Life Events

The trajectory of small businesses often goes something this: a first-generation entrepreneur starts and grows a company. It could be a software company, but also a plumbing, electrical, or HVAC business.

Two of the most common estate planning tools to use are a Will and a Revocable Trust. Both essentially perform the same purpose, ensuring your wishes are fulfilled, but they do so in different ways. Understanding their differences can save your family from unnecessary probate, costs, and stress.

Despite NVIDIA’s stock flashing a bearish “death cross”—its 50-day moving average slipped below the 200-day moving average for the first time since January 2023—the energy at the conference was electrifying. Every major industry was represented, from health care to defense, signaling that artificial intelligence (AI) is expanding at a white-knuckle clip.

Congress managed to avoid a government shutdown, but Democrats are divided on strategy.

Receiving an unexpected gift or inheritance is something that people may dream about. Our Bill Cass discusses some key considerations if that dream becomes reality and you do receive a financial windfall.

Most of us associate 529 accounts with college savings. They’re flexible, allowing you to transfer assets to anyone, including yourself, for the express purpose of furthering the education of your beneficiary. But did you know that a 529 can be a powerful estate planning tool?

Though mergers and acquisitions were expected to roar back in 2025 thanks to the new administration, uncertainty around Washington policy appears to be holding back new deals.

There’s a lesson for financial advisors in this story. If you demonstrate a genuine intention to engage and connect with your female clients, it will build relationships that could drive the growth of the business for years to come.

I will again join forces with Ed Easterling of Crestmont Research to explore this data more deeply. Currently we have several powerful trends that have combined to create a nirvana-like market.

More than a century ago, then-Representative William McKinley pursued an aggressive tariff strategy that sought to protect American industry and reduce reliance on foreign imports. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 raised import duties to an average of 50%, one of the highest levels in U.S. history.

Many independent firms and Registered Investment Advisors aspire to move upmarket, targeting wealthier clients who demand more sophisticated financial solutions.

Dean LeBaron’s name may not be familiar to many readers, especially those who only began their careers in the 21st century. But all of us should know who he is. Before there was even a term for it, Dean was the first truly successful quant.

When constructing a target-date fund (TDF) glide path, providers have many decisions to make, such as what asset classes to include, when to include them, and how much to allocate to each.

With our most reliable valuation measures more extreme than both the 1929 and 2000 market peaks, we continue to believe that the stock market is tracing out the extended peak of the third great speculative bubble in U.S. history.

None of us outside Trump’s inner circle know what the real goals are. What looks like needless chaos might lead to benefits that outweigh the costs. One potential benefit is revenue. Could the tariffs produce significant tax revenue that would help reduce the federal debt? The president seems to think so.

Consider estate planning strategies to minimize the impact of taxes on your estate. Our Bill Cass highlights several key actions including document reviews, naming beneficiaries and the use of 529 college savings plans to enhance tax efficiency.

Growth and value are often thought of simplistically, but subsurface details in growth- and value-labeled indexes challenge pre-conceived notions of the factors.

The healthcare industry's bellwether event, the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference (JPM25), kicked off the year as it traditionally does,

As the sequel unfolds, particular industry sectors in affected countries are likely to be more impacted. Global Head of Credit Research Mike Talaga, Head of EMEA Credit Research James Maxwell, and Client Portfolio Manager Celia Soares discuss the implications for credit investors.

Integrating private assets may enhance target-date glide paths, but know your exposures.

Today we’ll talk about Trump, tariffs, cycles, and DOGE. Jumping right in…

A surprise is a completely unexpected outcome. By definition, a surprise is improbable, and its occurrence is rare. It seems strange then to try to predict three of them every year.

Despite continued underperformance in 2024, the biotech sector enters 2025 with a brighter outlook driven by groundbreaking innovations like mRNA cancer vaccines and CRISPR-based therapies.

Some soft data metrics have started to rebound sharply and catch back up to relatively resilient hard data, but it's too soon to say whether the gap is definitively closing.

Last week in my 2025 forecast letter, I predicted A Partly Cloudy Year, generally mild but with occasional storms. Today we’ll talk about the second half of that sentence. What could go wrong and lead to a worse-than-expected year? In short, what are the main risks to my forecast?

The wildfires may affect some municipal bond issuers in the devastated areas, but the impact to other California bonds or to the broader muni market is likely limited.

Engaging up front with four key workstreams may smooth the process of adding a solution.

The aerospace and defense industry plays a pivotal role in both national security and the stock market. With U.S. defense spending leading the world, the largest contractors are well-positioned for growth amid rising global tensions.

On December 6, the S&P 500 set the most extreme level of valuations on record, exceeding both the 1929 and 2000 market peaks on measures that we find best-correlated with actual, subsequent 10-12 year S&P 500 total returns across a century of market cycles.

All portfolio managers practice a stock-picking discipline in which they make choices. Growth stock investors attempt to predict which companies will grow the most in the future and compare the growth they expect to what they have to pay to participate.

I expect three major innovation cycles to dramatically affect our world in the next decade, with impacts comparable to steam engines, electricity, automobiles, and even the internet. Every new invention helps us explore even further.

Annuities can provide a guaranteed lifetime income stream in retirement, no matter how long you live. They thrive under high interest rate environments and are currently offering the highest payouts seen in years.

Start the new year right by reviewing and revamping your financial plan.

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.

The surprise nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head healthcare policy in the U.S. caused substantial volatility in November. But despite heightened uncertainty, the sector’s long-term outlook appears intact, say Portfolio Managers Andy Acker and Dan Lyons – giving investors a potential opportunity to invest at attractive valuations.

Whether you want to buy or rent, finding an affordable, comfortable home can be extremely difficult, if not impossible.