In December 2022, I published Sea Change, a memo that primarily discussed the 13-year period from the end of 2008, when the U.S. Federal Reserve cut the fed funds rate to zero to counter the effects of the Global Financial Crisis, to the end of 2021, when the Fed abandoned the idea that inflation was transitory and readied what turned out to be a rapid-fire succession of interest rate increases.
American progressives, together with populists and nationalists on the right, argue that “every billionaire is a policy failure” and propose applying special taxes to them. But bashing the ultra-wealthy is based on flawed ideas about income inequality and sends the message that success is a dirty word.
FIAs can provide a reliable "retirement paycheck" that can last as long as your clients are retired.
The world population is aging rapidly – 65 million people over the age of 65 will live in the U.S. by 2030.
The disparity between the length of time a person lives (their lifespan) and how long they are in good health and can function well (their healthspan) is widening. As a result, a significant portion of aging adults are spending longer portions of their lives in poor health as they struggle to pay for caregiving assistance. This grim trend is the reason why 73% of aging adults in the U.S. cite sickness as their main concern. They want to improve their health to protect their retirement. Surprisingly, this is a highly underserved market. Many aging adults have savings, income and wealth-transfer solutions, but due to a broken insurance market and old paradigms, very few can get solutions to hedge against disability and its wealth-draining consequences.
In 2020, the NeverStop platform was launched to allow life and health insurers to help their policyholders live longer and better by protecting them from disability and its financial consequences.
A record amount of zero-coupon bonds were created in December as investors scrambled to lock in US government bond yields that were retreating from multiyear highs.
20 years into retirement, most retirees have spent only 20% of their savings. We talked to retired participants to understand why–and what it means for the next generation of retirees.
Many of us were prepping for year-end (or on vacation in Belize, in my case) in December. However, index providers were hard at work to ensure certain ETFs fully reflected the investment criteria advisors have come to expect.
The prevailing consensus in 2024 is that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates. But predicting central bank moves is an inexact science. That said, fixed income investors could use the help of an active strategy to continue extracting higher yields.
2023 will likely go down in history as a year of extreme speculation. However, we believe there are once-in-a-generation investment opportunities for 2024 resulting from that overly speculative myopia.
Should retail investors partake of the very attractive yields promised by private credit fund managers?
Traders betting on a 2024 bond rally are unfazed by the recent pullback, seeing it as a chance to seize on elevated yields before the Federal Reserve starts driving down interest rates.
Municipal Bond Strategist Jim Grabovac looks at how the municipal bond market wrapped up 2023 and shares his expectations for the year ahead.
Markets rose last month, continuing November’s rally as interest rates pulled back even more on expectations of Fed rate cuts in 2024.
The long-awaited recession never materialized in 2023 as the sectors of the economy rotated from hot (i.e., travel and leisure) to cold (i.e., housing) over the last few years.
Bond yields are up—that’s good news for income investors, but secular forces still pose headwinds for inflation-adjusted returns. We think an efficient way to generate income is by carefully assembling mixes of interest-rate and credit building blocks—and incorporating private-market exposure for additional diversification and return potential.
After a year when advisors were relatively cautious about taking on credit risk, sentiment seems to be shifting.
We think 2023 stressed the value of adapting to a new volatile macro regime and leveraging investment insight and structural forces to find opportunities.
I have news for you: The United States is becoming more redistributionist. Whether you like it or not.
The S&P 500 reversed its 2022 losses, and then some, closing the year near a record high.
Welcome to 2024! As we wade into the new year, you will undoubtedly read and hear a wide range of forecasts predicting what financial markets are going to bring us over the next 12 months.
Craig Burelle sets the stage for our Sector Outlook blog series with his views on the macro backdrop in 2024.
Economists are used to the idea that intervening in concrete ways — spending on development projects, for example, or on social services — can improve outcomes. But what about psychological interventions?
Enthusiasm for Japanese equities picked up in 2023 as evidenced by the 28% rally in the TOPIX (local) index through November.
Here are our 10 themes for 2024. Count on more than a few surprise ingredients throughout the year to spice up the financial markets.
Our current 10-year outlook highlights better opportunities for cash and bonds, primarily driven by higher starting yields, and a steady outlook for stocks.
