The Big Picture

APRIL 19, 2023

Check out these recent headlines about the classic 60/40 investment strategy 1 : The 60-40 Investment Strategy Is Back After Tanking Last Year BlackRock Ditches 60/40 Portfolio in New Regime of High Inflation Why a 60/40 Portfolio Is No Longer Good Enough The 60-40 portfolio is back Sorry, but all of these headlines utterly miss the point. No, the 60/40 mix of stocks and bonds is not dead; No, this is not the first time we had a regime of high inflation, transitory or otherwise.

Portfolio 331

Portfolio Risk Tolerance Investing Investments 331

The Reformed Broker

APRIL 15, 2023

I spent the week in Paris with the family and it was really an amazing trip. As you guys know I’m big on history and art and food and stuff so I had been looking forward to it for a long time. And the city did not disappoint. Other than the lack of ice cubes Some shots: The Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, which played host to some amazing moments in the history of the world.

Food 339

Food 339

Nerd's Eye View

APRIL 18, 2023

Welcome back to the 329th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast ! My guest on today's podcast is Charesse Spiller. Charesse is Founder and Principal Consultant for Level Best, an operations and process strategy consulting firm based in Houston, Texas. What's unique about Charesse though, is how she has founded a consulting firm that doesn’t just try to teach financial advisors how to systematize and automate, and instead actually works as an outsourced provider to build and impl

Consulting 245

Consulting Financial Advisor Education Accounting 245

Abnormal Returns

APRIL 20, 2023

60/40 portfolio What is the motivation of people telling you the 60/40 portfolio doesn't work? (cnbc.com) Cullen Roche, "We don’t know how risky the 60% slice of stocks is in the coming years. But we know, with a high probability that the 40% slice of bonds is becoming much more attractive." (disciplinefunds.com) Strategy Don't use inflation as an excuse not to invest.

Financial Advising 203

Financial Advising Startup Media Portfolio 203

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

The Big Picture

APRIL 21, 2023

My fishing pal Sam Rines has spent much of this year pushing a thesis of “ Price over Volume” ; I found it a compelling narrative, one that fits in nicely with an apsect of inflation that I had originally underestimated: “Greedflation.” The Price over Volume thesis is both compelling and underappreciated. I hope you find his take thought provoking… -Barry Price over Volume remains a key theme this earnings season with PG’s earnings report the tip of the iceberg.

Economy 321

Economy Banking Manufacturing Management 321

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 206

Clients Financial Services Financial Advisor Communication 206

Abnormal Returns

APRIL 15, 2023

Autos How trucks, including SUVs, have overtaken U.S. roads. (washingtonpost.com) U.S. school buses are next up for the electrification wave. (bloomberg.com) Does it make more sense to lease a new EV? (axios.com) The Chevy Bolt is a deal. (barrons.com) Energy A Q&A with Robert Zubrin author of "The Case for Nukes: How We Can Beat Global Warming and Create a Free, Open, and Magnificent Future.

Food 202

Food Medicine Financial Advising Numbers 202

The Big Picture

APRIL 17, 2023

I mentioned a few weeks ago how much better Europe ‘s return to office rate was doing versus ours : 90+% RTO, while the USA is ~60%. I cannot speak to Europe, but that U.S. number is an average across all regions, industries, age groups, etc. In some parts of the country, it is appreciably higher or lower; as you might imagine, it varies greatly.

Numbers 311

Numbers Clients 311

The Reformed Broker

APRIL 18, 2023

The ‘Investment Committee’ weigh in on the traditional 60/40 portfolio from CNBC. The post Clips From Today’s Halftime Report appeared first on The Reformed Broker.

Portfolio 222

Portfolio Investing Investments 222

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Banking

Nerd's Eye View

APRIL 17, 2023

New client growth is the lifeblood of financial planning firms and there are myriad strategies for attracting qualified prospects, but many of these come with a hard-dollar or time cost for the firm. Which is why many advisors seek to leverage client referrals, where their clients refer family members, friends, or colleagues to the advisor. At the same time, asking clients to make referrals (and having the referred individual actually reach out to the advisor) can be challenging.

Financial Planning 197

Financial Planning Clients Planning Marketing 197

Abnormal Returns

APRIL 19, 2023

Podcasts Meb Faber talks with Ramit Sethi about his new Netflix show 'How to Get Rich.' (mebfaber.com) Christine Benz and Jeff Ptak talk with Micah Hauptman who is the director of investor protection at the Consumer Federation of America. (morningstar.com) Morgan Housel on why you need to play your own (money) game. (open.spotify.com) Direct indexing Ten years of live numbers on a tax-loss harvesting program.

Taxes 200

Taxes Planning Retirement Accounting 200

The Big Picture

APRIL 21, 2023

My end-of-week morning train WFH reads: • What Beat the S&P 500 Over the Past Three Decades? Doing Nothing : A strategy of buying a basket of stocks and leaving them untouched outperformed the index, not to mention scores of active managers. ( Morningstar ) • AI Can Write a Song, but It Can’t Beat the Market : Quants have tried for decades with limited success at their biggest challenge ( Wall Street Journal ) see also ‘Overemployed’ Hustlers Exploit ChatGPT To Take On Even More Full-Time Jo

Consulting 277

Consulting Compliance Media Investing 277

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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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

Nerd's Eye View

APRIL 21, 2023

Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" - this week's edition kicks off with the news that in a settlement with the SEC, robo-advisor platform Betterment agreed to pay a $9 million penalty for allegedly misstating the frequency that its automated tax-loss harvesting system was scanning some client accounts between 2016 and 2019, highlighting the importance of ensuring that marketing messages and services provided match, not only for robo-advisors, but for human

Financial Planner 182

Financial Planner Advertising Taxes Clients 182

Abnormal Returns

APRIL 18, 2023

Quant stuff The difference between the Spearman and Pearson coefficients. (mrzepczynski.blogspot.com) Traders often come up with a strategy and then try to justify it. (priceactionlab.com) Factors Factors aren't forever. How exposure decay over time. (alphaarchitect.com) The case for factor timing. (institutionalinvestor.com) Equity risk premium More evidence that the vast majority of stock market returns come from a handful of stocks.

