Thu.Jan 16, 2025

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Retail Sales Increased 0.4% in December

Calculated Risk

On a monthly basis, retail sales increased 0.4% from November to December (seasonally adjusted), and sales were up 3.9 percent from December 2023. From the Census Bureau report : Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for December 2024, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $729.2 billion, an increase of 0.4 percent from the previous month , and up 3.9 percent from December 2023.

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The IRA Is 50 This Month!

NAIFA Advisor Today

Advisor Today Guest Column January of 2025 is the 50th anniversary to one of the most important pieces of legislation in the retirement planning arena ever put into law by Congress. What Im referring to is the enactment of ERISA, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Without question, ERISA brought about significant changes during the second half of the twentieth century.

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Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims Increase to 217,000

Calculated Risk

The DOL reported : In the week ending January 11, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 217,000 , an increase of 14,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 201,000 to 203,000. The 4-week moving average was 212,750, a decrease of 750 from the previous week's revised average.

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The 2024 Sector Quilt

A Wealth of Common Sense

We also answered questions about 2025 retirement account limits, Coast FIRE strategies, when to take money off the table from the stock market, how to account for pension and Social Security income during retirement and how other economies impact the U.S. markets. Further Reading: Updating My Favorite Performance Chart For 2024 The post The 2024 Sector Quilt appeared first on A Wealth of Common Sense.

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Are Robots Replacing You? Keeping Humans in the Loop in Automated Environments

Speaker: Erroll Amacker

As businesses increasingly adopt automation, finance leaders must navigate the delicate balance between technology and human expertise. This webinar explores the critical role of human oversight in accounts payable (AP) automation and how a people-centric approach can drive better financial performance. Join us for an insightful discussion on how integrating human expertise into automated workflows enhances decision-making, reduces fraud risks, strengthens vendor relationships, and accelerates R

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Thursday links: capital at scale

Abnormal Returns

Strategy Stock picking is hard. So is sector picking. (awealthofcommonsense.com) How to plan for future lower market returns. (theretirementmanifesto.com) Finance Hindenberg Research is calling it quits. (wsj.com) eToro has filed for an IPO. (coindesk.com) The stocks of single-family landlords are trading at a discount to their stated NAVs. (wsj.com) Food How GLP-1 users change their food purchase patterns.

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Cerulli: Advisor Headcount Stagnates

Wealth Management

Despite efforts to develop next-gen talent, the total number of advisors in the wealth management industry has remained stagnant over the last decade.

More Trending

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Private Equity Faces Pockets of Distress for Long-Held Assets

Wealth Management

More than 100 continuation funds were raised between 2019 and 2021. Now, some are running into trouble amid a sluggish dealmaking environment and declining asset values.

Assets 270
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10 Growth Marketing Strategies for Financial Planners in 2025

Indigo Marketing Agency

10 Growth Marketing Strategies for Financial Planners in 2025 The new year wipes the slate clean and gives financial planners a fresh opportunity to focus on marketing strategies that attract and retain more clients in less time and with less energy. The Indigo team streamlines marketing strategies to help financial planners grow their firms. Case in point, Kevin Brown.

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$1.2B JP Morgan New York Team Jumps to RBC

Wealth Management

The Pensato Slyane Group is one of the most elite New York City wealth management teams, according to the director of RBCs New York complex.

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What They Do.

The Better Letter

A recent TBL looked at bad forecasts, which are legion. This one will begin with why such forecasts continue to be so prominent, especially on Wall Street. If you like The Better Letter , please subscribe, share it, and forward it widely. Subscribe now Share Get more from Bob Seawright in the Substack app Available for iOS and Android Get the app If you’re new here, check out these TBL “greatest hits” below.

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Book of Secrets on the Month-End Close

Based off SkyStem's popular e-Book, the book of secrets to the month-end close will be revealed in this one-hour webinar. Learn leading practices when it comes to building a strong and sustainable month-end close that has room to grow and evolve. Learn about the power of precise estimates, why reconciliations are critical to closing the books, how and when to automate, and how the chart of accounts play into your close process.

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What Families Can Do When Facing College Admission Disappointment

Wealth Management

In cases of rejection, its important to focus on what students and their parents can controlmaking the right decisions going forward.

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Housing Discussion with Altos Research's Mike Simonsen

Calculated Risk

Here is a YouTube video of a discussion with Mike Simonsen. Enjoy.

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The Diamond Podcast for Financial Advisors: $6B+ Former UBS Team Finds Freedom to Focus on Clients

Wealth Management

Tony Smith of Stonegate Investment Group discusses transitioning from UBS after 14 years and $4.4 billion in AUM to independence and building the business to $6 billion, including the motivations to make a change at this stage of his career and how they achieved such growth in a short time.

