Funding a college education can be one of the biggest financial goals for a family, and it often requires a comprehensive approach.
In markets that have faced multiple sources of uncertainty this year, small-cap stocks have quietly moved to the front of the pack. Unlike the S&P 500, where performance has been heavily influenced by changing AI narratives, smaller companies have seen earnings improve across a broader set of sectors that are more closely tied to the overall US economy.
Markets are largely reducing expectations for a near-term U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) rate hike, and we agree. July’s weak jobs report, the underwhelming retail sales report, and continued softening of the monthly inflation figures give the Fed room to stay patient in the coming months.
Investors who focus only on tomorrow’s gold price may miss the larger purpose of owning precious metals. Gold and silver are not merely vehicles for chasing a rally. They are tools for preserving purchasing power during periods of fiscal and monetary instability.
Join us for a live conversation on what it takes to make AI work inside an advisory practice. You won’t want to miss this VettaFi webinar on Aug 27, 2:00 PM ET featuring LPL Financial executives John Stevens, SVP, AI Product Management, and Miller Staten, Head of Product Operations, moderated by TMX VettaFi’s Kirsten Chang.
Kevin Warsh’s inauspicious start as chairman of the Federal Reserve has guaranteed that his speech on Friday at the central bank’s annual Jackson Hole conference will command rapt attention. He might wish it were otherwise: Investors demanding clear answers to their many questions are almost certain to come away disappointed.
High indebtedness has prompted a call for France to cancel part of its public liabilities. Ideas spread, so expect similarly unorthodox demands elsewhere as governments grapple with high debt, while political disruptors air increasingly unconventional policies. All those roads, however, lead to more inflation and the debauchment of financial assets.
On Wednesday, August 26, 2026, Northern Trust Asset Management expanded its suite of distributing ladder ETFs with the launch of eight new funds. The newly launched ETFs offer additional target maturity options for Northern Trust’s existing strategies.
Investors are no longer choosing between gold and Bitcoin as hedges against fiscal anxiety. They’re buying both.
A blockbuster outlook from chip darling Nvidia Corp. is providing a boost to tech stocks and lifting key equity indexes Thursday morning, adding to investor optimism about the AI cycle.
The US Army is planning to deploy small reactors to power five bases across the country, investing $2.2 billion to accelerate the Trump Administration’s efforts to boost America’s nuclear industry.
Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department surprised the bond market by announcing that it would at least double selected long-end bond buybacks.
The bond market rarely dominates the financial headlines. But with a light economic data release schedule and earnings season largely in the rearview mirror, the bond market took center stage last week.
Trade talks between Canada and the U.S. fell apart on Saturday, resulting in the Section 338 tariffs on a subset of Canadian goods taking effect. In response, Canada has pledged to implement
U.S. labor force participation is declining due to an aging population, slowing immigration, and other factors. This could impact economic growth and earnings moving forward.
Earnings have built a strong foundation. As we wrote earlier this month, earnings have provided a strong foundation for stocks this year. With second quarter earnings growth for the S&P 500 on track to exceed 30% (excluding private investment mark-ups) and analysts continuing to raise estimates, it's safe to say this season strengthened the fundamental case for equities.
In choppy waters, many novice ship passengers will experience sea sickness. The only sure remedy is to wait it out. Symptoms will pass, as will the rough waters.
Victory Capital Holdings, Inc. (VCTR) announced an acquisition of First Eagle Investments Wednesday, a deal that will create a combined asset manager with $571 billion in client assets, the companies said.
The most durable assumption in global investing is also the most outdated: that the United States is fundamentally a consumption story and China is fundamentally a capital-expenditure story.
Inflation remains a hot topic, directly impacting everything from your grocery bill to interest rates. As of the latest data, two key inflation gauges — the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) — show that prices are still above the Federal Reserve's 2% target, with the core PCE at 3.3% and core CPI at 2.5%.
The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, the core PCE price index, climbed 3.3% year-over-year in July. This marks no change from June's reading. On a monthly basis, core prices rose 0.2%.
Personal income (excluding transfer receipts) was up 0.35% in July and was up 3.31% year-over-year. However, when adjusted for inflation using the BEA's PCE Price Index, real personal income (excluding transfer receipts) was up 0.19% month-over-month and down -0.38% year-over-year.
The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index® unexpectedly inched lower in August, falling 0.8 points to 89.4. The index was below the forecast of 90.3.
Join Arun Sai and Mark Boulton as they explore how the emerging markets story is changing, how investors can look beyond traditional benchmarks, and where the most sustainable opportunities may lie.
The irony is that the advisors who most need to delegate are the ones who find it hardest. You need to stop being the hero of every story. There are four reasons why, and every one of them is a story you tell yourself.
I was recently asked how to instill accountability and urgency in this next generation. Set expectations and offer guidance. Remember, this is a generation that largely grew up not speaking to other people and definitely not calling anyone.
