The generational divide is a part of the human condition – and the investor condition. It’s not just that one group has more experience than the other, or that one is more eager to make its own way, but that both groups can learn totally different lessons from the same event.

Sometimes small changes speak loudly. Deutsche Bank AG’s new chief financial officer, Raja Akram, put the German lender’s consumer and asset management businesses before its corporate and investment banking units in his first earnings presentation last week.

ClearBridge Investments suggests investors could use volatility as an opportunity to deploy capital, while modestly favoring the stronger earnings revisions and more reasonable valuations available in non-US equities.

It’s Shareholder Meeting Month on Wall Street. With the bulk of the Q1 earnings season now in the rearview mirror, investors turn their attention to Annual General Meetings (AGMs) held by some of the most important multinational corporations.

In a recent Market Outlook Symposium we hosted at VettaFi, we learned that 2026 has marked the return of fixed income as a strong contributor to an investor’s total return. We also learned that the biggest theme in fixed income investing this year is dispersion. Where you are putting your money to work matters.

Gen Z is coming of age in a world very different from that of their parents. Advisors who want to connect with this cohort need be conscious, not only of Gen Z’s biases and unique perspectives, but also of their own preconceptions and tendencies.

The S&P 500 hit a fresh record high last week. The median stock in the index is sitting 13% below its 52-week peak. That divergence is not a footnote or a curiosity.

Listening is a skill that can be taught, can be learned, and can be practiced. If a client doesn’t think their advisor is really listening to them, they might take that opportunity to find another advisor who does.

Investors are piling into municipal bonds at the fastest rate in five years, drawn by attractive yields and the promise of a safe harbor from recent market volatility.

Utilizing a portfolio of individual bonds can provide benefits that are difficult to reproduce via other fixed income investment vehicles. The portfolio can be completely customized to the specifications of an investor, providing a solution that aligns long-term financial goals with personal preferences. Product choice, issuer selection, cash flow, maturity, tax considerations, and credit quality, can all be customized.

LPL Research examines overlooked tech growth, assessing strong earnings, AI skepticism, and valuation opportunities for investors.

Deglobalization supports diversification: Reversing global trade reduces economic productivity, but the resulting decoupling of international markets increases the protective value of geographic diversification.

Despite continued geopolitical gridlock that has kept the Strait of Hormuz largely closed—and pushed West Texas Intermediate crude oil above $100 last week for the first time since the April 8 ceasefire announcement—U.S. equities continued to climb.

Thus far 2026 has been a roller coaster year for fixed income markets. The 10-year Treasury, the benchmark rate for the bond market, saw its yield trade as low as 3.94% and as high as 4.43%.

A persistent oil shock implies higher inflation and weaker growth, but risk assets appear unfazed, with equities and credit spread performance diverging from the caution implied by government bonds.

Affordability is a major problem that is finally getting the attention it needs. As important is directing that attention at the root cause of America’s cost-of-living crisis: inadequate wages.

Advisors are rethinking strategy in 2026, as geopolitics, AI adoption, and downside risk reshape market expectations and investment decisions.

While oil prices are likely to remain elevated in the near term, we do not view the current disruption as a lasting supply shock. A diplomatic resolution, or even progress toward one, should help bring prices lower by year-end. Although higher oil prices are a headwind, we believe both the economy and equity markets can absorb the impact with limited damage, as underlying fundamentals remain strong.

It’s no secret that college is expensive. And alongside mounting costs come almost as many strategies for mitigating them. When you need money to pay for college expenses, tapping your Roth IRA is one option you might consider.

Get ready each week with high-conviction insights that go beyond media headlines.

April showers came in the form of more inflows raining down on the exchange-traded fund (ETF) market last month. Assets under management (AUM) have now grown to a staggering $14.7 trillion for the year. That’s punctuated by year-to-date (YTD) net inflows of over $636 billion.

What a week this was! On Tuesday, I participated on a panel at the Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas, where I discussed why Bitcoin miners have a head start in the race for AI compute.

When it comes to investing, it’s the Wild West out there. Our clients are hearing things from less scrupulous members of the financial services industry that appear true on the surface but are really aimed at separating people from their money.

The same forces that are straining the political marriage across the Atlantic are also creating a long‑term opportunity set in Europe. Advisors should position clients’ capital so that it benefits from that structural shift, while staying disciplined about quality, valuation, and risk.

The poor sentiment toward private credit funds has dragged down many high-quality BDCs, as well as weaker ones. The chaos and bad press surrounding private credit funds are not reasons to avoid BDCs. In fact, we think it’s a reason to consider them.

Robots are coming to the economy. It is inevitable, really, and there is nothing that will stop it. At some point in the not-so-distant future, robots will infiltrate every aspect of our lives, from office work and manufacturing to service work and trade skills, and even your home. Here are some numbers for you.

