Advisor Perspectives

The team at HSH.com, features a periodic update entitled "The Salary You Must Earn to Buy a Home in the 50 Largest Metro Areas". The key question is:

"How much salary do you need to earn in order to afford the principal and interest payments on a median-priced home in your metro area?"

We have been ranked as the most-read electronic newsletter among financial advisors for the third year in a row by Erdos & Morgan.

Next week we are taking a hiatus from regularly scheduled updates and will be publishing a series of articles based on the Census Bureau's 2020 Income and Poverty Report. Stay Tuned!

In yesterday morning's ADP employment report we got the September estimate of 568K nonfarm private employment jobs gained, an increase over August's revised 340K. The popular spin on this indicator is as a preview to the monthly jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In this interview, the renowned economist Woody Brock explains why inflation will not be transitory.

On August 24 and 25, we held our second annual Thought Leader Summit. Here is a short summary of each session and a link to watch the replay for CE credits.

This is not a grievance session; no negativity or "canceling" is allowed. The goal is to nurture and provide specific action steps that people can take. It won't just be conceptual; the panel will provide concrete examples of ways that you can improve diversity within your practice by improving accessibility for clients, prospects, staff, and vendors. We will hear directly from a panel of individuals from the diverse populations that are the focus of our talk: Andrew Komarow, Christopher Woods, and Terron Tidwell and moderated by Sara Grillo.

Jeffrey will answer audience questions about what the future holds for global economies and capital markets. He will address:

• The outlook for inflation
• The likely direction of interest rates over the next year
• The U.S. fiscal deficit and its impact on economic growth
• Central bank policies and their likely impacts
• How investors should position portfolios

Let's take a look at major sectors in the ETF world since February 21, 2020. All but two sectors, hotels and airlines, have recovered since then. Retail has bounced back the fastest, while hotels and airlines are still lagging. Individuals are returning to travel rapidly as more vaccines are administered.

On April 20, we hosted our first ever virtual Market Outlook Summit. Here is a recap of each session with a link to watch the replay.

A fruitful Q&A between Dan Solin and Beverly Flaxington, two resident authors of Advisor Perspectives on practice management issues.

John Hussman and Robert Huebscher will discuss the risks implied in market valuations, the outlook for capital market performance, the challenges facing economic growth and how advisors should allocate assets for their clients.

In this yoga class we invite participants of all experience levels to join us. We even encourage you to sign up if you’ve never done yoga before. This will be our CEO, and founder, Bob Huebscher’s first ever yoga session as well! Participants will be watching Ashley Taylor lead the yoga session, and participants will not be on screen.

In this 45-minute class we will explore foundational poses through an alignment-based practice. Focusing on grounding down and elevating up we will work our way through a practice incorporating standing postures, twists, forward folds, and hip openers. Ashley will take questions at the end of the session.

What you’ll need: a 6x3’ space (the size of a yoga mat) and some water. We encourage members of your household to join as and get your day started off in the right direction.

Your teacher for the session will be Ashley Taylor from Advisor Perspectives. Ashley has been practicing yoga for over 9 years and loves to share her practice through music, movement, and laughter.

At Advisor Perspectives we pride ourselves on encouraging our team with a healthy work-life balance and always encourage lunchtime workouts or yoga sessions!

For the second consecutive year, Advisor Perspectives has been ranked as the electronic newsletter that is most-read by financial advisors.

In this exclusive interview, world-renowned economist Woody Brock explains how Fed policy is engendering a “fragility loop” that is destabilizing the economy and markets.

Building trust with clients and prospects is the most important way to have lasting relationships. Find out what research shows on how people assess whether you are someone they can trust. Learn the important kinds of verbal communication and body language that open people to trusting you, as well as techniques that will help you better understand clients. Hear how other advisors have established their credibility and trust with clients. Get advice on how to conduct virtual meetings effectively. Ask questions about how to communicate with difficult clients and change the direction of those relationships.

This is your chance to ask three well-known practice management experts -- who also are among Advisor Perspectives' best-read columnists -- how they can help you with clients and other business issues brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. They'll also share what they've been hearing from your peers about how the Covid-19 crisis has dramatically changed financial advisory practices. Don't miss this chance to get advice from these accomplished individuals.

The S&P 500 ETFs tracked include State Street Global Advisors’ SPDR (SPY), iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV), and Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF (VOO).

