Bill Hench is head of the small-cap team at First Eagle Investments and portfolio manager of its small-cap strategy. The First Eagle Small Cap Opportunity Fund (FESCX) was established April 27, 2021.

I propose a strategy that can produce larger price gains or losses than bonds and higher yields than traditional bond funds or ETFs. If yields decline soon, investors can expect double-digit returns in a relatively short period.

The world’s pension funds are growing as an ageing population puts more money aside to pay for retirement. The global total has doubled in the past decade to almost $57 trillion. But the biggest pool of savings risks missing out on both diversification and returns by restricting its investments to its domestic markets.

There's understandably a lot of concern about inflation — and consumers want to know who to blame for it. U.S. companies are showing that they've got pricing power and know how to use it in this environment. That makes them an easy target for consumers — and politicians' — ire.

The Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and others have created so much money to go along with unprecedented support from governments to combat the Covid-19 pandemic that the world is awash in liquidity.

It has been a rough several months for U.S. stocks. While broad market averages are down, they obscure the extent of the wreckage. Not even the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index, which has tumbled more than the better-known S&P 500 Index and Dow Jones Industrial Average, tells the whole story.

Oil jumped with traders keeping a close eye on ongoing geopolitical tensions as Ukraine said several government and bank websites were hit by cyberattacks.

ICYMI: In this roundup, we’re highlighting the five most popular pieces of content from the previous week.

Here are five ways the right partner can help you become more efficient in independence.

We have the new program installed, but no one is using it.

I came across an inspiring book, If I Could Tell You Just One Thing, by Richard Reed. He met with 49 remarkable people (some well-known, others not) and asked them to share their most valuable advice.

I’ve learned a lot running my digital marketing companies over the past five years. You may find these six lessons helpful.

Here’s rough justice: FINRA’s February 9 disgraceful report on broker-dealer breaches of Reg BI came out just as the Winter Olympics was tarnished by the politics of the IOC.

For years, Mercedes-Benz Group AG’s profits failed to match the desirability of its luxury vehicles. Now, semiconductor shortages have given it the perfect cover to hike prices and prioritize production of its most expensive high-performance models.

U.S. home mortgage lenders have spent much of the last two years hiring. Now they might have to spend the coming months laying workers off.

As U.S. businesses and consumers weather the highest inflation in four decades, some firms are already betting those cost increases will be around for longer than many economists are predicting.

When it comes to investment returns, most people, including those who work in financial markets, only consider nominal numbers. For example, they look at the price of the S&P 500 Index now, where it was a year ago and work out what the total return was including dividends in that period.

Cryptocurrencies may be all the rage, but good luck figuring out how they fit in a portfolio.

Jasmin and Ryan recently exchanged ideas about trading apps and new software that can help educate investors about key investment principles.

Is "the grind" as outdated as the Boomers that came up with the saying?

The global economy has less policy flexibility to deal with a possible stagflationary shock, and central banks have few good options to counter possible financial market malfunction that would amplify economic challenges.

It's called social media for a reason. Most people get the media part. They share links back to their website, blog, or podcast. But they forget about the social part.

As a recovering workaholic who loves what I do, it is essential to understand what drove that condition and the costs it incurred for me and my family.

Advisors can choose from five approaches to meet their clients’ income needs in retirement, each with its own merits and drawbacks. Those strategies attempt to solve for a central goal – ensuring that clients don’t run out of money – a risk that is illustrated by my wife’s catering business.

Neglecting non-financial assets, such as Social Security and pensions, will misstate the risk in a retired (or near retired) client’s asset allocation strategy.

Advisors make seven predictably irrational mistakes when it comes to bonds, depleting their clients’ wealth and standard of living.

Since the initial publication of research documenting active share, its advocates have clung to the belief that the metric could identify funds that would outperform. But the academic evidence has all but disproven that thesis.

Which is riskier, bitcoin or Tesla? Here is the analytical framework I created to answer that question.

Advisors who reject bucketing strategies because they won’t invest as many as five years of assets in low-yielding securities are exposing clients to risks that threaten their standard of living in retirement.

There’s so much you can learn from people who are able to create positive outcomes daily from tense situations. Here are four business skills I’ve gleaned from studying the ways of hostage negotiators, and one from the drug dealers who live down the hall.

I’ve been asked for my thoughts on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Most analysts expected some action on interest rates from the U.S. Federal Reserve in 2022 — but maybe not the five rate hikes they’re now pricing in. Inflation was clearly driving upwards, but we’re seeing much higher, more consistent price increases.

Investors gauging the likely size of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate hike in March and plans for shrinking a balance sheet now at a record $8.9 trillion will get fresh clues on Wednesday.

When the going gets tough in the U.S., the tough go shopping. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that retail sales surged 3.8% in January, the most in 10 months and well above the 2% median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

The surge in mortgage rates we've seen this year is making an already dysfunctional housing market even more uncertain. Higher lending costs will make housing less affordable, which should cool demand and at least slow price increases.

The mayors of Miami and New York City have taken their salaries in cryptocurrencies. An Arizona state legislator wants to declare Bitcoin legal tender. From Florida to Wyoming, state and local officials have put forth or even carried out plans to accept various taxes in digital tokens — developments sometimes touted as a challenge to the U.S. dollar’s dominance.

The Federal Reserve needs to deliver a Volcker-style shock to drive down asset prices if it wants to slow inflation without causing a recession, according to Credit Suisse Group AG strategist Zoltan Pozsar.

A crash to Earth for growth stocks and cryptocurrencies is one thing, but a sharp decline in mainstream bond mutual funds could spell enormous trouble. Signs are emerging of the beginnings of a potential downward spiral in these funds, which could ultimately lead to redemption halts and subsequent panic by retail investors.

Rather than attempt to follow every twist and turn of the geopolitical drama, or all the excitement in Washington, it might be best to focus on the most vital commodity market — liquidity.

Sometimes yesterday’s crazy idea turns out to be sane or even essential. For instance, Fischer Black, the late finance economist and co-discoverer of modern options pricing theory, argued that the rate of price inflation will be whatever we think it will be.

Governments that had propped up Covid-ravaged economies by issuing social bonds are now turning their attention to longer-term climate goals, while companies are keen for increased flexibility when spending proceeds from sales of environmental, social and governance (ESG) debt. That’s crimping the flow of social notes that typically fund specific projects such as job creation or affordable housing.

Starting May 15, New York City will require every job posting to be accompanied by a minimum and maximum salary for the position. Colorado, Nevada, Connecticut, California, Washington and Maryland already have laws requiring some salary-range disclosure; Rhode Island will join them at the start of next year. Similar laws are under consideration in Massachusetts and South Carolina.

Some deficit hawks acknowledged that the U.S. was in a period of extraordinarily low interest rates. But they warned that this phenomenon could reverse itself at any time. What they misunderstood is the effect that the response to secular stagnation would have on the overall economy in the short term.

There is no greater threat to your financial wellbeing than divorce. Unless you are very wealthy or extremely poor, both former spouses will see a decline in their lifestyle

Some observers assume I tell everyone that they should go down the RIA path. That is not the case.

I’m not averse to having clients tell their friends and family about me; I’m just averse to making it sound like they need to do it because we need them to do it.

Observing the lack of traffic at a new Ferrari dealership led me to an important insight into how advisors should justify their value to prospects.

ICYMI: In this roundup, we’re highlighting the five most popular pieces of content from the previous week.

Last week, the Labor Department published data that showed consumer price rose 7.5% in January from a year earlier, the biggest increase in decades. Persisting high inflation has led has led the central bank to pivot toward a tighter monetary stance to help cool off prices.