Buyout heavyweights are increasingly resorting to the old-fashioned way of making money — actually running the companies they’ve bought.

Financial services companies are office hunting on one of New York City’s fanciest addresses, Park Avenue, and the biggest beneficiary may be a once-beleaguered real estate investment trust that happens to find itself in the right place at the right time.

Sam Altman has his hands in countless projects while also building “mankind’s last invention”: artificial general intelligence, or AI systems that surpass our own cognitive abilities. These galactic aspirations were reinforced on Monday when Altman published a dramatic blog post reminding us that superintelligence will bring prosperity for everyone. It’s just a “few thousand days” away, he added.

Financial services, like many institutions, are losing Americans’ trust. That’s a problem. Economies depend on a healthy financial system, as became painfully evident during the 2008 financial crisis, and that system operates largely on trust — confidence that people can access the money in their bank accounts, that their investment accounts are secure, and that their trades will be filled at quoted market prices, to name just a few everyday financial interactions.

Chief Investment Officer Sean Taylor provides his insights on how the Fed’s 50 basis point-rate cut may affect emerging economies, particularly in Asia and Latin America, how it impacts portfolio allocations and the sectors he believes are poised for growth amid this shift.

America’s financial industry has long had trust issues. Never mind the Great Financial Crisis of 2007-08; mistrust of the markets dates back to at least 1929, if not the Dutch East India collapse of 1769. But this history has an upside: Financial institutions have a lot of experience creating systems to build, maintain and restore trust — and have learned lessons that can be applied across the economy.

When stock markets rise, the bullish narrative tends to dominate, overlooking the potential impact of market declines. This oversight stems from two main problems: a basic misunderstanding of math and time’s critical role in investing.

The next president will face a difficult fiscal context.

Barry Bannister, Managing Director and Chief Equity Strategist at Stifel, put out an excellent research piece on future returns based on what industry folks call the “equity risk premium.”

Policy, more likely to be dictated by economic circumstances, may not resemble generous populist proposals, which could limit their impact on stock markets.

In the span of a few days in late July, the market got live to two contrasting theories at once: that U.S. inflation is collapsing while Japanese inflation will remain stubbornly high.

Fixed income strategy and opportunities have remained relatively unchanged over the past few months. However, the much-talked-about monetary policy change has commenced.

On September 18, 2024, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 0.5%, bringing the federal funds rate down to a range of 4.75% to 5%. This move, aimed at managing inflationary pressures while addressing the gradual rise in unemployment, underscores the Fed’s balancing act between fostering economic growth and taming inflation.

Historically, investors have struggled to add meaningful alpha through security selection. A dynamic new credit scoring approach could change that.

In the latest episode of ETF 360. VettaFi's Kristen Chang spoke to Winslow Capital's Barry Peters about their new active growth funds

Fixed income investors may want to take a middle-ground approach with bonds and opt for debt with intermediate maturity dates.

Credit is an often-overlooked asset class. But the current outlook shows lots of opportunities in credit for advisors. Given today’s volatility, active management could also help investors find the right opportunities at the right time.

Join the experts at Simplify Asset Management and Asterozoa Capital Management to unpack how investors can benefit from an actively approached credit strategy.

A surprising trend has emerged when it comes to discussing inheritance. While very and ultra-high-net-worth clients often engage in these conversations, they tend to occur far less frequently with other segments.

Care about being a financial “doctor” and don't assume all is well because you have addressed the surface issue. Here are some ways to avoid delivering a poor bedside manner when clients need help.

With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) in financial services, the pressure to move away from the AUM model is mounting. Has the time come for you to rethink your approach to compensation?

OpenAI has pitched the Biden administration on the need for massive data centers that could each use as much power as entire cities, framing the unprecedented expansion as necessary to develop more advanced artificial intelligence models and compete with China.

The global market for AI-related products is ballooning and will hit as much as $990 billion in 2027, as the technology’s quick adoption disrupts companies and economies, Bain & Co. said.

They say if there’s ever a Silicon Valley Mount Rushmore, the first face to be chiseled into the stone would be that of Gordon Moore. The Intel Corp. co-founder’s famous prediction about the rate at which semiconductors would improve has provided the bedrock to American technology leadership.

At risk of understatement, let’s call it a big deal. Microsoft Corp.’s agreement with Constellation Energy Corp. to reopen the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania could prove highly consequential — for the green-energy transition and much else besides.

Retail investors have won the battle of fees. Brokerage accounts are free. Trading commissions are history. Anyone can own the entire stock market through a single exchange-traded fund for basically nothing. It’s a huge win for investors and terrible for the investment industry.

