Economic indicators provide insight into the overall health and performance of an economy. They serve as essential tools for policymakers, advisors, investors, and businesses alike.

Risks remain tilted to the downside. Uncertainty about the strength and speed of monetary policy transmission and the persistence of inflation are key concerns. The adverse effects of higher interest rates could prove stronger than predicted, and greater inflation persistence would require additional policy tightening that might expose financial vulnerabilities.

It’s Moving Day for cryptocurrency ETFs. ProShares has launched three crypto ETFs, including the first fund correlated to the performance of the ether.

Rising rates and inflation acted as a wrecking ball to investment portfolios in 2022. U.S. equities and investment-grade fixed income witnessed double-digit declines, leaving investors scrambling for protection.

Higher interest rates aren’t just a thorn in the side of prospective residential real estate buyers and owners. Additionally, commercial real estate is feeling the pangs of a high-rate environment. That could bring out more bears in the sector.

Savvy investors are aware that geopolitical tensions and uncertainty can significantly influence the financial markets.

Following last year’s calamity in the bond market, it’s not surprising that advisors and investors are looking for new avenues through which to source income. That search is leading many market participants to options-based exchange traded funds, including covered call ETFs.

Reshoring and nearshoring are key trends for investors in global markets. As geopolitical tensions escalate and more businesses shift operations away from China, investors are considering the impacts of deglobalization.

A familiar situation to many advisors: You’ve just attended a big conference, such as Future Proof or Exchange. You have a stack of new contacts, partnership opportunities, and friendly faces.

One mark of true brilliance is the ability to make complex ideas seem simple. I think this is why so many of us fondly remember our early schoolteachers.

This article will demystify what a 401(k) rollover truly entails, why it’s an option to consider, and how it could play a role in shaping the landscape of your financial future.

As heightened inflation has lingered, the Federal Reserve diminished hopes of 2024 interest rate cuts and economic data suggests a mild recession in the first half of 2024.

Thomas Jefferson University (TJU) developed a strategic resource allocation framework to rationalize and simplify the complex legacy portfolio structures it had inherited through mergers and acquisitions.

Though time will continue to reveal its staying power, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) thus far has proven that it has its place in the investment community.

The BoE will have to do more to bring inflation back down to target.

When the revolution in higher education finally arrives, how will we know? I have a simple metric: When universities change how they measure faculty work time.

How long can the #economy stomach higher rates and avoid any major damage? In this month’s newsletter, we dive into why cuts need to happen soon, the fallout if they don’t, and how investors can position portfolios heading into year end.

Bill Gross is right: bond ETF activity has been frenzied in the grip of Wall Street turmoil.

Not so long ago, families, businesses and governments were effectively living in a world of free money.

Ether is the cryptocurrency of the Ethereum platform. Bitwise, ProShares, and Van Eck collectively rolled out a total of six funds that hold such futures. Additional similar funds from other issuers are in the works.

Investors had gotten used to smooth sailing with the economy remaining resilient, the equity market soaring double digits, and volatility remaining (mostly) subdued.

In an era of new economic challenges, we expect value investing to trump growth-oriented strategies for investors in Chinese equities.

Undoubtedly, artificial intelligence (AI) is a disruptive technology. That implies some sectors and industries will be purveyors of disruption, while others could be adversely affected by it.

VettaFi’s vice chairman Tom Lydon discussed the iMGP DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF (DBMF) on this week’s “ETF of the Week” podcast with Chuck Jaffe of “Money Life.”

Investors have been underweight Japan for decades, but conditions on the ground have changed meaningfully. Amid improving fundamentals and governance reforms, we believe it’s time to close the gap and take advantage of the attractive opportunity among small-to-mid cap Japanese companies.

Bulls hoping the Nasdaq 100’s best day since August is the start of a meaningful rebound may be about to get a boost from a long-standing ally: tech companies themselves.

There are compelling arguments that interest rates will remain low rather than rise.

The Federal Reserve may be putting its hoped-for soft landing of the economy at risk by tacitly accepting a run-up in long-term interest rates to the highest levels since 2007.

Emerging markets (EM) bulls may have to continue playing the waiting game after a rough end to the third quarter. Thankfully, leveraged exchange traded funds (ETFs) can keep traders in the game.

India will need to think beyond physical assets to continue its growth.

News of a liquidity crisis at China's largest property developer, Country Garden, has rekindled fears about the scale of the country's real estate problems and potential ripple effects. And Country Garden is not alone.

Plenty of ink has been spilled about how much money has gone into active ETFs in 2023, and from a pure top-line flows perspective, it’s true.

The world turns. New people are born and eventually move off the couch and into something resembling employment. And thus new generations of nonsense about “solved” topics are produced.

The most challenging assignments I receive start with the advisor asking: “I had a great meeting with a prospect. Now I’m being ghosted. What should I do?”

This is the 25th anniversary of the collapse of LTCM, so let’s reflect on the similarities between that debacle and what might unfold in the capital markets today.

Last year, Exchange solidified itself as the most valuable advisor-centric event in the country, uniting advisors with thought leaders and experts in financial services, fintech, and economics. Exchange 2024 looks to be the boldest yet.

Rising rates in the second half of the year have brought year-to-date returns for the US Aggregate (“Agg”) benchmark index negative.

Last week in the State Street Global Advisors’ Gold ETF Impact Study, the firm reported that “Among approximately 1,000 investors surveyed, Millennials have the biggest allocation to gold at 17%, with Baby Boomers and Gen X investors lagging behind at just 10%.”

VettaFi’s Tom Hendrickson and Jane Edmonson discuss the firm’s recent acquisition of EQM Indexes and offer several predictions on the future of thematic investing. F/m Investments’ Alex Morris explains why the firm is pursuing a mutual fund share class of their single treasury bond ETFs. Vanguard’s Rich Powers highlights their private equity offering and its potential benefits to investors.

Many Americans believe that Gen Z is financially illiterate and uninformed. But the story is not that simple.

A pair of Wall Street’s most prominent US equity strategists are at odds about whether stocks can extend this year’s rally against the reality that interest rates will remain higher for longer.

Money-management firms launched new exchange-traded funds at a rapid pace last month, shaking off fears that the $7 trillion industry is already overrun with low-cost investment vehicles.

Today, I am going to bring a new technology, and a new company, to your attention – a company in control of a technology so powerful that lithium-ion batteries could soon become yesterday’s story.

Energy and information technology are the two sectors most top of mind for investors, according to polling at VettaFi’s recent Equity Symposium.

Public credit markets offer high quality investments with attractive yields and downside resilience, while we see growing longer-term opportunities in private markets.

Prices of bitcoin and ethereum haven’t done much to spark enthusiasm in recent weeks. That lethargy could be belying significant appreciation potential.

With negligible incremental risk, a RAFI Global Index hypothetically outperformed a Cap-Weighted Global Index by 40 bps per annum and a Cap-Weighted Global Value Index by 2.2% from 2007 to 2022—a 16-year period covering the long value rout and its aftermath.

“Compound market returns.” During bullish markets, there is inevitably a regurgitation of this myth that was contrived to extract capital from retail investors and place it in the hands of Wall Street.

We can and are building much taller skyscrapers. But they are impractical money losers because so much floor space is taken up by elevators. A new book explains the interplay between size and scale, and what it means for our economy and investments.