The second half of August has been bruising for technology stocks, but those hoping for a respite from the declines shouldn’t relax just yet: September is just around the corner.

Worried? Yes. But investors have evinced few signs of panic amid a stock market drubbing that has wiped out $3 trillion, going by everything from fund flows to options trading.

Professional stock pickers are beating the market in a scale not seen in more than a decade.

Here are five things investors and advisors should consider and weigh when it comes to tax-managed investing.

A close look at the historical data suggests that the excess performance of stocks relative to bonds occurred mainly in two historical periods and has been inconsistent over the last 25 years.

Corporate debt offers attractive yields, particularly through an interval fund with limited liquidity. I compare one such fund, CCLFX, to more traditional, liquid mutual funds.

Our own government cannot afford a short end of the curve much higher than it is now, and our own fiscal and monetary decisions have held down the long end of the curve in what I believe is a multi-decade period ahead that is best referred to as “Japanification”

Investors – your clients – are paying unnecessary taxes when they purchase stocks, equity mutual funds and other securities.

With the growth in 401(k) plans and the contraction of private pensions over the last 30 years, risks in retirement have slowly and almost imperceptibly transferred from institutions to individuals. Institutions staffed with actuaries and analysts are well suited to manage those risks. Individual investors may need some help.

This session introduces a relatively new kind of portfolio income insurance: a Contingent Deferred Annuity. It unbundles the insurance from underlying investments so that advisors may “wrap” the risk in client portfolios by covering investments in retail ETFs and mutual funds with lifetime income protections.

The views you often read on advisor compensation models and their future are misguided.

On July 18, Vanguard launched the Vanguard Baillie Gifford Global Positive Impact Stock Fund, which is the firm’s first impact fund and is designed for clients looking to invest in companies that have the potential to outperform the broad market as well as deliver positive change. Vanguard introduced the fund by adopting an existing impact fund managed by Baillie Gifford since 2017. The fund’s portfolio manager, Kate Fox, was previously a guest on Gaining Perspective.

Vanguard now has six ESG offerings in the U.S.: three index ETFs, two active mutual funds, and one index mutual fund.

I often hear that indexing has become so popular that it is destroying “price discovery” – making it impossible for investors to know that they are paying a fair price for a security. Some say that makes indexing worse than Marxism. New research shows that this concern is unjustified.

Equity skeptics obsessed with everything from inflation to pie-in-the-sky earnings estimates have managed to miss a $5 trillion rally being amplified by trends in investor positioning.

Based on my anecdotal experience, I’ve come to the reluctant conclusion that many advisors are clueless about what it means to be a fiduciary.

When it comes to a comfortable retirement, women in the US have the cards stacked against them.

Tesla Inc., whose status as a stock-market darling has turned it into the world’s most valuable car company, may soon win over some of Wall Street’s slowest moving skeptics: Bond-rating analysts.

I couldn’t resist using one of my favorite words – lagniappe. It means a little something extra, given at no cost, somewhat like the thirteenth doughnut in a baker’s dozen. Because there are so many topics and issues I could not cover in the previous chapters, here’s my lagniappe.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," wrote philosopher George Santayana in 1905.

We met with the portfolio managers of BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities to have a wide-ranging discussion on their approach and why it’s so well suited to the current market environment.

We never get too old for stories. And especially in the current volatile market, our clients benefit greatly from hearing a story like Dimensional’s – which gets better the longer it continues.

The long-running active versus passive debate has become even more heated than usual during the recent stock market turmoil.

The market’s inflation concerns are taking a back seat to recession fears.

In downward trending markets as we have seen for much of 2022, it is important to distinguish price declines which may present similarly.

The Fed’s most pressing concerns are to not only reverse its monetary excess and misjudgment of inflation, but also to instill confidence that they will follow important provisions of the Federal Reserve Acts.

Many of the participants in the short-term credit market use it as a place to deploy cash while waiting for higher risk opportunities.

I have a vision of a profession where the most straightforward advisors, not the coolest ones with the best spiel, rise to the top. To achieve that ideal, here are 17 ways that acting more honestly than the competition will win more clients.

