Venerated Voices™ 2023 Rankings

Among individual commentators, the most-widely read was Anne Walsh of Guggenheim Investments. In second place was John Hussman of Hussman Funds followed by John Mauldin of Mauldin Economics in third place.

The most-widely read commentary in 2023, published on August 15, was Credit is the Next Shoe to Drop by Anne Walsh of Guggenheim Investments. In her interview with Bloomberg TV, Walsh shared her insights on the economic landscape, focusing on inflation and credit risks. She emphasized that while inflation was expected to decrease, its trajectory would not be straightforward, with labor market wages playing a pivotal role. Moreover, Walsh raised a crucial point that the market's fixation on interest rates may have overshadowed looming credit risks, which she referred to as "the next shoe to drop." She went on to highlight that companies and investors holding substantial cash reserves are better positioned to navigate economic challenges, but the presence of idiosyncratic, one-off credit risks remains a concern, potentially leading to defaults and delinquencies. In terms of portfolio positioning, Walsh advised that high-grade credit markets offer relative stability and present opportunities in structured credit:

In the shorter run, I think the market is not anticipating the next shoe to drop and that’s credit. And the concerns with regards to margins and pressures and a recessionary cycle, and I think we have to get through that first before getting to the good stuff at the end of this story.

Japan Is On The Rise took second place, written by Carl Tannenbaum of Northern Trust and published on July 18. Tannenbaum began by characterizing Japan as a former global economic leader that has experienced decades of stagnation and decline. But he said that Japan is “on the rise” as it is showing signs of improvement, including strong economic growth and a significant stock market rebound. Furthermore, he highlighted how the pandemic played a surprising role in this turnaround, as supply chain disruptions and labor shortages led to wage increases and higher prices, effectively countering deflation. Despite ongoing challenges, Tannenbaum suggested that the prevailing sentiment surrounding Japan’s economy is optimistic.

In third place was Understanding the Rise in Bond Yields: Implications and Opportunities for Investors by Tiffany Wilding and Mike Cudzil of PIMCO, published on October 14th. Wilding and Cudzil argued that the surge in bond yields, fueled by the economy’s resilience, provided fixed income investors with an opportunity for capital gains and portfolio diversification. They said the recent spike was largely attributed to reduced recession expectations, which could lead to an increase in future government bonds supply and ultimately lead investors to demanding higher premiums for holding longer-maturity bonds.

Advisor Perspectives’ website attracts more than 150,000 unique visitors per month, virtually all of them financial advisors serving high- and ultra-high net worth individuals. The company, which is part of VettaFi, publishes economic and market commentaries submitted by fund companies, advisors and independent research firms. In 2023, over 2,200 such commentaries were published and made available through a daily newsletter, Research Perspectives, which the company emails to its subscribers.

Venerated Voices™ rankings were determined by the number of unique readers of each commentary, using data provided electronically by the third-party web analytics service Google Analytics. The data were normalized using the average score per month. Any participant is eligible to receive a quarterly award. Each firm and author is assigned a relative score based on unique pageviews, with a score of 100 equal to average quarterly readership.

Advisor Perspectives was founded in 2007 and is based in Lexington, Massachusetts. In addition to Research Perspectives, it publishes a widely read weekly newsletter, Advisor Perspectives, which contains original articles on the markets, the economy and practice management. In October 2022, it was announced that Advisor Perspectives became a part of VettaFi and in January 2024, it was announced that VettaFi became part of TMX Group.

Advisor Perspectives will continue providing quarterly updates to its rankings, as well as issuing annual Venerated Voices™ awards.

The Top 10 Venerated Voices™ by Commentary

The Top 25 Venerated Voices™ by Firm

The Top 25 Venerated Voices™ by Author

The Top 25 Venerated Voices™ by Firm – Frequently Posted

The Top 25 Venerated Voices™ by Author – Frequently Posted

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