Portfolio 199

Portfolio Investing Investments Marketing 199

The Big Picture

APRIL 17, 2023

My back-to-work morning train WFH reads: • Would You Rather Outperform During Bull Markets or Bear Markets? It’s hard to believe how much brainpower, time, effort and money go into beating the market by hedge funds, mutual funds, separately-managed accounts and stock-pickers…and the vast majority of them fail at their stated goal. ( A Wealth of Common Sense ) • The Business of … Death : Why most American funeral parlors are family-owned and other fascinating insights—extreme embalming?!

Management 278

Management Assets Taxes Investing 278

The Reformed Broker

APRIL 21, 2023

Welcome to the latest episode of The Compound & Friends. This week, Michael Batnick, Ben Carlson, Ric Edelman, and Downtown Josh Brown discuss regulators vs Bitcoin, advice for financial advisors looking to get in the content game, the 2023 banking crisis, the new 60/40, exponential technology, how AI will impact financial advice, longevity, and much more!

Financial Advice 204

Financial Advice Financial Advisor Banking Marketing 204

Speaker: Carolina Aponte - Owner and CEO, Caja Holdings LLC

In today's rapidly changing business environment, building a resilient balance sheet is crucial to the survival of any business. A resilient balance sheet allows a company to withstand financial shocks and adapt to changing market conditions. To achieve this, companies need to focus on key strategies such as maintaining adequate liquidity, managing debt levels, diversifying revenue streams, and prioritizing profitability over growth.

Financial Planning

Nerd's Eye View

APRIL 19, 2023

When an RIA reaches the threshold of $100 million in Regulatory Assets Under Management (RAUM), it must generally switch from being registered at the state level to registering with the SEC. But while $100 million may be the general rule, in practice it isn’t always a hard line. The reality is that volatile markets and shifting client bases can often cause an RIA’s RAUM to flutter above and below the $100 million line.

Assets 174

Assets Management Investing Investments 174

Abnormal Returns

APRIL 21, 2023

CDs Short duration assets, like CDs, look good right now, but they do have risks. (awealthofcommonsense.com) Bank CD rates are at 15-year highs. The question is for how long? (nytimes.com) CD investors face reinvestment risk. (barrons.com) Strategy A little diversification goes a long way. (morningstar.com) What stocks would you pick if you had to hold them for 25 years?

Financial Advising 198

Financial Advising Banking Media Taxes 198

The Big Picture

APRIL 15, 2023

 This week, we speak with Joseph Baratta , who since 2012, has served as Global Head of Private Equity at Blackstone – the world’s largest alternative asset manager, with $975 billion in assets under management. Baratta, who joined the firm in 1998, is also a member of the board of directors and serves on multiple management committees, as well as the firm’s investment committees.

Consulting 272

Consulting Compliance Assets Management 272

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 145

Numbers Sales Marketing Marketing 145

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Accounting

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

Abnormal Returns

APRIL 21, 2023

The biz Matt Reustle and Dom Cooke talk the future of podcasting with Bryan Barletta who is the founder of Sounds Profitable. (joincolossus.com) Spotify ($SPOT) is removing the paywall on more of its owned podcasts. (semafor.com) Americans largely trust the information provided in podcasts. (pewresearch.org) The best AI tools for podcasters. (descript.com) Venture capital Shane Parrish talks with Ravi Gupta, partner at venture capital giant Sequoia Capital.

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The Big Picture

APRIL 18, 2023

My Two-for-Tuesday morning train WFH reads: • With the Odds on Their Side, They Still Couldn’t Beat the Market : In 2022, conditions were heavily in stock pickers’ favor, but most trailed the market. This year looks worse. ( New York Times ) • Scary economists and bad news : The news cycle has swung back to recession talk, even as inflation is coming down and unemployment is at a 50-year low.

Engineering 269

Engineering Economics Taxes Economy 269

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 122

Investing Investments Portfolio Management 122

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Banking

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

Abnormal Returns

APRIL 19, 2023

Strategy Five real investing lessons from Warren Buffett's career. (realreturns.blog) The 60/40 portfolio never went away. (ritholtz.com) Is gold worth the headache? (savantwealth.com) Know what you own. (morningstar.com) Companies Netflix ($NFLX) is phasing out its DVD-by-mail business. (thestreamable.com) Did Meta ($META) kill the link-in-bio business?

Financial Advising 181

Financial Advising Startup Banking Media 181

The Big Picture

APRIL 15, 2023

The weekend is here! Pour yourself a mug of coffee, grab a seat outside, and get ready for our longer-form weekend reads: • Make Something Wonderful : Steve Jobs in his own words ( Steve Jobs Archive ) • Inside Rupert Murdoch’s Succession Drama : With the $1.6 billion Dominion lawsuit threatening to hobble Fox News, the ink on his divorce to Jerry Hall still wet, and his broken engagement to Ann Lesley Smith even fresher, it’s been a chaotic 12 months for the 92-year-old conservative media baro

Electronics 267

Electronics Insurance Media Taxes 267