News of that day included rioting in northern England, apparently in response to misinformation spread online claiming the person who stabbed to death three children and injured eight others in Southport was a Muslim immigrant.

Taxes may be the biggest fee your tax-sensitive clients are paying on their investment portfolios. And neither they nor you, their advisor, may be aware of just how big that fee is.

With their unrivaled depth and breadth, US capital markets lend themselves well to multi-asset strategies. The US equity market is a key portfolio building block and has outpaced the stock markets of other developed markets over the past decade.

Schwab Sector Views is our six- to 12-month outlook for stock sectors, which represent broad sectors of the economy. The Schwab Center for Financial Research (SCFR) combines a factor-based approach with a market and economic assessment to determine the ratings. For the basics on sectors, please see Stock Sectors: What Are They? How Are They Used?

With only one week left in the fiscal year, it looks like the budget deficit for the federal government for Fiscal Year 2024 is going to come in at about $1.9 trillion, which is 6.7% of GDP.

The seasons are changing. This weekend marks the autumn equinox—a time of year when the days get shorter, the weather gets cooler, and the leaves start to turn (at least for our friends in the north). While our calendars will show that fall has officially arrived, it may not feel like it as much of the nation will be enjoying unseasonably warm weather.

Fiscal responsibility is not a priority in this election.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Federal Reserve (Fed) decision to begin the easing cycle with a 50-basis point (bp) cut as the real economic data came in relatively stronger than expected.

Successful investing doesn’t have to be a thrill ride.

For families seeking to help their children save for higher education, 529 plans continue to gain broader appeal.

Join the thought leaders at WisdomTree for an overview of their Portfolio Solutions platform and how advisors leverage WisdomTree’s investment expertise.

ETF Action’s Mike Akins offers perspective on many of the biggest stories in ETFs and looks ahead to the industry’s future. VettaFi’s Stacey Morris highlights a bright spot within the energy sector and discusses the potential impact of the upcoming election on energy prices.

In today’s fast-paced digital world, where cyber threats are always lurking, safeguarding your personal and professional information is no longer optional – it’s essential. One often-overlooked strategy in the realm of cybersecurity is the simple yet effective practice of using multiple email accounts.

The truth is, relationship-building and trust-building are mutually exclusive, like two parallel planes that don’t intersect.

If you select appropriate colors that are most appealing to your target market, you’ll have an influential edge over your uninformed competitors.

On September 18, the Federal Reserve cut the Federal funds rate, as expected, announcing at the same time that the Fed will continue to reduce its balance sheet. In my view, both of these decisions were appropriate. The Fed reduced short-term rates by 50 basis points, which was consistent with economic conditions that remain near the threshold of recession.

Investors poured money into exchange-traded funds that buy emerging-market bonds last week as optimism around the Federal Reserve’s easing cycle fueled risk appetite.

US stocks can soar to fresh highs thanks to the Federal Reserve’s aggressive half-point interest rate cut last week, but it also could cause inflation to resurface if central bankers don’t tread carefully, according to Wall Street strategist Ed Yardeni.

A handful of Federal Reserve officials on Monday left open the door to additional large interest-rate cuts, noting that current rates still weigh heavily on the US economy.

Gary Gensler, chief US securities regulator, enlisted Scarlett Johansson and Joaquin Phoenix’s movie “Her” last week to help explain his worries about the risks of artificial intelligence in finance. Money managers and banks are rushing to adopt a handful of generative AI tools and the failure of one of them could cause mayhem, just like the AI companion played by Johansson left Phoenix’s character and many others heartbroken.

MassMutual Head of Annuity Distribution Matt DiGangi recently sat down with VettaFi to discuss the increasing demand he is seeing for annuities, and how MassMutual has sought to meet client investor needs.

A potential recession could push even more investors to bond, but recession or not, investors can reap the benefits of core bond exposure.

Cliff Asness, co-founder of AQR Capital Management, made the news recently with the provocative claim that financial markets are getting less efficient. I worked at AQR for 10 years, but long before that I spent nearly two decades as the only mentee the renowned economist Fischer Black ever had. Fischer had a very different view of market efficiency and would, I think, have reached a different conclusion from Cliff’s data.

At this year's Future Proof, Jeffrey Gundlach took to the main stage and sat down for a candid conversation with CNBC’s Scott Wapner.

In 2021, the stock/bond correlation flipped to positive after remaining negative for a majority of the preceding 20 years.