Advisor Perspectives
AUGUST 14, 2023
When adjusting for more realistic assumptions and considering the fact that the insurance company can change return caps and that inflation is both an unknown and deep risk, an FIA, along with most annuities, is not on the efficient frontier in either accumulation or decumulation phases.
Wealth Management
AUGUST 18, 2023
Sequoia Financial Group is adding a team specializing in special needs families, while Wealth Enhancement Group announced its 10th acquisition of the year, a CPA practice has returned to Cetera and Kestra onboarded $1.6 billion in the second quarter. Some top hires and custodian moves were also announced.
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Nerd's Eye View
AUGUST 18, 2023
Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" - this week's edition kicks off with the news that a recent study has found that consumers are increasingly likely to spread their portfolios across a range of asset managers, and that this trend is particularly pronounced amongst more affluent clients (e.g., millionaires), suggesting that advisors who believe they hold "everything" their clients have may actually have less than they realize.
Abnormal Returns
AUGUST 17, 2023
Rates Mortgage rates are at levels not seen since 2001. (axios.com) Global government bond yields are at 15-year highs. (finance.yahoo.com) Markets Valuations don't matter in the short term. (theirrelevantinvestor.com) Forecasting is hard, the GMO edition. (ft.com) Companies Verily is setting the stage for a spinoff from Alphabet ($GOOGL). (theinformation.com) The city of San Francisco is struggling.
Speaker: Dylan Secrest, Founder of Alamo Innovation and Construction Digital Transformation Consultant
Construction payment workflows are notoriously complex when you consider juggling multiple stakeholders, compliance requirements, and evolving project scopes. Delays in approvals or misaligned data between budgets, lien waivers, and pay applications can grind progress to a halt. The good news? It doesn't have to be this way! Join expert Dylan Secrest to discover how leading contractors are turning payment chaos into clarity using digital workflows, integrated systems, and automation strategies.
Calculated Risk
AUGUST 18, 2023
Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Lawler: Is The “Natural” Rate of Interest Back to Pre-Financial Crisis Levels? A brief excerpt: Here is a graph showing the HLW and LM estimates of r-star from 1990 through the first quarter of 2023. Note that both of these estimates show a sharp decline in r-star right around the same time as the beginning of the financial crisis that led to the worst recession since the Great Depression.
Wealth Management
AUGUST 18, 2023
MyVest CEO Anton Honikman discusses how advisors need to evolve and elevate the way they do business.
Financial Advisor Source brings together the best content for financial advisor professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
The Big Picture
AUGUST 14, 2023
Previously : Nobody Knows Nuthin’ (May 5, 2016) Can Anyone Catch Nokia? (October 26, 2022) Why the Apple Store Will Fail (May 20, 2021) “No matter how you cut it, you’ve got to own Cisco” -2000 (May 15, 2023) Nobody Knows Anything, 2023 First Half Edition (June 30, 2023) Nobody Knows Anything (Collection) The post Nobody Knows Anything, Calvin & Hobbes edition appeared first on The Big Picture.
Calculated Risk
AUGUST 15, 2023
Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: The "New Normal" Mortgage Rate Range A brief excerpt: In early June, I wrote: Could 6% to 7% 30-Year Mortgage Rates be the "New Normal"? This is an update to that post with some additional research. In the previous post I noted that a key pitch, by real estate agents for home buyers right now, is that they will likely be able to refinance at a lower mortgage rate in a few years.
Wealth Management
AUGUST 18, 2023
Following a conviction last year, Keith Todd Ashley was sentenced this week to life in prison in a fraud scheme that ended in his client's murder.
Nerd's Eye View
AUGUST 16, 2023
Financial advisors create value for clients not only by giving good advice, but also by ensuring that the advice they give is actually implemented. After all, financial planning is worth a lot more to clients when they act on the advisor's recommendations (and realize the projected outcomes), in contrast to the advisor simply handing clients "The Plan" that is never actually implemented.
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The Big Picture
AUGUST 18, 2023
I have a new column out in Businessweek , just in time for the Federal Reserve meeting in Jackson Hole. It is a congratulatory open letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and the rest of the Fed on beating inflation: Dear Jay, Mazel tov! You beat inflation and avoided a recession. Revel in the sweet taste of victory as you fly-fish with other central bankers at the annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Calculated Risk
AUGUST 13, 2023
Here is another monthly update on lumber prices. SPECIAL NOTE: The CME group discontinued the Random Length Lumber Futures contract on May 16th. I've now switched to a new physically-delivered Lumber Futures contract that was started in August 2022. Unfortunately, this impacts long term price comparisons since the new contract was priced about 24% higher than the old random length contract for the period both contracts were available.
Wealth Management
AUGUST 18, 2023
Also, Altruist introduces a multiple account opening feature, more hires at TIFIN and CreativeOne partners with RISA.
Abnormal Returns
AUGUST 13, 2023
Top clicks this week The equity risk premium in the U.S. keeps falling. (economist.com) Five common personal finance lessons that are wrong. (genyplanning.com) Why are market cap weighted indices hard to beat for managers? (behaviouralinvestment.com) When do dividend-focused strategies outperform? (morningstar.com) Every investment strategy has multiple 'points of failure.
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.
