
JANUARY 31, 2025
The BEA released the Personal Income and Outlays report for December: Personal income increased $92.0 billion (0.4 percent at a monthly rate) in December , according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Disposable personal income (DPI)personal income less personal current taxesincreased $79.7 billion (0.4 percent) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $133.6 billion (0.7 percent).
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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
Wealth Management
JANUARY 31, 2025
The Zelin Group and its five advisors made the move after the lead partner, Jonathan Zelin, had been with Merrill for more than seven years.
Calculated Risk
JANUARY 31, 2025
From Goldman: We launched our Q1 GDP tracking estimate at +2.6% (quarter-over-quarter annualized) and our Q1 domestic final sales estimate at +2.3%. We launched our past-quarter GDP tracking estimate at +2.3%, in line with the advance reading. [Jan 31st estimate] emphasis added And from the Atlanta Fed: GDPNow The initial GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the first quarter of 2025 is 2.9 percent on January 31.
Financial Advisor Source brings together the best content for financial advisor professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
A Wealth of Common Sense
JANUARY 31, 2025
Financial markets are always interesting in the information age because the narratives change even faster than Ali Larter’s mood swings at a family meal in Landman.1 Two years ago everyone was convinced we were going into a recession. It was the most over-forecasted recession of all-time that never happened. Now no one thinks a recession is a possibility and the worries have shifted to concerns about a speculative b.
Wealth Management
JANUARY 31, 2025
Summit Financial's investment in Genex Consulting represents the firm's first of the year.
Meb Faber Research
JANUARY 31, 2025
Savita Subramanian came on the podcast last week and did not disappoint! Savita is the Head of US Equity Strategy and Quantitative Strategy at Bank of America and one of the most followed investment strategists on Wall Street. If you missed the episode, dont worryIve pulled out some highlights (and a couple of her epic […] The post My Conversation with Bank of America’s Savita Subramanian appeared first on Meb Faber Research - Stock Market and Investing Blog.
Wealth Management
JANUARY 31, 2025
F2 Strategy co-founder Doug Fritz provides his take on the most important wealth management technology news of the last month.
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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
Carson Wealth
JANUARY 31, 2025
This week on Take 5, Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist at Carson Group, and Sonu Varghese, VP, Global Macro Strategist at Carson Group, discuss the sudden rise of Deep Seek, a new AI company out of China, and its sudden impact on the markets: The markets reaction to Deep Seeks rapid rise How Chinas technological growth is reshaping global AI competition What cheaper AI could mean for the broader economy and market sectors Tune in as they break down why this sudden development is shaking up t
Wealth Management
JANUARY 31, 2025
Two advocacy groups and a number of broker/dealers formed a coalition seeking Congress to expand the Section 199A pass-through tax deduction to financial advisors.
Inside Information
JANUARY 31, 2025
In one of my periodic e-messages to my mailing list (more than 8,000 advisors currently) I repeated a complaint that I constantly hear from Joel Bruckenstein and other leading tech consultants. They have told me that one of the major dysfunctions in the advisor community is that tech adoption tends to be slow and cautious. This (they believe) is increasingly dysfunctional today, as powerful new tech capabilities (some of them made possible by AI) are coming to market faster than ever before.
Wealth Management
JANUARY 31, 2025
Planning charitable gifts? Don't forget non-cash contributions.
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.
Validea
JANUARY 31, 2025
Dividend growth stocks represent a powerful cornerstone for building long-term wealth, offering investors a unique combination of current income and potential capital appreciation. These companies, which consistently increase their dividend payments year after year, typically demonstrate strong financial health, stable business models, and a commitment to shareholder returns.
Wealth Management
JANUARY 31, 2025
Different ways a client can donate life insurance.
Advisor Perspectives
JANUARY 31, 2025
The Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Index (Chicago Business Barometer) edged up in January but remains historically low. The index rose to 39.5 from 36.9 in December, marking its first increase in four months. However, it fell short of the 40.3 forecast and remained in contraction territory for the 14th consecutive month.
Wealth Management
JANUARY 31, 2025
When Mallouk took over Creative Planning more than two decades ago, its clients numbered in the dozens. In September, TPG acquired a minority stake in a deal that valued the RIA at $16 billion.
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.
Advisor Perspectives
JANUARY 31, 2025
Personal income ( excluding transfer receipts ) rose 0.4% in December and is up 4.6% year-over-year. However, when adjusted for inflation using the BEA's PCE Price Index, real personal income (excluding transfer receipts) was up 0.2% month-over-month and up 2.0% year-over-year.
Wealth Management
JANUARY 31, 2025
In earnings calls, both Raymond James and Ameriprise cited strong recruiting pipelines as they beat analysts income estimates.
Advisor Perspectives
JANUARY 31, 2025
The yield on the 10-year note ended January 31, 2025 at 4.58%. Meanwhile, the 2-year note ended at 4.22% and the 30-year note ended at 4.83%.
Wealth Management
JANUARY 31, 2025
Topics and resources to help guide your clients charitable giving.
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.
Advisor Perspectives
JANUARY 31, 2025
With the release of December's report on personal incomes and outlays, we can now take a closer look at "real" disposable personal income per capita. At two decimal places, the nominal 0.32% month-over-month change in disposable income comes to 0.06% when we adjust for inflation. The year-over-year metrics are 4.22% nominal and 1.63% real.
Wealth Management
JANUARY 31, 2025
When Mallouk took over Creative Planning more than two decades ago, its clients numbered in the dozens. In September, TPG acquired a minority stake in a deal that valued the RIA at $16 billion.
Advisor Perspectives
JANUARY 31, 2025
The BEA's Personal Income and Outlays report showed inflation remained elevated at the end of 2024. The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the PCE price index, rose 2.6% year-over-year in December and 0.3% from November, aligning with expectations.
MainStreet Financial Planning
JANUARY 31, 2025
My kitchen was in desperate need of a makeover. The cabinets were over 25 years old, the appliances were about 10 years old, and the original layout had a few problem areas that needed fixing. My husband and I had spent 11+ years dealing with private school tuition for our sons, so we finally had some breathing room in our budget to tackle this deferred home maintenance.
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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.
Advisor Perspectives
JANUARY 31, 2025
Investors may be at a crossroad in early 2025. US equities have recovered from the 2022 bear market with two exceptional years of +25% returns.
Calculated Risk
JANUARY 31, 2025
Note: Mortgage rates are from MortgageNewsDaily.com and are for top tier scenarios. For deaths, I'm currently using 4 weeks ago for "now", since the most recent three weeks will be revised significantly. Note: " Effective May 1, 2024, hospitals are no longer required to report COVID-19 hospital admissions, hospital capacity, or hospital occupancy data. " So I'm no longer tracking hospitalizations.
Advisor Perspectives
JANUARY 31, 2025
The S&P 500 see-sawed through a data-packed week but ultimately closed with a 1.0% loss from last Friday. The index now sits 1.28% below its record close on January 23, 2025 and is up 2.93% year to date.
The Big Picture
JANUARY 31, 2025
This week, we speak with Torsten Slok , Partner and Chief Economist at Apollo Global Management. Prior to his time at Apollo, Torsten spent roughly 15 years on the sell-side with Deutsche Bank. His team there was top-ranked by Institutional Investor in fixed income and equities for ten of those years. Additionally, he spent time in Paris at the OECD as well as at the IMF’s division responsible for writing the World Economic Outlook.
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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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