Dr. William Reichenstein and William Meyer will answer advisors’ questions about how the coronavirus crisis has impacted retirement planning, specifically focusing on tax-efficient withdrawal strategies and Social Security claiming strategies. The points they will cover include the following:

• How at a high level has COVID-19 impacted retirement planning?
• How can advisors add value with retirement planning in the crisis-era?
• Why are tax-efficient withdrawal strategies a good way for advisors to show their “advisor alpha” or how they can add portfolio longevity?
• How will COVID-19 impact market returns and tax-efficient withdrawal strategies?
• How will COVID-19 impact future taxes and tax-efficient withdrawal strategies?
• Case examples illustrating the impact and value withdrawal strategies make for a client.
• How has this environment impacted Social Security planning? Should clients behave differently?
• What strategies do you recommend for “fixing” clients who claim early because of the coronavirus?
• How can advisors best help clients near retirement or in retirement?

On May 5 at 2pm ET, Ben Inker of GMO will answer advisors’ questions about market valuations and asset allocation.

Ben Inker is head of Boston-based Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo’s (GMO's) asset allocation team. In his years at GMO, Ben has served as an analyst for quantitative equities and asset allocation, as a portfolio manager of several equity and asset allocation portfolios, as co-head of international quantitative equities, and as chief investment officer of quantitative developed equities. He earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Yale University and is a CFA charterholder.

Please join us on April 2 at 2pm ET for a 45-minute Q&A with the renowned economist Gary Shilling. This is your opportunity to get answers to your questions about the impact the coronavirus will have on the economy and the markets. Please submit your questions in advance when you register for the webinar.

Here is your opportunity to ask medical questions about the coronavirus. Our guest for this webinar is Julie Parsonnet, a top infectious disease specialist at Stanford University. This will be a Q&A session. We encourage those attending to submit your questions in advance or during the webinar.

As a result of the COVID-19 virus and its effects on the market, here's a short analysis of major ETF market sectors and the S&P 500 since February 21.

We are having some software issues and as a result, all economic news is delayed slightly. We will back-publish all missed updates once this is resolved. Thank you!

Thank you for taking the time to read our articles and offering feedback to continue making us the best newsletter for financial advisors. We value your input!

Advisor Perspectives has been ranked as the most-read electronic newsletter by financial advisors in 2019, based on the annual media survey conducted by Erdos and Morgan.

Asset allocation, manager diligence and selection and risk control are the core contributors to investment performance. As investors face a subdued economic outlook with increased volatility, making the right decisions in each of those disciplines is essential.

One of the most consequential decisions in every one of our lives is enrolling in Medicare. We will make fateful decisions that will affect our healthcare for the rest of our lives. Danielle Roberts, an expert on Medicare enrolment, examines the choices we must make.

Dr. Suzanne Peterson delivered a keynote presentation at the NAPFA spring conference, and Bob discusses her penetrating insights about the unconventional questions advisors should ask to select for exceptional new hires. Bob also tells us what he really thinks about Reg BI - and what is in store for attendees of his upcoming conference.

Several years ago, Allison Schrager walked into the Moonlite BunnyRanch, a legal brothel in Nevada. She was there to study economics – specifically how the owners and sex workers dealt with and reduced the risks of their professions. Allison discusses the lessons from that experience, as well as a number of other professions she has studied - including the recent Jeopardy champion, James Holtzhauer.

ONLN is the only ETF that lets investors tap into the explosive growth of online retail by pinpointing retailers that principally sell online—and then zeroing in on its largest, most iconic companies, like Amazon and Alibaba.

A barrier to ESG and SRI adoption is the one-size-fits-all approach inherent in mutual funds and ETFs. But a new solution allows advisors to create SMAs that are customized based on each of your clients’ values, needs and preferences.

Advisor Perspectives will be the exclusive marketing agent for Investments Illustrated’s products, the Big Picture © Chart and App. Advisor Perspectives will offer these products to its audience of nearly a half million professionals in the financial advisory industry.

Technical analysis is built on the idea that markets and securities are actionable through analysis of historical trends. No firm has been as dominant and successful in the field of technical analysis that Dorsey Wright, the 30-year old Virginia-based firm that is now part of Nasdaq.

