ThinkAdvisor 
Mark Mobius has a left-field theory on why volatility in global stock markets is so low. “Social media is having a huge impact,” the executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group said in an interview during a visit to Tokyo. “It’s creating confusion with a lot of false news,” he said. “You’re getting a situation where…
KKR, an investment firm, released a report on Wednesday that outlines trends in the ultra-high-net-worth market, which it considers a unique subset of individual investor clients it serves globally. Henry McVey, KKR’s head of global macro and asset allocation, in collaboration with Jim Burns, head of the firm’s individual investor business, surveyed some 50 of their…
In the nightmare scenario of a corporate cyberattack, the victim is not just one bank or power supply company but many attacked at the same time, and it could happen as early as this year, according to a new study from AIG. Nine in 10 global cybersecurity and risk experts surveyed by AIG believe that cyber…
Let me say right up front that I loved “Money Ball” (both the book by Michael Lewis and the movie starring Brad Pitt). It’s the ultimate “revenge of the nerds” story — academic quants who never made any teams in their lives, along with one smart former player, use data mining to turn conventional baseball wisdom…
Investment advisors who don’t offer environmental, social and governance investments in their practice might miss out on today’s largest generational trend in money management. Not only are experts seeing a surge of interest in ESG investment by millenials and women – two key demographics who either are currently controlling or about to control immense wealth as…
Among the growing number of hedge fund-like strategies appearing in mutual fund form, investors can now choose from “global macro” funds. These funds can follow a myriad of investment philosophies, as demonstrated by the fact that the most cited global macro hedge fund index, the HFRI Macro Index, has six distinct sub-components: active trading index, discretionary…
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink confirmed that more of the company’s revenue will come from software and technology rather than traditional money management within five years. “Using technology is critical,” Fink said during the closing keynote session at the Morningstar Investment Conference in Chicago last week. “It’s critical for us as investors, as we’re spending more time…
Vanguard founder John Bogle shared insights he’s learned during his 66-year history in the industry – including how he came to persuade Vanguard’s board to approve the “creation of the world’s first indexed mutual fund” – with the audience gathered at Morningstar’s annual investment conference. In a prerecorded video, Bogle, 87, gave a speech at Morningstar…
Vanguard and Charles Schwab, the leading fully integrated product and distribution firms, experienced organic asset growth of more than 10% in the year to March 31, compared with all other firms, which had a combined organic growth of 2%, according to Broadridge Financial Solutions. Broadridge’s Fund Distribution Intelligence showed that firms with diversified and fully integrated…
Lawmakers are busy introducing tax bills in response to the release last week of President Donald Trump’s tax blueprint. Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., introduced legislation Tuesday to prevent wealthy investors from using derivatives as a tax dodge and Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Rep. Sander Levin reintroduced their bill to close the carried…
Regular readers of this column will correctly assume that the title is merely tongue in cheek. While advisors should consider a multitude of factors when assessing client allocations, they are best served by taking an active approach of selecting the best-determined strategy regarding its investment objective and performance, and not just the cheapest product. An active…
The Department of Labor has postponed the implementation date of the fiduciary rule to June 9. Will there be additional delays? Who knows. Everyone can exhale for another month or so, and then once again get anxious at the end of May as to whether or not June 9 will actually be the rule’s effective date.…
While social media continues to help advisors acquire new business, LinkedIn tops Facebook as advisors’ preferred platform to use for business — with 52% of advisors saying they’ve increased their visibility on LinkedIn. That’s according to American Century’s just-released seventh annual financial professionals social media adoption study, which polled 302 financial advisors, brokers and registered investment…
It promised to be one of the most contentious annual shareholder meetings since the financial crisis, but in the end, despite recommendations from at least two leading proxy firms opposing the re-election of many board members and the removal of several enraged attendees, Wells Fargo shareholders on Tuesday re-elected all 15 members of the bank’s board…
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged a New York-based investment advisor, Hyaline Capital Management, LLC, and one of its founders, Justin D. Meadlin, with disseminating false information to prospective investors and clients in order to induce them to invest money with them. The SEC’s complaint, filed in federal court in New York, alleges that beginning in…