For many investors, the allocation to fixed income is intended to be the ballast of the portfolio with a primary objective of preserving wealth. Investment-grade bonds, which are those with ratings of Baa3/BBB- or higher, typically make up most, if not all, of many fixed income allocations.

El Niño is a climate phenomenon, but its effects transcend the weather map. Driving wide shifts in rainfall and temperature, it can disrupt everything from agriculture to monetary policy, ultimately affecting companies, sovereign issuers and asset prices.

The AI boom is reshaping the U.S. economy in ways that are becoming increasingly difficult to separate from the broader macroeconomic outlook. The race to build AI infrastructure has fueled a surge in imports of semiconductors, servers, and other computing equipment, while data center construction has become an increasingly important source of business investment.

Last week brought dramatic developments across the markets. The plunge in technology stocks, particularly those tied to artificial intelligence, did not surprise us. Recognizing a bubble in search of a pin, we had been expecting it to burst for some time. When it finally began to do so last week, it dragged the broader market down with it.

Our Director and Senior Portfolio Manager Alex Cousley sees last week's sharp equity sell-off as a test of market sentiment, with the U.S. midterm elections raising new questions about the outlook for AI infrastructure investment.

We all know someone who over-shares: the coworker too eager to discuss weekend adventures, or the friend who describes medical conditions in excessive detail. Yet even among those who hold no secrets, discussion of personal financial circumstances is usually taboo. It can therefore be difficult to judge how the average person is faring, economically.

The US midterm elections have brought about a major political realignment, with the Democratic Party taking decisive control of both the House and the Senate. What are the most likely implications for the economic outlook and financial markets?

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has released its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), providing forecasts for energy markets. This article presents the annual production outlooks for crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs), comparing the November 2026 projections against the previous month's estimates.

Bitcoin's closing price was down 4.7% this week. BTC is currently down approximately 15.8% year-to-date and sits about 41% below its October 2025 record high.

The greatest investment risk at the moment is the inclination to confuse the length of time a bubble has persisted with proof that a bubble does not exist.

Many RIAs have some version of a “refer-a-friend” program, ranging from requests for introductions to website forms where clients can submit contact information for a friend, family member, or colleague. These programs raise an interesting question under the Marketing Rule.

An advisor doesn’t have to wait for an owner to announce an exit. They can begin with existing clients, bring the business into the financial plan, and start a conversation most other professionals are not positioned to lead.

Let me share a few best practices for meeting management and for increasing sales within your team.

What originally attracted you to wealth management, and what path led you to your first position in the profession?

Broadly speaking, investors eyeing retirement often have many goals in mind, particularly income. And when inflation, geopolitical uncertainty, and rising interest rates are all playing out at the same time, achieving this can often present a challenge.

US stock futures are rising Wednesday as better-than-expected results from Coreweave Inc., anticipation of Anthropic PBC’s initial public offering and a blockbuster quarter for OpenAI are reviving the AI trade.

Nvidia Corp.’s investigation of Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang’s affair with an alleged Chinese spy is raising questions about the company’s future and sending its stock into a tailspin.

Anthropic’s backers were reportedly seeking a $2 trillion valuation for the forthcoming listing back in August. The market backdrop is very different today. Rising interest rates and a potential US policy shift on data centers following the midterm elections have pummeled tech valuations.

If Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh didn’t get the message from voters last week, the latest consumer price index report should make it abundantly clear: Inflation is too high. For Warsh, nothing less than another increase in interest rates will do when central bankers meet in four weeks to set monetary policy.

Voters sent a clear message about data centers on Tuesday. We take it seriously. But data centers are one node in a larger AI-infrastructure build: chips, networks, power, cooling, sites and the capital that funds them. We have to look past the heavy rhetoric to what the policy can actually do.

Dividend ETFs have long been an investor favorite for their unique defensive flavor and total-return profile in the face of sticky inflation, rising interest rates, and volatile markets. While bonds may struggle with price erosion in rising rate cycles, and growth equities may face valuation compression, dividend stocks can offer resilience through cash flow and lower equity duration.

The U.S. midterm election results could slow the AI buildout and near-term issuance but are unlikely to materially reduce its ultimate scale or financing needs. The pace of supply may slow, but concentration risk is unlikely to dissipate, reinforcing the case for diversification into high quality securitized products and emerging markets (EM).

Last week’s election was one of the harshest repudiations of any president’s party since at least World War II. As of today, it looks like the Democrats will end up with 56 seats in the U.S. Senate and about 260 in the House, a gain of nine and about forty-five, respectively.

One of the bigger takeaways from the 2026 midterm elections was that people don’t like data centers. And it’s not hard to understand why. They consume enormous amounts of electricity and water. They can create persistent noise for nearby communities.