A white label approach streamlines the ETF launching process, by using filings and approvals that are already in place with the SEC

After the tumult of Q4 2018, investors deserved an easy quarter, and they got it. The Q4 trends of falling rates and rising economic concerns continued. But risk assets, like stocks and non-government fixed income spread products, pulled out of their nose dives with strong performances in Q1 2019. As we look ahead to the remainder of this year, what should bond investors expect?

If there is one asset class where advisors have taken a do-it-yourself approach, it is municipal bonds. Advisors and their clients often buy individual muni bonds and hold them until maturity. But the muni market is very broad, diverse and complex – and those are the ingredients that favor professional management.

Recessionary fears have subsided and all signs are that the global economy has stabilized, albeit at a less-than-desired growth rate. But risks abound – tariffs on Chinese goods that could trigger a trade war, Brexit negotiations, rising oil prices and a possible Fed rate hike.

Ever since the growth of robo advisors began to accelerate nearly a decade ago, the dominant trend facing advisors has been the commoditization of investment advice. With the proliferation of high-quality, low-cost investment solutions, advisors have increasingly outsourced their investing, freeing up valuable resources to help clients in other ways. But that doesn’t mean that all outsourced solutions are created equal or that advisors cannot add value through the investment choices that are made on behalf of their clients. Here’s what advisors need to know when choosing an outsourcing solution.

The most successful advisory firms are building their technology framework around their optimal client and the experience they want to deliver to that client. What’s most important when designing an experience is considering how it adds value to the advisor-client relationship.

Value investors have fared poorly over the last decade, as traditional value indices have trailed their corresponding growth counterparts. But that doesn’t mean that all value funds have done poorly. Indeed, one notable exception has been the Matthews Asia Value Fund (MAVRX).

With equity valuations at elevated levels, subdued economic growth due to changing demographics and stubbornly low productivity gains, as well as a bleak outlook for fixed income, advisors are challenged to rethink foundational portfolio elements of investor portfolios—which means seeking out strategies that bolster the core going forward.

There are three legs to the retirement problem: determining an appropriate savings and spending plan, having the right amount of insurance, and constructing an appropriate portfolio. Achieving those three goals and smoothing consumption, especially during the critical period just before and after retirement, is a complex and computationally intensive undertaking.

• American investors are confronted by accelerating complexity, sub-par returns and minimal coordination between their assets, investment strategies and underlying liabilities. When one considers that millions of investors struggle with the same challenges, you realize that America’s multi-trillion-dollar personal savings market is plagued by systemic inefficiency.

Nearly two million financial plans were created in the last year using MoneyGuidePro. The two individuals who are charged with overseeing the success of the acquisition of PIETech, the parent company of MoneyGuide Pro, discuss what that means for their clients.

As advisors have expanded their suite of financial planning services and sought new ways to add value to their client relationships, they have also committed to solutions to streamline their investment management. One of those solutions is a model portfolio, which consist of allocations to a group of mutual funds that meet the goals and risk tolerances of their clients.

While there are many ways to gain individual exposure to the value, size, quality, momentum and low volatility factors, multifactor strategies combine exposure to all of them. Choosing the right one for client portfolios is incredibly difficult.

The chief investment strategist at one of the world’s largest asset managers provides insight into the six themes that will drive the global economy and capital market returns.

• The traditional role of asset managers has been limited to investment management, which is understandable considering the challenge of consistently delivering superior returns. While many asset managers provide resources and education to advisors, rarely do they make that part of their core mission.

In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, many individual investors were left questioning the effectiveness of their investment strategies. While many believed their portfolios were well-diversified, as the financial system faltered, they saw a large portion of their investments decline. Investors have grown weary of fund managers who profess to provide excess returns, while gains they realize are diminished by fees. Investors are more keenly focused on portfolio risk and efficient, cost-effective implementation. So given this heightened focus, how can advisors help investors work toward their goals efficiently and effectively?

VSL uses a volatility-driven, short-term capital appreciation model. Dom Catrambone explains how that has made VSL the top performing large-cap ETF in 2019 year-to-date.

It will soon be possible for guests at Marriott hotels in China to bypass lines at the registration desk and check in at a kiosk using facial recognition. Halfway across the globe, Marriott workers are going on strike, seeking higher wages and workplace safety. Artificial intelligence and robotics are at the heart of those highly promising but disruptive innovations. I am speaking today with someone whose index invests in robotics, automation and artificial intelligence companies that are at the heart of those trends.

