Are negative interest rates always unhealthy?

November 11, 2019

Negative interest rates are unnaturally propping up the stock market and at some point the whole edifice will collapse. It's an oft-repeated theory, but history suggests it might be wrong. [More:​ The downside of negative interest rates] According...

Mega bond sell-off spurs $1.2 billion outflow from Treasury fund

November 11, 2019

Investors are pulling the plug on a strategy tracking long-dated Treasuries as U.S. stocks trade near all-time highs. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond exchange-traded fund (TLT) posted its worst week of outflows on record, with traders yanking...

Shifting to value stocks just in the nick of time

November 11, 2019

Without officially admitting or denying that growth stocks' decade-long run has come to a close, some financial advisers and market watchers are giving a committed nod toward value stocks as the next train to ride. Last week at Charles Schwab...

Elizabeth Warren's wealth-tax proposal could spur exodus to alternative assets

November 8, 2019

Senator Elizabeth Warren's proposed wealth tax could be a gift to an industry she has accused of looting Americans — private equity. The Democratic presidential hopeful's plan to fund Medicare for All, denounced by prominent rich people like...

Charles Schwab to launch TDF-managed account hybrid for 401(k)s

November 8, 2019

Charles Schwab & Co. plans to roll out a service for 401(k) participants next year that's a hybrid of a target-date fund and a managed-account advice service, following in the footsteps of a handful of prominent retirement-plan record keepers...

As Ladenburg Thalmann explores sale, one of its B-Ds is hit with GPB investor complaints

November 8, 2019

Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. has been hit with fallout from GPB Capital Holdings. Ladenburg reported Friday morning that since July, one of its broker-dealers has been named in six customer arbitration complaints seeking $1.65...

ETFs - An Important Tool for Wealth Management

November 8, 2019

Since their creation in 1990 in Canada and 1993 in the U.S., exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have become widely used to help investors achieve their financial goals. Drawn by low turnover, lower fees, broad diversification and greater tax efficiency,...

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Walt Bettinger lays out Schwab's plan for zero-commission trading

November 6, 2019

In a video taped at the Schwab Impact conference in San Diego this week, Walt Bettinger, CEO of Charles Schwab Corp., discusses the company's plans for zero-commission trading. Mr. Bettinger said the company's news about free commission trades...

Lawsuit claims GPB a Ponzi, riven with conflicts and self-dealing

November 6, 2019

Self-dealing, conflicts of interest and operating a Ponzi scheme were at the heart of GPB Capital Holdings and its ability to raise $1.8 billion from investors over the last six years, according to a class action lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal...

Schwab's Kleintop says advisers should ride market momentum shift

November 5, 2019

Instead of fearing the idea of an inverted yield curve, financial advisers should embrace it as an opportunity to rebalance and take advantage of what the financial markets are offering. The strategy, which goes against the grain of popular...

Morgan Stanley sees market returns tumbling over next 10 years

November 4, 2019

A weak environment for economic growth and inflation, paired with low bond yields, portends anemic returns from a typical stock-bond portfolio over the next decade, according to Morgan Stanley. A traditional fund — split 60% equities and 40%...

Wife of barred broker helped him produce $6 million in commissions: Finra

November 4, 2019

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. has suspended the wife of a broker who was barred from the securities industry 20 years ago, alleging that the wife, along with a second broker who worked as a supervisor, "enabled" the barred...

Robo adviser SRI portfolios outperform traditional investing styles

November 4, 2019

Socially responsible portfolios are outperforming their standard counterparts offered by several digital advisers, according to a new report by research firm Backend Benchmarking. Backend looked at six socially responsible investing portfolios...

Texas RIA orders $366,218 refill to coffee shop investors

November 1, 2019

The Texas Securities Commissioner has ordered Jason Hyson LeBlanc, currently an investment adviser representative with Vere Global Wealth Management, to repay $366,218 to 14 individuals who bought promissory notes he sold to fund a Fort Bend...

Nationwide gives wholesalers the heave-ho

October 31, 2019

Nationwide is revamping its wholesaling efforts for its mutual funds to focus less on in-person meetings with financial advisers and more on working with the outsourcing asset management platforms that advisers are increasingly embracing. The...

Lower bond yields leave advisers pursuing controversial income strategy

October 30, 2019

As the Federal Reserve announces its third interest-rate cut of the year, after more than a decade spent trying to push rates higher, financial advisers are being forced to get creative when searching for income-producing investments for their...

Why commercial real estate belongs in client portfolios

October 28, 2019

At a time when many investors and investment professionals struggle to find attractive returns in a world of tissue-thin and even negative interest rates — and while wondering about the continuation of the record-long bull market in equities...

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Fed will spark 'temper tantrum' by holding rates, Jefferies says

October 28, 2019

Markets are pricing in about a 90% probability that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. isn't so sure. The global headwinds that pushed the central bank to cut rates in July and September...