Confidence in the bond markets is fueling a two-month rally in prices as the capital markets brace for rate cuts in 2024. Whether they happen at a furious pace or not is anyone’s guess, but the expectation of cuts are providing enough spark for the rally.
Exploring sustainable investing complexities, this piece categorizes ESG into screening, integration, thematic investing, stewardship, and impact. Despite conflicting reports, ESG-labeled bond funds have thrived, reaching $900.5 billion in assets. Their premium indicates robust demand, countering decline narratives and underscoring continued vitality in fixed-income sustainable investing.
Across the U.S. wealth spectrum, $2 out of $3 of investable assets are in taxable accounts. Having a comprehensive tax management strategy is critical. In the context of separately managed accounts, tax-loss harvesting is one component of a tax management strategy. Tax-efficient or tax-aware portfolio rebalancing is a key part of that. That includes the ability to evolve or rebalance the portfolios periodically in a tax-efficient manner by minimizing the overall tax liability. The tax-efficient techniques involve pairing gains against losses or avoiding short-term gains in favor of long-term gains, or capping gains in general to minimize overall tax cost.
While overall economic inflation has slowed over the past 18 months, health insurance costs keep going up.
Economists did not believe it was possible, but they’ve been wrong a lot lately, and in their defense it has only ever happened once (or maybe twice) before: We may be witnessing that rare achievement known as a soft landing.
The surge in consumer prices that drove inflation way past central banker’s targets in recent years triggered a wave of interest-rate hikes.
Life insurance is one industry that has historically overlooked women’s buying power.
The tide has turned for bonds. Here’s what we think is in store for 2024.
The start of a new year brings a chance for reflection and re-evaluation. For investors, a chance to rebalance. Franklin Templeton ETFs’ Dina Ting and Marcus Weyerer highlight the pitfalls of overweight exposure to mega tech stocks and where in the world to look for diversification in 2024.
Tweedy Browne is one of the most respected value managers. In this wide-ranging interview with its investment team, they explain why the opportunity set they are seeing among stocks is the best in 20-plus years.
With only a week remaining to 2023, the stock market is poised to end the year up a respectable 25% or more. That’s despite a number of significant hurdles, from multiyear-high interest rates to ongoing fighting in Ukraine and the Middle East.
As 2023 comes to an end, let’s revisit the top 10 most-read AP charts of the year.
From the banking crisis to the U.S. debt-ceiling saga, from inflation concerns to recession fears, from soaring bond yields to slowing consumer spending, 2023 had no shortage of issues for investors to worry about.
A year of significant monetary policy tightening is coming to a close, making Franklin Templeton Fixed Income optimistic about muni bonds in the year ahead. Get the team’s 2024 muni-bond outlook.
The dollar is poised for its worst year since the onset of the pandemic as Wall Street bets the Federal Reserve is set to lower interest rates after reining in prices.
The year 2023 will be remembered by economists and investors as 365 days of resiliency and defied expectations. This week’s Weekly Economics will dive into the U.S. economic landscape and summarize the major factors that shaped the nation’s economic trajectory this year.
All across Wall Street, on equities desks and bond desks, at giant firms and niche outfits, the mood was glum. It was the end of 2022 and everyone, it seemed, was game-planning for the recession they were convinced was coming.
Aggregate bond benchmarks rebounded this year following some of the worst showings on record in 2022. With heightened expectations that the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates in 2024, fixed income enthusiasm is perking up.
Quarterly commentary giving an overview of the markets and the importance of having and implementing a strategy when investing in the markets.
If 2023 was the year of the “Magnificent Seven,” 2024 may be a year where small-, mid- and large-cap companies will take the spotlight, according to Franklin Equity Group.
With 2024 just around the bend, fixed income exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are offering investors bright prospects for bond exposure in the new year and capital allocation is expected to increase.
The “vibecession” that has confounded economists for the past two years is finally behind us.
If you own bond funds in a taxable account, it is possible to turn some of the SEC yield into long-term capital gains taxed at lower rates, which could save a bundle. Here’s how.
As we near the end of 2023, Head of Franklin Institute Stephen Dover reviews how his forecasts for the year panned out and shares the themes his team is watching out for in 2024.
After a year marred by the biggest US bank failures since the 2008 financial crisis, the nation’s largest lender is on familiar footing — scooping up a weakened rival, reeling in its clients and minting record profits along the way.