One billion people lack access to safe drinking water, and this number is likely to grow to nearly 3 billion by 2050. To complicate this problem, 60 percent of the world’s population lives in crowded water basins shared by multiple states — many of whom are failing or are at war with one another. There is a lack of fresh water resources to meet water demand. It affects every continent and was listed in 2015 by the World Economic Forum as the largest global risk in terms of potential impact over the next decade. My guest today invests in solutions to this looming global water crisis.

I speak with Steve Deroian about the future of the partnership between Dimensional and John Hancock, and explore the reasons behind their fee reductions and the new products coming from this relationship.

In the U.S., $12 trillion of investments carry an environmental, social and governance – or ESG – mandate. That is nearly a quarter of all professionally managed assets in the U..S. – and the same percentage of global assets have an ESG mandate. Boston-based Grantham Mayo van Otterloo and its chairman, Jeremy Grantham, are among the leading and most outspoken proponents of ESG investing and related issues.

• Private equity funding is behind many of the big roll-up firms, including High Tower Advisors, Atria Wealth Solutions, Edelman Financial Services and the Carson Group. Most prominently, PE investments fueled Focus Financial Partners, which went public in July of last year. James Poer, the CEO of Kestra Financial, recently partnered with a private equity investor and discusses the role of private equity in wealth management.

With consolidation looming in the ETF industry, who will be the likely winners? Will advisors continue to shift allocation to passive products and will ETFs be the primary recipients of those flow? Two industry experts sort out those issues.

ETFs have become a cornerstone of portfolio construction across the advisory industry. Over the last three decades, they have grown from zero to a $4 trillion market. My guest today is Ed Rosenberg, who will help us understand the key trends in the ETF market and what they mean for advisors.

One of the great paradoxes of the asset management industry is that its focus is on designing products that grow assets, yet that’s often not what investors need. Investors want a to participate in the market’s upside but be protected from downside losses. I’m going to talk today with two people who are at the forefront of a revolution in ETF product design to support the growth-driven needs of investors.

Two of the leading municipal bond asset managers, Invesco and Dimensional Fund Advisors, will present their assessment of the compelling opportunities to add value in the municipal bond market. Attendees will learn key considerations for constructing client muni portfolios and how to address specific client needs. In addition, Advisor Perspectives will present an overview of the results of its recent market research study, which assessed how advisors are choosing municipal bond funds and ETFs.

Learning Objectives:

• How to evaluate municipal bonds in the current rate environment
• What are the critical risk in municipal bond investing
• What is the appropriate client asset allocation for municipal bonds

Making sense of the complex global economic environment is essential for advisors, at least for the very important reason of being able to intelligently answer their clients’ questions. Today, the greatest uncertainties are in Fed policy, China and Brexit. We hear from Gene Tannuzzo, whose job it is to make sense of those issues for advisors and their clients.

Beginning with the launch of SPY over 26 years ago, the ETF industry has dramatically reduced the cost of investing for countless advisors and their clients. I will hear from Sue Thompson of State Street Global Advisors about the competitive pressures in the ETF industry.
She oversees the distribution of the SPDR ETFs, which have over $620 billion in assets. She discussed what State Street is doing to ensure the SPDR product line is priced competitively.

A compelling feature that draws investors to ETFs is “thematic investing.” We’ll discuss how it allows investors to target companies that are poised to benefit from structural shifts in technology, people, demographics and infrastructure development.

As a financial advisor, your website is an important part of your brand message. Are you screwing it up?

Join me and Dan Solin for this 30-minute free webinar about how to do it right, from the message to the content and media.

On February 19, 2019, listeners will learn:

• What the empirical evidence says attracts people to advisors and what they are looking for vs. what advisors believe clients are looking for
• Why it is so hard to come across as competent and warm, friendly, and relatable at the same time
• What all this means for advisors websites – what the true goal of a website should be
• How to visually organize your website – graphics, photos, and imagery
• The false perception that advisors have that they have to project perfection and be all-knowing.
• What your website should say and what its message should be
• How to create relatable content for your website
• Why people are not interested in other people; they care about themselves.
• How to get people to say “tell me more about that” when they visit your website.
• How to get your content to stay with people after they leave your site.
• How to create videos for your website that will engage the reader and come across as authentic
• The value of humor and how to use it on your website.