Nerd's Eye View
AUGUST 14, 2023
When a financial advisor first opens their own firm, they often start with few (or no) clients and little revenue. And while they might have an ideal target client in mind, it can be tempting to bring on any client who can pay the advisor’s fee so that the advisor can simply ‘keep the lights on’ But as the firm grows, these initial clients might not generate as much revenue as the firm’s newer clients, perhaps because they were grandfathered into a lower annual fee schedu
Calculated Risk
AUGUST 17, 2023
Realtor.com has monthly and weekly data on the existing home market. Here is their weekly report from Sabrina Speianu: Weekly Housing Trends View — Data Week Ending Aug 12, 2023 • Active inventory declined, with for-sale homes lagging behind year ago levels by 8.6%. This past week marked the 8th consecutive decline in the number of homes actively for sale compared to the prior year, however the gap narrowed slightly compared to the previous week’s -9.1% figure.
Wealth Management
AUGUST 18, 2023
Unlevered municipal bond closed-end funds traded at a discount to their net asset value of roughly 12%, according to Bloomberg data.
Abnormal Returns
AUGUST 14, 2023
Podcasts Michael Kitces talks with Lori Van Dusen, who is the CEO of LVW Advisors, about working with UHNW families. (kitces.com) Brendan Frazier talks about how to send a great prospect follow-up e-mail. (wiredplanning.com) Dan Haylett talks funded contentment with Brian Portnoy of Shaping Wealth. (humansvsretirement.com) Corey Hoffstein talks with Martin Tarlie, a Portfolio Manager at GMO, about bridging the gap between financial planning and portfolio management.
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
AUGUST 12, 2023
This week, we speak with asset management expert Ted Seides , founder of Capital Allocators. His most recent book is “ Capital Allocators: How the world’s elite money managers lead and invest ;” he is also the host of the popular “ Capital Allocators” podcast , which reached 16 million downloads in June. Seides is a CFA charterholder and has an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Calculated Risk
AUGUST 14, 2023
Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: 2nd Look at Local Housing Markets in July A brief excerpt: This is the second look at local markets in July. I’m tracking a sample of about 40 local housing markets in the US. Some of the 40 markets are states, and some are metropolitan areas. I’ll update these tables throughout the month as additional data is released.
Wealth Management
AUGUST 17, 2023
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund said it remains committed to commercial real estate investment, reported Bloomberg. Crain’s New York Business looked at a new bill under consideration in New York state that would make it easier to determine the owners behind LLCs. These are among the must reads from around the real estate investment world to end the week.
Abnormal Returns
AUGUST 14, 2023
Strategy Energy stocks have stopped going down. (allstarcharts.com) Don't fall in love with a stock. (financialducksinarow.com) Crypto How much Bitcoin would spot ETFs hold? (bloomberg.com) Coindesk has laid off editorial staff. (theblock.co) Finance The private credit business is booming. (axios.com) Small banks are less exposed to commercial real estate loans than commonly thought.
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The Reformed Broker
AUGUST 18, 2023
Barry’s new piece for Bloomberg is really good. I had a good laugh at this section: Inflation Expectations Surveys Are Useless The world is more complex, random and global than ever before. Multiplying unknowns have made economic forecasting even more difficult. But for hilariously wrong predictions, nothing beats surveying random people about where they think inflation will be in five years.
Calculated Risk
AUGUST 16, 2023
From the Census Bureau: Permits, Starts and Completions Housing Starts: Privately‐owned housing starts in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,452,000. This is 3.9 percent above the revised June estimate of 1,398,000 and is 5.9 percent above the July 2022 rate of 1,371,000. Single‐family housing starts in July were at a rate of 983,000; this is 6.7 percent above the revised June figure of 921,000.
Wealth Management
AUGUST 17, 2023
One fund close significantly increased overall fundraising volume, but there were also far more funds out in the market raising money than at the beginning of the year, according to a Preqin report.
Abnormal Returns
AUGUST 18, 2023
Strategy Even if you have the news, doesn't mean you can predict the market's reaction. (theirrelevantinvestor.com) Don't confuse cash and bonds. (monevator.com) Startups Instacart could go public as early as next month. (finance.yahoo.com) SpaceX now reportedly running around breakeven. (wsj.com) Streaming Cable and broadcast are now less than 50% of viewing.
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The Reformed Broker
AUGUST 18, 2023
Welcome to the latest episode of The Compound & Friends. This week, Michael Batnick, Eric Balchunas, Jeremy Schwartz, and Downtown Josh Brown discuss the magnificent seven, the bond market, defined outcome ETFs, inflation, the spot bitcoin ETF saga, and much more! You can listen to the whole thing below, or find it wherever you like to listen to your favorite pods!
Calculated Risk
AUGUST 16, 2023
From the Fed: Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee, July 25-26, 2023. Excerpt: The economic forecast prepared by the staff for the July FOMC meeting was stronger than the June projection. Since the emergence of stress in the banking sector in mid-March, indicators of spending and real activity had come in stronger than anticipated; as a result, the staff no longer judged that the economy would enter a mild recession toward the end of the year.
Wealth Management
AUGUST 17, 2023
Digital fraud is a growing threat to advisors, who are on their own when it comes to buying insurance coverage for the risk.
Abnormal Returns
AUGUST 15, 2023
Rates Rising bond yields continue to boost future returns. (awealthofcommonsense.com) Companies are not betting on lower rates any time soon. (ft.com) How higher interest rates are going to pinch corporate profits. (klementoninvesting.substack.com) Finance Blackstone ($BX) is not backing away from the growth equity business. (bloomberg.com) Is there a structural imbalance in the secondary market for private equity fund stakes?
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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