Nerd's Eye View

JANUARY 26, 2024

Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" – this week's edition kicks off with the news of a survey indicating that about 90% of financial advisors would switch firms based on bad technology at their current firm, and that 44% have already done so. The survey also suggests that a firm's tech stack can affect its ability to attract and retain clients, with 93% of advisors who said they work with state-of-the-art technology reporting that they have added new c

Financial Planner 186

Financial Planner Retirement Planning Financial Advisor Retirement 186

Abnormal Returns

JANUARY 26, 2024

Business David Rosenthal and Benjamin Gilbert look at the history of weight loss drug provider Novo Nordisk ($NVO). (acquired.fm) Shane Parrish talks with Tom Gayner who is currently the CEO of Markel Group ($MKL). (fs.blog) Matt Reusle talks with John Reardon about the business of Patek Philippe. (joincolossus.com) David Senra looks at the crazy life of Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz.

Marketing 184

Marketing Marketing 184

The Big Picture

JANUARY 26, 2024

This week, we speak with Sarah Kirshbaum Levy , chief executive officer of Betterment , an independent digital investment adviser with $40 billion in assets under management. Before joining Betterment, Kirshbaum Levy was chief operating officer of Viacom Media Networks, where she oversaw global strategy, finance and operations. Previously, Levy served as COO at Nickelodeon, where she spearheaded Nickelodeon’s entry into new segments, including consumer products, resorts, Broadway and them

Wealth Management 161

Wealth Management Media Portfolio Management Retail 161

Abnormal Returns

JANUARY 26, 2024

Markets Bob Seawright, "If you keep making the same wrong call over and over, you don’t get any credit for it when it eventually turns up." (betterletter.substack.com) Dividends are less volatile than stocks themselves. (awealthofcommonsense.com) How to think about the growth in money market fund assets. (spilledcoffee.substack.com) Crypto How the structure of the Bitcoin market has changed with the introduction of the spot ETFs.

Financial Advising 157

Financial Advising Food Economy Media 157

Speaker: Nancy Wu, Head of Sales and Customer Success at SkyStem

Join us for an enlightening webinar as we delve into the transformative realm of modern accounting practices. In today's digital age, the convergence of outsourcing and automation has revolutionized how businesses manage their financial operations. In this webinar we will explore the synergistic potential of these two strategies to streamline processes, enhance accuracy, save cost and drive strategic decision-making.

Accounting

A Wealth of Common Sense

JANUARY 26, 2024

As millennials reach middle age (hand up), prepare yourself for a wave of 1990s nostalgia. Remember MTV? Remember life before smartphones and social media? Remember rap groups? Remember life before everyone was forced to care about politics? Remember Saved by the Bell? Remember going to Blockbuster on a Friday night to pick out a movie? Finance people also have an affinity for the 1990s economy.

Economy 140

Economy Media 140

Alpha Architect

JANUARY 26, 2024

For investors that use trend-following strategies, Avramov, Kaplanski, and Subrhmanyam provided new evidence supporting momentum strategies and showed that the distance between short- and longer-term momentum signals provides additional explanatory power in the cross-section of equity returns. Moving Average Distance and Time-Series Momentum was originally published at Alpha Architect.

Investing 121

Investing Investments 121

Calculated Risk

JANUARY 26, 2024

Here is a graph of the year-over-year change in shelter from the CPI report and housing from the PCE report this morning, both through December 2023. CPI Shelter was up 6.2% year-over-year in December, down from 6.5% in November, and down from the cycle peak of 8.2% in March 2023. Housing (PCE) was up 6.4% YoY in December , down from 6.7% in November, and down from the cycle peak of 8.3% in April 2023.

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Advisor Perspectives

JANUARY 26, 2024

The weekly leading economic index (WLEI) is a composite for the U.S economy that draws from over 20 time-series and groups them into the following six broad categories which are then used to construct an equally weighted average. As of January 12th, the index was at 19.143, down 2.685 from the previous week, with 5 of the 6 components in expansion territory.

Economics 111

Economics Economy 111

Calculated Risk

JANUARY 26, 2024

Note: Mortgage rates are from MortgageNewsDaily.com and are for top tier scenarios. Due to changes at the CDC, weekly cases are no longer updated. For deaths, I'm currently using 4 weeks ago for "now", since the most recent three weeks will be revised significantly. Hospitalizations have more than quadrupled from a low of 5,150 in June 2023. Hospitalizations are less than 20% of the peak of 150,000 in January 2022.

Numbers 107

Numbers 107

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Banking

Trade Brains

JANUARY 26, 2024

Best Midcap Stocks with High Net Profit Margin : Mid-cap stocks are companies whose market cap ranges between Rs 16800 and Rs 48900 crores. A high net profit margin (NPM) reflects that a company can efficiently control its costs and sell its goods or services at a much higher price than its costs. They generally have an advantage over others in the sector.

Retail 105

Retail Assets Accounting Management 105

Calculated Risk

JANUARY 26, 2024

The BEA released the Personal Income and Outlays report for December: Personal income increased $60.0 billion (0.3 percent at a monthly rate) in December , according to estimates released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Disposable personal income (DPI), personal income less personal current taxes, increased $51.8 billion (0.3 percent) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $133.9 billion (0.7 percent).

Food 104

Food Taxes Economics 104

Wealth Management

JANUARY 26, 2024

It was a slow week for deals in the RIA space but MAI didn’t miss a beat and Wealth Enhancement Group reinforced its position as 2023’s most active buyer.