Register today!

According to research from Cerulli, nearly half of advisors use a model portfolio to manage $2.7 trillion in assets. We’ll discuss how those models are permeating all aspects of investment management in the financial advisory industry.

Robo advisors suffer from a common flaw, according to Zvi Bodie. They don’t use a “safety first” methodology and are exposing users to unnecessary risks.

2018 may have been the toughest year for investors insofar as federal regulations are concerned. That goes back to when the SEC began reviewing conduct standards in 1995. We’ll look at what changed in the fiduciary landscape in 2018 and the outlook for 2019.

The chief goal of society should be to maximize wealth, according to Tyler Cowen. Pursuing that goal has delivered everything from nutritious and abundant food to air conditioning and smartphones in the developed world, and those benefits are spreading rapidly to the developing world. We’ll look at whether Cowen’s single-minded focus on growth make sense and what it means for investors.

One of the most remarkable developments in the financial markets over the last 25 years is that the number of publicly traded companies has declined by half. We’ll look at the reasons for that decline and what it means for investors.

We're very pleased to invite you to join us for Portfolio Construction Forum Markets Summit 2019 (February 19) and Finology Summit 2019 (February 20-21), in Sydney, Australia.

A large-scale survey of financial advisors has contradicted many of the long-held beliefs about ESG/SRI investing.

Millennials make up the largest percentage of our population today, yet have seen some of the lowest labor force participation growth and highest unemployment out of all age groups since the turn of the century. This has larger implications when coupled with slow wage growth, high home prices, and mounting student debt.

In July of 2015, CNN Money featured an article with the optimistic and intriguing title "More American teens are getting jobs. That's good for everyone." After reading the article, we revised one of our monthly charts on Labor Force Participation to include the age 16-19 cohort -- one we elsewhere combine with the 20-24 year-olds. We've updated this article to include the latest employment data.

The fact that millennials are the next generation of wealth is well-documented. What remains to be explored, however, is how advisors can best design their practices to communicate with Millennials as clients. Using the right words is an important part of reaching this population. Advisor language has typically been dry, impersonal, and full of cliché and jargon. This has to change if advisors want to retain assets and succeed with intergenerational wealth transfer within their books of business. If not, fee compression and roboadvisors pose a very large competitive threat.

This seminar will teach advisors what they need to know about how to communicate effectively with Generation Y. It will cover:

• The buzzwords that been commonly used in the past but won’t work with Millennial clients and should be avoided.
• Terms and phrases that Millennials are more open to hearing, and that advisors should integrate into their communications with clients
• The tone and voice that advisors should use when communicating with Millennials
• What body language, office design, and choice of apparel (tie or no tie?) say that words never could
• Client follow up strategies using digital communication that will be more effective than ones of the past

90% of women, at some point in their lives, will have the responsibility of managing their own personal finances. As advisors, how well do we understand our women clientele and how prepared are we to serve them? In this webinar we take a broad look at what our female clients and prospects value in an advisory relationship. As well as challenges that women specifically face and how we can solve for them with thoughtful planning.

The purpose of this webinar about fighting elder financial abuse is to improve your understanding of diminished capacity so you can take steps to prevent abuse when you see these signs. Older people with diminished capacity are at greater risk. In the webinar, you will learn to recognize the seven warning signs of financial abuse. You will learn how you can form an action plan in your office that so you can take protective action for your clients who appear to be at risk. This is about prevention, not waiting until there is abuse and then trying to figure out how to keep it from getting worse. You will also get an update about requirements to report abuse and protections for you in the new regulations.

The big economic number tomorrow will be the Q2 Third Estimate for GDP. The last two quarters are behind us with their real annualized rates of 2.9% in Q4 2017 and 2.3% in Q1. What do economists see in their collective crystal ball for Q2 Third Estimate? Let's take a look at the latest GDP forecasts from the latest Wall Street Journal survey of economists conducted earlier this month.