In a week that once again featured solid economic data, stocks faltered as investors continued to question the sustainability of the AI boom.

I like to de-stress at day’s end by watching videos that relax me. Puppies and painters are among my favorite subjects. During election seasons, however, sharp-edged political ads precede the feature presentations, raising my anxiety. So I am very happy that the 2026 midterms are over.

Despite some volatility caused by the midterm elections last week, mega-cap cash flows remain resilient, earnings continue to come in better-than-expected, and corporate balance sheets remain fundamentally sound even as late-cycle pressures emerge.

Inflation affects everything from grocery bills to rent, making the Consumer Price Index (CPI) one of the most closely watched economic indicators. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) tracks this by categorizing spending into eight categories, each weighted by its relative importance.

Inflation rose 0.4% month-over-month in October, down from September's print of 0.6%. The headline figure for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was also higher than economist estimates of 0.3%.

Join the experts at SS&C ALPS Advisors and VettaFi for a 30-minute discussion on November 10th at 12:30 pm ET focusing on how energy infrastructure companies are capitalizing on North American LNG export growth.

Families often put it off. Talking about money with aging parents touches on mortality, independence, and family dynamics. A financial advisor may already have a reason to bring the family together, a record of the client's finances, and a relationship that predates the emergency. The bill for care comes either way. Families who see it coming have more say in how they meet it.

We tend to treat values-aligned investing as a knowledge problem. As long as you learn the impact investing strategies, the client conversations will follow. However, after working alongside impact investors, wealth advisors, and the families around them, I’ve come to think there’s been a misdiagnosis.

If you don’t have children, I recommend choosing your financial power of attorney, health care power of attorney, and executor. Ask each person before you name them. If you have children, I encourage you not to assume they will be willing and able to serve in these roles, but to ask them.

A key gauge of US consumer prices posted another firm advance in October, keeping the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates next month.

The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average (Dow), and Nasdaq Composite are all stock market indexes used to measure the performance of various aspects of the U.S. stock market. The indexes generally rise and fall together; however, the extent of gains or losses produced by each can differ depending on market conditions and the state of the economy.

The index that has served investors well for decades is suddenly considered passé. This puts prudent advisors in a bind. The main driver is recency bias. After several strong years in the market, many investors, especially those who have never lived through a serious bear market, assume that strong returns are forever.

The flexibility and tax efficiency of the wrapper has helped the ETF ecosystem blossom and the strategies available evolve.

Health Savings Accounts offer Americans a tax-free way to save for medical expenses. Now, some are using them to trade stocks — and dabble in risky bets they wouldn't touch in their 401(k) or brokerage accounts.

Rafay Farooqui, CEO and Founder of SUBSCRIBE, joins Tony Davidow to discuss the future of fintech within private markets.

Let’s start with the inverse relationship between bond price and the yield. When a bond is issued, its coupon is fixed for life. The only thing that changes is the yield that new buyers demand. Let me explain.

Nominal and real yields have risen, creating some of the most attractive opportunities investors have seen in fixed income in several years. A resilient economy, higher oil prices, sticky inflation and growing worry about the deficit have all contributed to higher yields across much of the bond market.

The shift to artificial intelligence models that can carry out tasks, not just generate content, hasn’t yet taken off in the way the tech industry desperately needs it to.

The employment report was extraordinarily strong, with approximately 165,000 jobs created, well above expectations, and upward revisions of 84,000 for the previous two months. Almost all the gains were in the private sector, with manufacturing adding 19,000 jobs.

Each day seems to bring fresh havoc in the digital world. In recent weeks, researchers have uncovered security flaws in some of the most consequential corners of the internet, bugs that could put users at risk, jeopardize essential services and impose significant economic costs. Squint a little, though, and it looks like progress.

If you’re considering changing firms in 2027, use the remainder of 2026 to establish readiness and explore a rapidly shifting economic and geopolitical landscape. Before committing, review your restrictions, confirm client-data boundaries, assess account portability, compare the economics, and determine what your next business model requires.

Tuesday’s midterms were one for the history books. Democrats won control of both the House and Senate, and they picked up governorships in Ohio, Texas and Georgia. Kansas elected a Democrat to the Senate for the first time since 1932. Our home state of Texas did so for the first time in 38 years.

Our investment teams weigh what comes next for stocks, bonds, and AI to help you explain what may come next.

Sometimes, change comes at you so fast that you forget to congratulate yourself on what you’ve achieved.

Election Day delivered a decisive shift in the political landscape. Democrats regained control of both the House and Senate and captured several key governorships. Affordability concerns, unease about the economy and dissatisfaction with the war in Iran all played a role, consistent with polling heading into the vote.