European equities have long been written off as the ultimate value trap — a sleepy, slow-growth market living in the shadow of Wall Street’s tech-fueled mega-rally. But a massive shift in market dynamics is unfolding across the Atlantic.
When a typical business finds its supply chain costs have risen, it will absorb the increase to keep its customers happy. Nvidia isn’t a typical business. It enjoys gross profit margins of 75% and commands between 70% and 90% of the global market for artificial-intelligence chips.
The US economy expanded at an unrevised 1.5% pace in the second quarter, though underlying details showed stronger consumer spending and business investment than initially reported.
Vanguard, known mostly for its low-fee index funds, will add Altruist’s wealth technology and custody platform, the firm said in a statement Wednesday. It didn’t disclose terms.
U.S. economic growth rebounded at the beginning of 2026, according to the BEA’s latest estimate. Real GDP rose at a 1.5% annual rate in Q2, falling below the 2.1% forecast, but marking an acceleration from the 0.5% final estimate seen in Q4 of last year.
The future of geothermal energy, a renewable source that has charged up conservatives and liberals alike, is being charted in a scrubby patch of sagebrush, halfway between Las Vegas and Salt Lake City.
Recent Kitces’ research found no meaningful difference in wellness between advisors who worked in a traditional office versus at home or elsewhere. What did matter was alignment: Advisors thrived when they had the flexibility to work in an environment that matched their personal preferences.
Equity markets stumbled this week despite an economic backdrop that continues to show signs of broadening. While concerns about consumer strain are mounting, those worries have so far been offset by ongoing strength in business investment, particularly spending tied to artificial intelligence (AI).
Markets continue to hold up remarkably well as we move through the traditionally difficult second half of August, but the risks beneath the surface have shifted. Commodity prices are rising, money growth remains stronger than I would like, and long-term interest rates are again testing important levels.
It’s been a busy year in the game of ETF landgrab. And a colorful one, too. From exciting M&A deals to some splashy building-from-scratch newcomers, we are seeing a little bit of everything as asset managers look to build scale and capture the impressive growth momentum of the ETF market.
James Carville, Bill Clinton’s chief political advisor, once quipped that if he could be reincarnated he wanted to come back as the bond market because “You can intimidate everybody.”
Interest rates are moving higher, and the forces behind the move appear to be persistent inflation and an economy that continues to grow more strongly than many anticipated. Economic growth is generally advantageous, and moderate inflation is a normal feature of a healthy economy.
When the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, or Eniac, was first built by the University of Pennsylvania for the US Army in 1946, it weighed about 30 tons and had 18,000 vacuum tubes that filled an expansive room.
As the credit cycle ages, defaults are likely to remain front and center. But for investors evaluating private credit alongside public markets, measuring defaults is not as straightforward as it may seem.
We think the gap between women’s confidence and ability underscores that effective plan communications must educate, engage and empower participants across the board. Women may worry more, but they’re clearly knowledgeable and forward-thinking—qualities that can be reinforced. Men may register more confidence but could still use refreshers on financial basics.
Macro strategists and global portfolio managers have their hands full on this final week of August. As we said recently, this is no time to mail it in before Labor Day in the U.S. And for equity traders and bottom-up analysts, NVIDIA (NVDA) writes the storyline in the sessions ahead. The world's most valuable company reports Q2 results after the bell on Wednesday.
This may come as something of a surprise since the financial press has not written or said much about how well this important—and opportunity-rich—subset of small-cap has performed over the last several months.
Join the experts at SS&C ALPS Advisors and VettaFi for a Product Due Diligence Session on August 25th at 12:30 pm ET to discuss midstream defensiveness and the structural tailwinds supporting energy infrastructure.
Today, many clients expect their financial advisor to be involved in the estate planning process — and they’re willing to switch advisors to find one who offers this expertise, according to a July report by digital estate planning platform Trust & Will.
I wrote several years ago that the only thing you can count on the stock market to do is fluctuate, and that the wisest response is usually to do nothing. Looking less often will not change your return. It will make you far less likely to damage the return you already have.
The WealthTech market has a serious AI-washing problem. The term borrows directly from a parallel wealth management executives already understand. Just as greenwashing described investment managers who marketed ESG commitments they could not substantiate, AI washing describes technology vendors who relabel rules-based automation as artificial intelligence.
Kevin Warsh’s first major speech as chairman of the Federal Reserve has become an unexpected trial of his slimmed-down communications style.
US stocks advanced on Tuesday as technology names rallied and investors continued to prepare for Nvidia Corp. earnings and the Jackson Hole Symposium.
Treasuries gained as a decline in crude oil eased inflation concerns and the pressure on Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has been moving to halt a months-long selloff that pushed the longest-dated yields to the highest in almost two decades.