For the better part of the last decade, interest rates have been near zero and leverage has driven asset prices higher.

While a direct indexing strategy is a great addition to an investor’s portfolio, you’ll want to ensure your clients are properly diversified and also poised to reap the benefits of active management, while recognizing that active management doesn’t generate as many tax losses as tracking the index does.

New research shows that the significant outperformance of ESG-driven investing over the last decade was due to a sharp increase in concern among investors for climate-related issues. Whether that outperformance continues will depend on even more heightened concerns over the environment.

It came as a surprise when I found the annual report of the New Zealand SuperFund. While no one could fault it for sticking with passive investments, it chose a different path, with stunning results.

Contrary to economic theory, in recent years funds with an ESG mandate have outperformed the broader market. New research shows that outperformance was caused by increased asset flows to so-called green stocks, raising the prospects for lower returns going forward.

Why would I work to increase the profile of an active fund manager? My reasons reflect the increasing pressure on advisors to differentiate themselves and demonstrate value.

Rising inflation, rate hikes, supply-chain problems and the Russia-Ukraine war have contributed to growing recession fears.

I have identified a few opportunities within my portfolio and wealth management practice that prompt consideration for your own strategies as you plan for large estates.

Persistent … or transitory? It’s the inflation question that has been weighing on financial markets over the last year. As each economic data point trickles out, it is analyzed and re-analyzed, with that focus in mind. But it may be the wrong question to ask.

As proxy season comes to a close, investors and advisors have grappled with company stewardship on a wide variety of issues. But what’s the best way to get a company to listen? Is divestment the way to go? Or must you engage with a company? And how do investors in ETFs and mutual funds make sure their voices are heard at the asset managers they invest with?

Engine No. 1 focuses on engaging with companies constructively to make sure they are taking the costs they impose on society and other stakeholders into account. It operates on the belief that climate and social concerns are economic issues and companies that fail to address them will underperform for the long term.

Investors are a fickle bunch. They love owning stocks when the market goes up. It feels great! So great, in fact, that pesky details like nosebleed valuations or a lack of profitability are easily overlooked. But the romance never lasts.

With National 529 Day last month and graduation season underway, the cost of education is at the top of many people’s minds.

New research quantifies the implicit cost that investors incur when index funds, such as those tracking the S&P 500, are rebalanced. Those costs may be avoidable by adopting trading strategies that introduce the possibility of tracking error.

Sharp, countertrend rallies may continue this year, but aggressive Fed policy, the turning of the liquidity tide, and slower economic growth will likely keep pressure on stocks.

Thanks to the spectacular demise of TerraUSD, a cryptocurrency that promised to be always worth a dollar but was suddenly worth a lot less, the world is better acquainted with the term “stablecoin” — and aware of how unstable they can be.

For the year ending December 31, 2021, passive mutual funds and ETFs reported estimated net inflows totaling $958.43 billion, compared to estimated net inflows totaling $249.91 billion for actively managed funds.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is concerned that retail investors are being duped by “greenwashing.”

Stock pickers are beating the market in unusually large numbers this year, raising the age-old question about whether their success can be attributed more to luck or skill.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is taking its biggest step yet to stop money managers from misleading investors when they claim their funds are focused on environmental, social or governance issues.

Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, or TIPS, can help protect against inflation over the long run, but in the short term their performance may be dictated more by price declines in the secondary market.

RIAs can be paid to service trails-paying annuities without a broker-dealer.

Liquidity is the lifeblood of the capital markets. It is the ease at which an asset can be turned into cash without disrupting the price of that asset. This was never really a concern in the US, whose markets are prized for being the deepest, most liquid in the world. It’s one reason why the dollar is the world’s dominant reserve currency.

There are thousands of mutual funds that offer to select stocks and bonds for your portfolio. But which ones are right for you? Use our Premium membership service to add your logo and a note from you and forward it to your clients.

Whenever I surf television cable news channels, I see the plethora of ads for financial planning. But they are run by companies that sell financial products or are owned by huge insurance companies.