Trader Talk

A $750 billion industry still struggling to bounce back from the last crisis is cracking under the Fed’s lower-for-longer mantra on U.S. interest rates. Prime money-market funds — a long-time favorite for anyone seeking a cash-like investment with a little extra yield — are facing an existential challenge, just four years after a regulatory overhaul

It’s every quant’s nightmare: Trades that look good on paper break down in the real world. And in the $1 trillion business of smart-beta investing, it’s happening on an industrial scale. According to a new study, hundreds of strategies that showed significant outperformance in backtesting are failing to live up to their hype once they

Dan Kamensky’s legal crisis deepened Thursday as U.S. prosecutors said the Marble Ridge Capital founder coerced Jefferies Financialinto abandoning an offer for shares in bankrupt retailer Neiman Marcus so his hedge fund could obtain them at a lower price. Kamensky, 47, was arrested and charged with crimes including securities fraud, extortion and obstruction of justice

Funds that buy debt designed to help society grew at a faster pace in the first half of the year than those that buy sustainable equity. The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled demand for funds globally that invest in any sort of asset that can make the world better and fight the disease, according to Hortense

RBC’s rapid expansion in the U.S. wealth management market continues with the addition of two separate firms, from opposite ends of the country, managing a combined $1.62 billion in client assets under management. With these two firms, RBC is nearing $20 billion in assets recruited year-to-date, according to the firm. The first is Glasband Stempel

It was an alarming series of breakdowns that baffled traders: As two of the most popular stocks split at the start of the week, thousands of U.S. retail investors couldn’t use their brokerage accounts. Increased trading precipitated by Apple and Tesla share splits contributed to problems at Robinhood and Charles Schwab when markets opened on

White privilege is a concept worth examining for any wealth management professionals who seek to be allies to Black financial advisors. I describe white privilege by painting this picture: If you died and you were reincarnated, would you choose to come back as a Black person? This question often invokes imagined thoughts of life as

You knew this was coming. The market internals had been flashing warning signs for a couple weeks: very few new highs, very sloppy advance/decline line, low short interest, and a lot of talk about FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and TINA (There Is No Alternative). All signs of frothiness. So what is this? Is this

This has been a taxing year for many clients in many ways, and it could get even tougher — investment-wise — unless financial advisors take action to help clients steer clear of a potentially painful (and surprising) 2020 capital gain payments from mutual funds and ETFs. With extraordinary COVID-19-related portfolio volatility and outflows, tax considerations

In a signal of the economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic, annuity sales are tumbling and shifting toward protection-based products. Fixed-rate deferred annuities and registered index-linked annuities, also known as structured or buffered variable annuities, represent the bright spots. Broker-dealers are fueling sales of both products, according to the LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute. BDs generated

There’s a new king of actively managed ETF. The JPMorgan Ultra-Short Income ETF (JPST) surpassed the long-reigning Pimco Enhanced Short Maturity Active ETF (MINT) as the largest active fund in the $4.9 trillion market. JPST has surged to $13.94 billion in assets after launching in May 2017, overtaking the $13.88 billion MINT, which debuted in

A stock trader wearing a mask walks near social distancing signs the day a new IPO is launched at the New York Stock Exchange as the city continues Phase 4 of re-opening following restrictions imposed to slow the spread of coronavirus on August 27, 2020 in New York City. The fourth phase allows outdoor arts

The CARES Act, signed into law on March 27, has wide-ranging implications for clients with employer-sponsored qualified retirement plans and individual retirement accounts. Once this act was passed, the IRS then issued several notices with additional information and guidance related to the $2.2 trillion economic stimulus bill. Here are some important provisions:1. Permit an additional

Wealthfront, a fintech that started as a robo advisor but is increasingly becoming more like a bank, launched the first phase of the “self-driving money” concept it has been teasing for several months. The new feature, called Autopilot, lets customers establish how much cash they need to keep on hand and set savings and investment

After this year’s surge in high-growth stocks, two big ETFs tracking those companies are losing steam. Both the $65 billion Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG) and the $10 billion iShares Core S&P U.S. Growth ETF (IUSG) posted their largest outflows on record last month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Funds focused on growth lost more

