The current environment may be more uncertain and riskier than any we have seen in our lifetimes. Yet, corporate bond spreads say the future has never been more certain.
I realized that it’s been so long since I started my NewsLetter, most of you won’t know its origins. To bring you up to date, here’s the intro to the first one.
Chief Investment Officer Terri Spath discusses how the stock market continues to rise despite economic struggles, the current state of the bond market, and how our rules-based investment disciplines are navigating these unprecedented times.
A surge in stock trading and new accounts helped bring in money.
With interest rates at historically low levels, investors still have a pressing need to find reasonable income. In this upcoming webinar, Invesco’s municipal investment leaders representing mutual funds, ETFs and separately managed accounts, will discuss how advisors and investors can use different investment solutions to balance the need for income with the realities of managing risk in an uncertain climate.
This presentation will cover:
Factor-driven investing, while highly popular among equity investors, has not been as widely adopted in the bond market. But research shows that a factor-based approach to bond investing is superior to attempting to identify top-performing active bond managers.
Some of the most reluctant money managers on Wall Street are finally ready to embrace exchange-traded funds.
In recent months, investment-grade debt has experienced a ferocious rally. What’s next?
Ask yourself this question: Why do you trust someone? What is there about them that gives you that special feeling?
Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities can help protect your portfolio against rising inflation, but there are nuances you should understand.
There’s a small portion of the bond market that investors may have overlooked in the past, but should now consider—the taxable municipal bond market.
Investors love ETFs, especially during these uncertain times.
We’ll start with a dozen or so charts showing the market is either very highly valued, or extremely overvalued, or merely stretched. But in general, you will see markets are indeed at the upper end of historical valuations. Then we’ll consider some reasons why this is so, and why stocks could even go higher.
In March, at the height of panic selling, investors pulled $326 billion from mutual funds and ETFs. Although it ended more than decade ago, the global financial crisis was the last real bear market.
Investors must balance ongoing risks of the coronavirus against the extra yield the bonds provide.
As China’s equity markets gradually open up to foreign investors, Chinese companies could face greater scrutiny, according to Franklin Templeton Emerging Markets Equity’s Michael Lai. He weighs in on some emerging trends he’s seen in regard to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues there.
The latest disposal comes as corporate insiders, whose buying accurately signaled the market bottom in March, are now mostly sellers.
Democrats in New York, the world’s financial capital, may finally have the right moment to resurrect the state tax on stock trades.
In the era of social distancing, technology has become even more integrated into our personal and professional lives. We believe this trend will persist even after the pandemic passes, and we expect it will particularly benefit firms that support remote working arrangements and eCommerce, two areas where we anticipate accelerating adoption and sustained growth.
This review will explore why passive investing may not provide the bargain most advisors think they are getting for their clients. This is especially important as most managers have underperformed their benchmark YTD with such cyclical market performance. Although difficult to find, investors should still seek out skilled managers that stick to quality investment philosophy and process.
After an extremely eventful first half of the year, the key to managing through is understanding what has happened and why.
Imagine telling clients you’re their guru, guide and gladiator. Learn a simple framework to help articulate your distinctive value.
The most watered-down smart-beta ETFs have attracted the most money.
Precious metals were the big winners for the first six months of 2020. Spot gold took the first place position, rising over 17 percent, followed in second place by silver, up nearly 2 percent. Palladium rounded out the top three, essentially flat at negative 10 basis points.
The first half of 2020 was dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit the municipal bond market hard. State and local governments experienced a sharp and sudden drop in revenue, and an increase in expenses, amid stay-at-home orders and business shutdowns.
Over the last quarter, the “Death of Fundamentals” has become apparent as investors ignore earnings to chase market momentum. However, throughout history, such large divergences between fundamentals and price have resulted in low future returns. This time is unlikely to be different.
The pandemic has delivered a global growth shock, but in doing so, it has accelerated the timeline for several mega trends that we have been actively investing in, such as productivity enhancement (robotics, automation, and software), e-commerce, electronic payments, and health care.
The flows strike a blow for Vanguard in the increasingly fierce battle to dominate a more than $4 trillion market.
While the “annuity puzzle” is well-documented in the academic literature, there is no “mutual fund puzzle.”
Large-scale studies have shown that actively managed funds underperform their passive benchmarks on an absolute basis. New research shows that this is also true on a risk-adjusted basis – and this is true across asset classes and sub-classes.
He argues stretched corporate balance sheets and overly rosy economic projections make it too early to dive back in.
While technicals for the asset class remain a headwind in the near-term, bank loans may provide an attractive opportunity and relative value.
The recent poor performance of value funds has led some investors to illogically shift to products with less exposure to the value factor. The evidence that the value factor has worked over long periods of time means you want more exposure to it, not less.
There is accumulating evidence that market conditions are growing more attractive for showcasing stock-picking skills.
Back in March, I predicted that the total U.S. economic response to the COVID-19 crisis would be at least $10 trillion.
Read Harold Evensky's latest NewsLetter.
Recently, Advisor Perspectives published two articles based on the data found in The Robo Report regarding the performance of robo advisors compared to our normalized benchmark. We feel it is important to introduce our perspective on the data in our report and respond to the conclusions drawn in those articles.
Rob Amodeo, Head of Municipals at Western Asset Management, digs into the state of the muni-bond market, his outlook moving forward and what investors have to look for to find winners in the sector.
Why did stocks rise over the past month despite grim economic news? The Federal Reserve’s massive liquidity injection is one reason.
From a performance perspective, I give robos an “A” for being average, and hope that future research can make more meaningful statements as to how robos truly impact investor outcomes.
The concept of define-outcome investing has evolved from the use of options in conventional portfolios to structured notes and now to turnkey funds and ETFs that offer built-in downside protection with participation in the market upside. Those ETFs and related products have become extremely popular in this environment, where advisors and their clients are tuned in to the higher level of market volatility and the fear of a large market downturn.
With boozy steakhouse meetings no longer an option, evenings on the town are being replaced with wine tastings via conference call and online concerts.
Robo-advisors faced their first big challenge with the bear market in the first quarter of 2020. They lost, and that is an ominous sign for the future of automated advice.
On a day that started with good news on an experimental COVID-19 vaccine, with the stock market showing strong early gains, today’s report is more visual and less wordy than normal. Since I know not every reader of these publications follows me on Twitter—where I’m constantly posting charts, tables and data that I find compelling...
BlackRock Inc. added its contribution to a growing body of research showing that ESG portfolios outperformed traditional market benchmarks in the recent market downturn.
This article discusses the elements of the new standard and proposes some considerations for written supervisory procedures that establish practices and procedures reasonably designed to ensure compliance with Reg BI and training tips to demonstrate the efficacy of those policies and procedures.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the renowned investment firm Tweedy Browne. The firm was originally a broker, and one of its clients was Benjamin Graham. I interviewed six members of Tweedy, Browne’s investment committee.
To the analysts at UBS Global Wealth Management, the $3.9 trillion municipal-bond market is heading into the biggest financial storm anyone has ever seen.
The recent market volatility has caused stress, fear and even panic. But that emotional toil can be alleviated by constructing what we call “dedicated portfolios,” rather than blindly following the precepts of modern portfolio theory.
Globally, there are two fundamental shifts happening in the current environment that are increasing the need for income-producing products. First, as baby boomers continue to retire from their work lives, the demand for investment income is likely to grow.