Social podcasting is one of the fastest growing forms of communication. Top advisors are leveraging this platform into a powerful competitive advantage. Stop wasting time and money on prospecting and marketing that doesn't work. This social communication strategy is one of the most incredible financial advisor marketing tools ever. It’s a must-have advisor marketing tool and in this webinar, we'll show you how to implement social podcasting into your practice. You will also learn:
To take back the spotlight by creating your own thought leadership.The importance of offering engaging content to your clients.Why social media is the key to growing your practiceHow improving your social communication strategy can provide increased opportunities for referrals.
Matt Halloran will answer attendees’ questions during the webinar and will be available to continue the discussion on APViewpoint.

This is the second in a multi-part series where we examine pundits' opinions and predictions on the latest topics.

This is the second in a multi-part series where we examine pundits' opinions and predictions on the latest topics.

Advisors will learn how using factors and alternative investments that have premiums that are unique and have evidence of persistence, pervasiveness, robustness, implementability, and intuitive risk- or behavioral-based explanations for why we should expect the premiums to persist in the future can lead to the building of more efficient portfolio that also reduce tail risks. You will learn which factors from the over 600 in the literature should be considered and which alternatives out of the many available should be used and why.

Description: With longevity, we have more aging clients. The average advisor has at least 7 clients with some degree of diminished capacity. Understanding what you need to look for and what to do when you see diminished capacity is critical to keep clients' assets safe and protect yourself. Likewise with longevity, more clients will need long term care. No one is "average". We examine the increased risk of needing this care from identifiable factors. Few advisors know the actual cost of these services, which are not covered by Medicare. Long term care insurance is not for most people and clients all need to get a deeper understanding through competent advice about how much their savings will need to cover.

Learning Objectives:

• To be able to identify the red flags of diminished capacity
• To understand what to do when you see diminished capacity
• To understand what Medicare does not cover in long term care
• To know some client risk factors for needing long term care
• To know actual figures in cost of care so you can competently educate clients

In the last fifteen years, the Nobel Prize for economics has twice been awarded for research in the field of behavioral insights – Daniel Kahneman in 2002 and Richard Thaler in 2017. And a third Nobel Laureate, Robert Shiller, is also associated with research that challenges the rational view of investor behavior.

In this 60 minute webinar, Dan Richards will outline how advisors can tap into behavioral insights to improve decision making by existing clients as well as to attract new clients. In this webinar, Dan will touch on:

• Kahneman’s work on mental shortcuts
• Thaler’s research on how defaults can improve client behavior
• Robert Shiller’s insights on the importance of narratives

As well as:

• The benefits of delaying decisions
• Why pre-commitments can get you in front of prospects
• The impact of shifting timeframes on client preferences
• How peer comparisons can shape client decisions

The bitcoin and cryptocurrency craze has everyone talking. Here's what some of the big names in the industry are saying.

Many of our readers have been experiencing 404 errors on dshort pages. These pages have not disappeared, they are merely being edited and as a result of our current process, it shows as a broken page. Please be sure to check back within a few days to see the newest update.

We are working on a new system that will prevent these errors.

The CFP Board proposal on fiduciary duties are a good first step towards a fiduciary standard. Yet, they fall well short of basic fiduciary practices and, equally as important, what ordinary investors clearly want from an investment advisor or financial planner. Significant common sense revisions will align the CFP requirements with true fiduciary practices. Alternatively, the Board can realign its promise to the public to fit its current standards. Webinar attendees will learn:

• Key areas where the proposed standards fall well short of fiduciary duties;
• What independent research and experience say investors want in a fiduciary advisor;
• Important revisions or fixes that CFP Board can make now to meet a fiduciary standard; and
• How the CFP Board can realign its promise to meet current standards.

Now is a great time to transform your business for growth and enjoyment. This webinar will help you utilize Jen Goldman’s process-driven solutions to reclaim time and clarity to develop a powerful team and thriving business. Additionally, you will learn:

• The benefits of transforming your business
• How to quickly identify and solve burnout and capacity gaps
• Design a better processes and tech stack to service your clients and reduce workload
• Improve your operating methods and eliminate time wasters

Please submit your responses and stay tuned for the results in the next week.

This week's poll is the second part of a 3-part series. In a few weeks, we will publish the results. Stay tuned!

This week's poll is the first part of a 3-part series. In a few weeks, we will publish the results. Stay tuned! Continue the conversation on the results page about why you chose your answer by clicking on "LEAVE A COMMENT" button.