While the ETF leaderboard continues to be dominated by S&P 500 index-based products, there are many other success stories that are likely being missed. There are now more than 5,100 products for advisors, investors, and even analysts to keep up with. Let’s take a look at some funds that have sprouted in just the last few months.

The part of the bond ETF complex that’s growing fastest isn’t that part. It’s the active and outcome-oriented funds — multisector strategies, flexible income vehicles, securitized credit funds, options-overlay products — that charge 0.30 to 1 percentage point and promise more yield, less duration, or both. And the marketing pitch behind them quietly elides something important.

Like Treasuries and Treasury Inflation-Protection Securities (TIPS), municipal bonds betrayed their normally docile reputations in March as the conflict in Iran stirred increased volatility for normally subdued corners of the bond market.

It’s happening. California looks likely to put a “one-time” tax of 5% on wealth above $1 billion on the ballot in November, and polls suggest it could pass — despite opposition from some economists (not so surprising) and Democratic politicians (more so).

Chuck emphasizes that value, not price, is the key driver of successful long-term investing. Investors should avoid trying to time the market and instead focus on buying quality businesses at sound valuations. If a stock is undervalued, it may present a buying opportunity.

April showed us just how sensitive markets can be to a small number of powerful forces: energy prices, inflation and geopolitical risk. The conflict in the Middle East dominated headlines, with a ceasefire helping to steady markets even as energy prices remained elevated.

Although sentiment remains sensitive to headlines around the Strait of Hormuz and energy markets, Franklin Templeton’s Emerging Markets Debt team sees an asset class that has shown it can absorb shocks, even as renewed geopolitical flare-ups or a broader risk-off episode could still test markets.

Artificial intelligence might be the most transformative technology ever devised. Exactly how its effects will work through the economy is impossible to say, but serious disruption of one kind or another seems likely. Millions of jobs — in the end, maybe most jobs — could radically change, and many will disappear entirely.

In today’s market, income investors remain firmly focused on one objective: yield. With traditional sources of income still under pressure, demand for high-income ETFs continues to grow — especially those capable of delivering consistent monthly payouts.

Volatility ETFs have specific purposes to fulfill for investors -- so have they done so in a very volatile year?

Core aggregate benchmarks remain the bedrock of many fixed income portfolios but advisors are increasingly looking to income alternatives.

The stock market would love to see nothing more than the labor market holding up. Time and again, we find monetary policy having a beautiful, lagged effect in the jobless claims series. We are of the view that the cumulative 175 basis points of Fed rate cuts that hit the market in 2024 and 2025 is exactly what the labor market needs in 2026-2027. We will soon find out if manufacturing employment continued to mend in April.

The sharp rebound from the March lows has pushed most major equity indexes back to record highs. This upside momentum has been fueled in part by signs of de-escalation with Iran and growing expectations that the Strait of Hormuz could reopen soon.

Where should advisors and investors be looking to find the best opportunities in fixed income? Given the current macroeconomic picture, now is certainly a good time to consider shifting one’s fixed-income portfolio.

As widely expected amid rising oil, rates will remain 3.5% to 3.75%. However, four policymakers dissented. And Fed Chair Powell will stay as governor after his chairmanship ends.

In a recent (unscientific) Franklin Templeton social media poll, we asked investors what they felt was the biggest risk to the global economy over the next 12 months. Nearly half (45%) of respondents highlighted high oil prices as their greatest fear factor.

As multi-asset income investors, we seek to help a wide range of clients meet their income needs. The benefits of an income-centric approach are especially relevant for investors as they enter retirement – and that’s especially true today. We bring that to life with two case studies.

The rapid institutionalization of the $3 trillion private credit market has left many financial advisors racing to catch up. While the asset class was once a walled garden for pension funds, the mainstreaming of private debt requires a new level of diligence and education. The shift toward transparency is finally allowing advisors to look under the hood of these complex structures.

Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, or TIPS, can help buffer a portfolio against inflation. However, it's important to understand their unique characteristics and complex nature.

Reaching age milestones triggers critical financial and tax-planning actions. This guide explores how specific ages impact decisions regarding Medicare, Social Security, charitable giving and retirement withdrawals, helping you navigate these milestones to optimize your long-term wealth strategy.

The long-term shift from traditional pensions to defined contribution (DC) plans puts employees in charge of their retirement savings—and needing help.

Now and then, advisors need to get a sense of how Americans of all ages approach retirement planning. Back in March, Fidelity Investments released its 2026 State of Retirement Planning Study. The report took a deep dive into how different age groups of Americans are viewing retirement preparations.

For the third consecutive policy gathering, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decided to remain ‘on hold,’ keeping the fed funds trading range at 3.50%–3.75%. This result was largely expected by the markets. Unfortunately for the Fed, the policymakers are in a challenging position of juggling incoming economic and inflation data as well as the uncertainties emanating from the Middle East war.

For much of the past few years, US Treasuries have failed to serve their traditional role as a sure-fire refuge from global market meltdowns.