Factor-Based Investing

Markets are coming off back-to-back gains of more than 20% each on an annual basis. The chances of a hat trick in 2025 are slim to none.

Weather has always been a key factor influencing commodity prices, even though not very obvious at first glance. Agricultural yields depend on rainfall, frost can ruin crops, and hurricanes disrupt supply chains.

U.S. equities closed 2024 on top and U.S. growth took back leadership from U.S. value.

Yields may trade in a wide range as markets work through issues in the new year. Navigating volatility may mean capturing higher nominal and real yields over the longer term.

Inflation remains the steadying factor in the Fed’s hand, but the Fed's intentions for next year are not likely unanimous.

Today often kicks off the Santa Claus rally. Stocks rose and volatility is down sharply from recent peaks, but yields keep rising, which has hurt the non-tech part of the market.

Over the last decade, U.S. large cap growth stocks have been far and away the best performing major financial asset in the world.

For 2025, the financial markets will be entering a new chapter in the ever-evolving policy story. Indeed, not only will the U.S. economy be operating under a new political and attendant fiscal backdrop, but it will also be in the midst of a different monetary policy setting—rate cuts, not the after-effects of rate hikes.

Index funds emerged in the early 1970s and were designed to match rather than beat the market. For decades, they were associated with the capitalization-weighted (CW) market indexes that defined their investment approach.

As we near the end of 2024, researchers, businesses, and investors have begun to question the overheated artificial intelligence sentiment.

In an actively managed portfolio, there’s no way to escape capital gains taxes altogether. But understanding the importance of tax efficiency is crucial to long-term success for investors and advisors.

Taxes are on my mind. Do I factor in whether a dividend is considered qualified or ordinary when making my recommendations?

A conversation with our stock selection team, part two.

Energy is everything. Or, if Einstein was right, you and I are just energy in material form. Accelerate us to lightspeed squared and we might become something else.

Corporations are currently producing the highest level of profitability, as a percentage of GDP, in history.

Republicans have lashed out at the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a landmark package of incentives for clean energy, since it was passed two years ago.

Our outlook on the 11 S&P 500 equity sectors.

Riverfront's stock selection team performs analysis on individual equities that provides useful insights into how we position our portfolios.

The U.S. economy and stock market are entering 2025 from a position of strength, but risks of volatility—especially pertaining to policy—are much higher compared to last year.

Last week we processed robust economic data and growing clarity on Federal Reserve policy, instilling a consensus view for a strong market that is now well reflected in positioning.

Amid concerns about the impact of rising deficits on U.S. Treasuries, it helps to differentiate bond investments by maturity, credit rating, and global relative value.

Five of Franklin Templeton’s specialist investment managers provide their annual outlooks for the global economy and key asset classes, including global equities; global fixed income; global infrastructure; the macro fixed income environment; municipal bond market; high yield bond market; small cap equities; U.S. dollar; U.S. economy; and U.S. equities.

The bond market is caught between the Federal Reserve's plans to cut interest rates and the risk of higher inflation and federal debt levels.

While the economy helped President Trump win a second term, it also created expectations that could prove difficult to meet.

We are all familiar with this SEC-required warning that “past performance does not predict future performance.”

At the 2018 Berkshire Annual Meeting, Buffett noted that “multiple times in my life, people have felt the country was more divided than ever.

The S&P 500 earnings growth rate will likely come in just below the 6% mark for the third quarter.

The Fed could be ‘slower to lower,' while the Trend continues to rise, with an overly optimistic Crowd due to seasonality and post-election trends.

It’s hard to keep track of all the theories about inflation. Remember policymakers and analysts blaming the surge in inflation in 2021-22 on supply-chain disruptions, too much government spending, and Putin invading Ukraine? Now some are saying that tariffs and deportations are going to cause a second surge in inflation.

Not everyone is ready to give thanks for moderating food prices.

For most of the last fifty years, fixed income investing has been characterized by owning some combination of Municipals, Corporates, Treasuries and Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities.

As we look through our financial lens and reflect upon everything that has transpired in 2024, we have compiled a list of the top ten economic and market-oriented things that we are most grateful for this year.

With the re-election of President Donald Trump, the worries about tariffs and pro-business policies sparked concerns of “Trumpflation.” Inflation has been a top concern for policymakers, businesses, and everyday consumers, especially following the sharp price increases experienced over the past few years.

Sticky underlying price pressures could prevent a faster return to neutral monetary policy.

Vanguard has a pair of bond options if fixed income investors are looking to get active with their portfolio.

In Europe, the ECB stimulates a sluggish economy while in the UK, the problem is inflation. In contrast, the US responds to stronger growth.

The inverse correlation between bonds and stocks has returned, broadening potential for risk-adjusted returns in multi-asset portfolios.

Is inflation tamed? It's a key question that got lost in election coverage. It looms more than a new administration does over portfolios.

The 2024 Global Survey of Financial Advisors from Natixis revealed the ongoing hesitance of investors to move out of cash and into bonds.

For most of the last fifty years, fixed income investing has been characterized by owning some combination of Municipals, Corporates, Treasuries and Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities which has worked well with periods of secular disinflation.