Tag: Investing

Lessons have been learned, but experts still worry about the “brittleness” of the U.S. and global financial system.

The adviser is in a good position to remind widowed individuals to continue to think about and plan for the long-term financial future—difficult as that may be after the loss of a spouse.

According to a new MassMutual study, 79% of retired women are receiving professional financial advice, compared to 68% of men.

Fifty-four percent of respondents to an Allianz Life survey say that other expenses are interfering with their retirement savings, and 20% say they are saving for other financial goals.

According to Boston Consulting Group, among asset management products, passives were far and away the fastest growing category in 2017, with a record 25% increase in AUM over an already very sizable base.

Greg Hahn, founder and chief investment officer at Winthrop Capital Management, offers some timely analysis on the flattening of the yield curve and navigating a rising interest rate environment.

According to the Alight Solutions 401(k) Index, June was a slow month for trading in defined contribution plans; when 401(k) investors made trades, they tended to favor fixed income.

Employees of small businesses with retirement plans that include automatic enrollment have far higher participation rates across all demographic variables, according to new data shared by Vanguard. 

As an investment professional or a client, there are a lot of reasons to feel positive about the topic of environmental and socially minded investing, but new Cerulli research offers a reminder that not all “ESG” funds are created equal.

When thinking about fiduciary support services and outsourcing, really the important considerations should be about process and time management, more than fiduciary risk transfer.

“Because the Department of Labor views plan loans as investments, they should be treated with the same level of care and scrutiny as any other investment,” says Rob Reiskytl, a partner in retirement consulting division of Aon in Minneapolis.

Variable annuities continue to face challenges in the wake of transaction processing disruptions caused by the now-vacated DOL fiduciary rule; however, experts anticipate sales to recover as business processes normalize and newer product types come to market.

Looking ahead, Vanguard researchers estimate that 77% of participants on the firm’s recordkeeping platform will be invested in a single TDF by 2022.

As of the first quarter, more than $1.5 trillion in student loan debt was outstanding, triple the amount in 2001; with these figures in mind, Franklin Templeton researchers have highlighted the opportunities presented by 529 plans.

Data shared by FTSE Russell, taken from the firm’s annual smart beta survey, suggests the use of “multi-factor combination smart beta index-based investment strategies” by institutional investors has more than doubled since first measured in 2015.

“As they ready their portfolios for the end of the 'Goldilocks' market, U.S. institutions are integrating ETFs more deeply into their portfolio management and investment strategies,” says Andrew McCollum, Greenwich Associates Managing Director.

The latest J.P. Morgan Asset Management Guide to the Markets publication asks the complex but crucial question, at what level of U.S. interest rates should we start to worry about a recession?