Assets 106

Assets 106

Calculated Risk

JANUARY 26, 2024

From the NAR: Pending Home Sales Climbed 8.3% in December Pending home sales in December elevated 8.3% , according to the National Association of REALTORS®. The Midwest, South and West posted monthly gains in transactions while the Northeast recorded a loss. The Midwest, South and West also registered year-over-year increases while the Northeast had a decline in transactions compared to last year.

Sales 103

Sales 103

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

JANUARY 26, 2024

Having the right technology, data, tools and perspective are more important than ever to navigate volatility and a dynamic risk landscape.

111

111

Discipline Funds

JANUARY 26, 2024

Here are some things I think I am thinking about: 1) Inflation is dead?!? This week’s data confirmed what we’ve long been predicting here – disinflation is well entrenched and the risk of a big resurgence in inflation is very low. We got a slew of data from the GDP report and personal spending that confirms the falling trend in the rate of inflation.

Government 89

Government Economy Marketing Marketing 89

Wealth Management

JANUARY 26, 2024

Northern Star settled SEC charges that it mislead investors in public filings, indicating it had not had conversations with Apex prior to its IPO.

106

106

Random Roger's Retirement Planning

JANUARY 26, 2024

There was some good buzz around changes made by Blackrock in its model portfolios. They tilted to more value than they've had recently and based on media and Twitter accounts, part of the rebalance included buying the iShares US Equity Factor Rotation ETF (DYNF). I signed up for an account at Blackrock to look at their models, still processing, and while I won't post their models, I am curious if they tend to build their models with many funds or just a few.

Portfolio 87

Portfolio Distribution Accounting Media 87

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Digital platforms can provide you with plenty of solutions, yet many are still intimidated by them. It's time to end that worry and embrace what could make a major difference for your bank. Understanding how they work and how to best utilize them for your banks is key toward success. In this article, Biz2X breaks down all things digital platforms, including the many advantages of embracing them.

Banking

Wealth Management

JANUARY 26, 2024

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

Retirement 107

Retirement 107

Advisor Perspectives

JANUARY 26, 2024

The BEA's Personal Income and Outlays report revealed inflation cooled further in December. Core PCE, the Fed's favored measure of inflation, was up 0.2% from November and slowed to 2.9% year-over-year, the lowest reading since March 2021 and one step closer to the Fed's 2% target rate.

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72

Wealth Management

JANUARY 26, 2024

Many of the trends identified by Datos Insights could help wealth management firms navigate challenges throughout 2024.

Wealth Management 113

Wealth Management Management 113

Advisor Perspectives

JANUARY 26, 2024

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 0.21% month-over-month change in disposable income comes to 0.04% when we adjust for inflation. The year-over-year metrics are 6.37% nominal and 3.68% real.

69

69

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All accounting teams know what it is like to dread the inevitable month-end scaries. If there was a way to feel less burdened and maybe even a little enthusiastic to work on your month-end close and reconciliation process, would you do it? No, don't answer that, of course you would! Automate your month-end close process by up to 40% with SkyStem's ART and see how much more alive you feel!

Accounting

Wealth Management

JANUARY 26, 2024

The growing popularity of sustainable investing poses challenges for fiduciaries in a complex investment environment.

Investing 107

Investing Investments 107

Advisor Perspectives

JANUARY 26, 2024

The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) released the latest monthly data for its pending home sales index. The index jumped 8.3% in December to 77.3, its highest reading in five months. Pending home sales were expected to increase 1.5% last month.

Sales 69

Sales 69

Wealth Management

JANUARY 26, 2024

Why Stratos Wealth slowed down to drive growth for the future.

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113

Advisor Perspectives

JANUARY 26, 2024

Personal income ( excluding transfer receipts ) rose 0.3% in December and is up 5.8% 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 3.1% year-over-year.

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64

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Creating a winning digital lending experience requires plenty of focus on the needs of customers and more. Biz2X Chief Product Officer Aaron Traub covers everything from how to create such an experience, areas to hone in on, pitfalls to avoid, and plenty more in this insightful article. Discover how to utilize new technology without alienating existing customers, what to emphasize when working on your platform, and how to utilize the data at your disposal while not becoming overly reliant on it.

Communication

AdvisorPR

JANUARY 26, 2024

How can a financial advisor attract more ideal clients and drive better marketing results? Tune in to elevate your brand game with our founder, Alana Kohl , on the latest episode of C2Podcasts! Discover how to evaluate and transform your marketing using the “4 C’s” framework to ensure your brand is: Cohesive Compelling Credible Consistent Watch below or download the podcast audio here.

Financial Advisor 52

Financial Advisor Clients Marketing Marketing 52

Advisor Perspectives

JANUARY 26, 2024

When markets are volatile, it's tempting to move into cash. But those high yields on short-term cash instruments aren't as attractive once taxes and inflation are factored in.

Economics 59

Economics Marketing Marketing Planning 59

AdvisorPR

JANUARY 26, 2024

How can a financial advisor attract more ideal clients and drive better marketing results? Tune in to elevate your brand game with our founder, Alana Kohl , on the latest episode of C2Podcasts! Discover how to evaluate and transform your marketing using the “4 C’s” framework to ensure your brand is: Cohesive Compelling Credible Consistent Watch below or download the podcast audio here.

Financial Advisor 52

Financial Advisor Clients Marketing Marketing 52