This is part of our weekly poll series - it takes one minute and once you submit your response you'll be taken to a page where you can see the results. Continue the conversation on the results page about why you chose your answer by clicking on "COMMENT ON" APViewpoint link.

Over the next six months, 34% of financial advisors will be increasing their allocations to actively managed non-U.S. equity funds by more than 3%. Advisor Perspectives obtained this data from a survey conducted over the last month, for which it received responses from 778 advisors.

This is part of our weekly poll series - it takes one minute and once you submit your response you'll be taken to a page where you can see the results. Continue the conversation on the results page about why you chose your answer by clicking on "COMMENT ON" APViewpoint link.

If sanctions against a target regime can be thought of as antibiotics, then North Korea has largely become drug-resistant. Indeed, North Korea is exhibiting “superbug” traits, increasingly impervious to sanctions, according to John Park.

Many advisors invest large amounts of time developing financial plans for clients – yet research shows that most clients see limited value in their plans and 80% of recommendations in financial plans aren’t acted on.

In this webinar, 30 year industry veteran Dan Richards will outline the flaws in financial planning as practiced today and the changes needed to fix those flaws. Among the things Dan will talk about:

• Eliminating the words “financial plan” from your vocabulary
• Incorporating updates into the center of annual reviews
• How planning as currently practiced breaks a fundamental law of motivation
• Why you should incorporate non-financial issues into the planning process
• The best possible positioning you can have in your clients’ eyes

Dan Richards is author of the best seller Getting Clients Keeping Clients: The Essential Guide for Tomorrow’s Financial Advisor, recognized as the best resource for client communication by leading industry association LIMRA. Dan built and sold two businesses in the financial industry and served as CEO of a broker dealer with 3500 advisors. Today he is an award winning instructor in the MBA program at the University of Toronto.

Dan will answer attendees’ questions during the webinar and will be available to continue the discussion on APViewpoint.

How much can clients spend sustainably in retirement? This presentation provides an overview of Wade Pfau’s new book, How Much Can I Spend in Retirement? A Guide to Investment-Based Retirement Income Strategies, which focuses on sustainable spending from investments. He will explain the financial planning research on sustainable spending from investment portfolios in the face of a variety of retirement risks. You will also learn:

• The origins of the 4% rule
• How various assumptions impact the 4% rule
• Whether 4% rule is appropriate for today’s retirees

Wade will answer attendees’ questions during the webinar and will be available to continue the discussion on APViewpoint.

This is a part of our the weekly poll series we will launch on our site. It takes one minute and once you submit your response you'll be taken to a page where you can see the results. Continue the conversation on the results page about why you chose your answer by clicking on "COMMENT ON" APViewpoint link.

This is the third week of a weekly poll series we will launch on our site. It takes one minute and once you submit your response you'll be taken to a page where you can see the results. Continue the conversation on the results page about why you chose your answer by clicking on "COMMENT ON" APViewpoint link.

This is the second week of a weekly poll series we will launch on our site. It takes one minute and once you submit your response you'll be taken to a page where you can see the results. Continue the conversation on the results page about why you chose your answer by clicking on "COMMENT ON" APViewpoint link.

Poll question: Which type of annuity are you most likely to recommend to a client?

This is the first week of a weekly poll series we will launch on our site. It takes one minute and once you submit your response you'll be taken to a page where you can see the results. Continue the conversation on the results page about why you chose your answer by clicking on "COMMENT ON" APViewpoint link.

Poll question: Which type of "smart-beta" investing will yield the best long-term results?

With the Republican tax bill looming, we've updated this article to include the latest figures and estimates for federal debt and taxes.

A new study reveals how large registered investment advisors (RIAs) select actively managed U.S. equity mutual funds. Among its key findings were that advisors are relatively insensitive to expense ratios on those funds – and that most fund companies should not be pressured to reduce fees. The study also found that wholesalers have little influence getting advisors to select their funds.

The LMCI is a relatively recent indicator developed by Federal Reserve economists to assess changes in the labor market conditions. As of August 3, 2017, updates of the labor market conditions index (LMCI) have been discontinuedThe LMCI is derived from a dynamic factor model that extracts the primary common variation from 19 labor market indicators.

Robert DiMella is an executive managing director and co-head of MacKay Municipal Managers team, overseeing approximately $20 billion in municipal bond assets. In this interview, he discusses the opportunities for muni bond investors and the outlook for the coming year.