The $400 billion corner of quant investing known as risk parity has a history of doubt and division, and Bridgewater Associates has started a new chapter. Ray Dalio’s $138 billion asset manager has tweaked its version of the strategy by moving into alternatives to conventional bonds as yields hit historic lows, a person familiar with

Technology from Vestwell, FiduciaryShield and Betterment’s recently announced Advised 401(k) are making it easier than ever for advisors to offer retirement plans to business-owner clients. By taking on much of the heavy lifting, these tools can make it look easy for any financial planner to moonlight as a retirement plan advisor. But advisors thinking about

Just as advisors had wrapped their brains around private equity in retirement plans and a fiduciary rule replacement, the Labor Department is proposing even more regulation — and with a short turnaround time, too. Under its latest proposal, issued Aug. 31, the department is turning its attention to proxy voting in a rule that would

Investors are abandoning cash holdings at a record clip as momentum continues to build behind 2020’s risk rally. Roughly $5.4 billion has exited from the $20 billion iShares Short Treasury Bond ETF (SHV) — the biggest ultra-short duration ETF — over 14 consecutive weeks of outflows. That was the longest streak on record for the

A bear statue stands outside the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, operated by Deutsche Boerse AG, in Frankfurt, Germany, on Friday, March 13, 2020. Alex Kraus | Bloomberg | Getty Images Throw in the towel on a market pullback? It’s getting lonely being a market bear. Investors — even market bulls — who are trying to figure

The asset management industry is speaking out against a Trump administration plan that would make it more difficult for them to incorporate ESG factors when making investment decisions, a move that could limit green investing in 401(k) plans. Fidelity Investments wrote in an 11-page letter to the U.S. Department of Labor that the proposal’s assumption

Q: With everything going on involving the coronavirus pandemic, what would you say is the most important thing broker-dealers should be focused on at this time? A: I generally say the most important thing broker-dealers, or any business, should be focused on is their business continuity plan (sometimes referred to as a disaster recovery plan).

Say what you will about 2020, this chaotic and trauma-filled coronavirus year. But between now its end, advisors have a rare opportunity to proactively engage our clients in tax and estate planning issues that will impact them and their families for decades to come. The inciting event, of course, is the upcoming presidential election. Although

Many Americans have hitched their financial future to Big Tech, whether they realize it or not. Just five companies make up about 24% of the S&P 500 Index — Apple, Amazon.com, Microsoft, Facebook and Alphabet — up from 17% at the start of the year. That means a significant chunk of Americans’ net worth and

Having a star fund manager is an easy way for an asset management firm to attract client money. But for Franklin Resources’s CEO, it’s not worth the disruption when they leave. “Clients get nervous by a star manager, if you appoint one, because then it becomes a succession issue,” Jenny Johnson said. Franklin should know.

Platinum holdings in ETFs have surged to a record, raising the prospect of a catch-up rally for the precious metal after months of lagging gold and silver. More than 600,000 ounces of platinum have been added to ETFs since mid-May, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, as investor demand partially offsets a drop in consumption

Guidance for companies on President Trump’s payroll tax deferral directive is being held up by White House dissatisfaction with the rules drafted by the Treasury and IRS, according to three people familiar with the matter. The White House wants employers, not employees, to be responsible for paying back the Social Security levies when they come

If you want to attract and retain great advisors, it helps to have great technology. But what if you are a tech laggard? Or worse? How do you catch up? Amit Sahasrabudhe, chief operating officer of RBC Wealth Management – U.S., discusses how his firm has been revamping its advisor tech stack. Tasks that once

BNY Mellon Pershing used to only service RIAs with at least $250 million in assets. No longer. The fourth largest custodian in terms of RIA assets — started welcoming fee-based firms with only $100 million in assets this year, according to Christina Townsend, head of relationship management, consulting and platform strategy at the custodian. “We’re

Stifel picked up three advisors from Merrill Lynch, accelerating its recruiting efforts. The team oversaw $450 million in client assets and joined Stifel in Dallas, according to the company. The group is comprised of advisors John “Woody” Abbott, Shane Stein, and Eli Tabaria. Abbott moved from UBS to Merrill Lynch in 2008, according to FINRA