An ETF sponsor is looking for 30 advisors to participate in an online focus group to be hosted on APViewpoint. The purpose of this focus group is to gather advisors’ observations on the ETF marketplace. Click for more info.

If you're attending this week's Morningstar Investment Conference in Chicago, come visit us at booth #360. Meet members of our team, including CEO/Editor in Chief Bob Huebscher, National Account Manager Becky Allen and dshort's Research Director Jill Mislinski.

Headline CPI rose from 2.5% to 2.74% last month, fueling speculation about higher interest rates. But inflation readings will be lower in the next few months, according to Jeffrey Gundlach.

Many reports on the cost of education and affordability over the last decade have focused on the rapid growth of educational debt. Here we examine student aid, costs of undergraduate education, and enrollment over time. We've used data from the College Board's annual Trends in Higher Education publications. We've updated this report with the latest data.

College Tuition and Fees constitute one of the biggest threats to our economic outlook. Here is a chart of data from the relevant Consumer Price Index sub-component reaching back to 1978, the earliest year Uncle Sam provides a breakout for College Tuition and Fees. As an interesting sidebar, we've thrown in the increase in the cost of purchasing a new car as well as the more substantial increase for the broader category of medical care, both of which pale in comparison.

We continue our real estate research with a study on metropolitan affordability in the rental and mortgage markets. Once again, we tap into Zillow Group’s wealth of data and use a data set that includes mortgage affordability, rental affordability, and price-to-income ratios for the five most populous US cities with comparison to the national median.

According to the Census Bureau, 84% of U.S. citizens live in Metropolitan Statistical Areas - defined as a region with at least one urbanized area of population 50,000 or more. Here we look at home values in the top five metro areas over a 20 year period using data from Zillow Group. We focus on Zillow Sales prices and the Zillow Home Value Index, a house price index that uses Zillow data.

Note from dshort: Since the middle of the last century, there have been nine bear markets in the S&P 500 using the 20% selloff of the "bear-market" benchmark. There have been two additional corrections that came within a hair's breadth of the -20% qualification. Here are snapshots of those official bears and initial recoveries. Rather than scrolling down, you can click on a chart for an enlarged version and a slide-show of the series.

Note from dshort: We've updated this commentary in the wake of the Census Bureau's release last month of the 2015 annual household income data from the Current Population Survey.

One of our favorite discussions on APViewpoint, which addressed "The Sad State of Happiness", included an indirect reference to a popular 2010 academic study by psychologist Daniel Kahneman and economist Angus Deaton. Their topic was the correlation between annual household income and day-to-day contentment. They analyzed more than 450,000 total responses to a Gallup weekly survey of households across the 50 states and DC. The survey was conducted in 2009.

With the US presidential election about five weeks away, the popular press has feasted on the campaign events and survey results, with the primary focus on the Trump spectacle. The fundamental question remains: How did The Don succeed in winning the Republican Party nomination in the first place? And how could he remain in contention in the wake of his bizarre campaign rhetoric? A provocative new report from Sentier Research gives us insight into what might be the key factor in the Trump phenomenon: A secular decline in the financial well-being of white working class males and what we can infer as the resulting anger directed at the political powers that be.

With the 2016 Rio Olympics in the news and on many minds, we decided to investigate whether particular indicators were a predictor of performance.

Often conversations about home buying end up in discussions on the high cost of homes today and their affordability – or lack thereof. We decided to take a look at the long-term trends in home prices in comparison to income and found that incomes have been stagnant since the early 1970s, while home prices have risen dramatically in comparison.

In this interview, conducted at Morningstar's Investment Conference held in Chicago in June, three industry experts - Michael Kitces, John Rekenthaler and Dave Blanchett - discuss the value and benefits member are receiving from APViewpoint, and why they are participating as thought leaders in this new service.

This is the second installment of a two-part article on P/E ratios by Ed Easterling. Ed's books, Unexpected Returns and Probable Outcomes, have our unqualified endorsement for anyone trying to understand the complex and often puzzling relationship between the economy and the market.

We're delighted to welcome Ed Easterling with this first installment of a two-part article on P/E ratios. Ed's books, Unexpected Returns and Probable Outcomes, have our unqualified endorsement for anyone trying to understand the complex and often puzzling relationship between the economy and the market.