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Building Intelligent Alpha Portfolios with ChatGPT | Doug Clinton

Validea

In this episode of Excess Returns, we sit down with Doug Clinton of Intelligent Alpha to explore the fascinating intersection of AI and investment strategy. We discussed how Doug is using large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini to build portfolios that aim to beat the market over time. Doug shares insights from his experience launching managing AI-powered investment strategies.

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Stop Falling Short When It Matters Most—The Elite Advisor’s Playbook to Success

Like being inches from the end zone, many advisors are frustratingly close to their next level of success. You work hard. You put in the hours. But if your closing rate is stuck or your pipeline feels like a revolving door… something has to change. Most advisors are just one small shift away from dramatically increasing their revenue. The difference?

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Cambridge CTO Nick Graham Quietly Departs

Wealth Management

Graham, who joined Cambridge in 2017, stepped down from his role on Dec. 31. The IBD is currently searching for a replacement.

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Hating Duration, Learning About Staking

Random Roger's Retirement Planning

First a new, to me, suite of single stock covered call ETF from a provider named Kurv. They have funds for Apple, Amazon, Microsoft. Tesla and couple of others as well as one for the Nasdaq 100. Their Amazon fund symbol AMZP shows a 27% yield, the Apple version shows 78% but I'm not sure that's right. On price basis they seem to land in between the common stock and the YieldMax equivalent.

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New Year, New Advisors

Wealth Management

Hannah Moore is President of Guiding Wealth and Founder of Amplified Planning, describes her experiences and offers advice on how to train new advisors.

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5 Proven Ways Financial Advisors Can Use Texting to Streamline Client Annual Reviews

FMG

Annual reviews are the backbone of client relationships, but coordinating them shouldn’t eat up your valuable time. Financial advisors are discovering that compliant texting platforms like MyRepChat can cut down review preparation time while improving client engagement. Here are 5 simple ways financial advisors can use texting to streamline annual reviews: 1.

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Demo SkyStem’s Award Winning Month-End Close Solution & Earn $100

Is your finance team bogged down by endless data requests and disorganized spreadsheets during the month-end close? It’s time to consider a better option – automate with ART! SkyStem’s solution works alongside your ERP to transform the close and account reconciliation process and speed up month-end work. Explore SkyStem’s ART - the award-winning account reconciliation automation platform - and receive a $100 Amazon gift card as a thank you for your time.

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iCapital to Buy Parallel Markets in Bid to Streamline AML Requirements

Wealth Management

By creating the iCapital Investor Passport using Parallel Markets technology, the firm hopes to make complying with AML requirements more efficient.

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Bonds – The Dual Benefit

Advisor Perspectives

Doug Drabik discusses fixed income market conditions and offers insight for bond investors.

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Alto Partners with Angel Capital Association for Early-Stage Investment Options

Wealth Management

The deal will allow Altos users to invest in early-stage, high-growth companies through their IRA accounts.

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Ten Guru-Approved Stocks With Improving Fundamental Momentum

Validea

Fundamental momentum represents a company’s improvement in operational performance and financial health over time, as measured through changes in key metrics like return on equity (ROE), operating margins, and other fundamental indicators. Unlike price momentum, which looks at historical stock price movements, fundamental momentum focuses on the underlying business performance trends.

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Next-Level Fraud Prevention: Strategies for Today’s Threat Landscape

Speaker: Sierre Lindgren

Fraud is a battle that every organization must face – it’s no longer a question of “if” but “when.” Every organization is a potential target for fraud, and the finance department is often the bullseye. From cleverly disguised emails to fraudulent payment requests, the tactics of cybercriminals are advancing rapidly. Drawing insights from real-world cases and industry expertise, we’ll explore the vulnerabilities in your processes and how to fortify them effectively.

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Merrill, Morgan Stanley Wealth Divisions Boost Revenue in Q4

Wealth Management

Merrill clients and advisors expanded on their continued interest in alternative investments while Morgan Stanleys net interest income slightly climbed despite expectations it would decline modestly in the fourth quarter.

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Zillow Home Value Index: "Real" Home Value Falls to 3.5 Year Low

Advisor Perspectives

In December, nominal home values increased for a 21st straight months to a new all-time high. However, once we adjust for inflation, "real" home values declined for an 8th consecutive month to their lowest level since June 2021.

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Sagard to Open New Private Equity Fund for Retail Investors

Wealth Management

Sagard Holdings will target Canadian accredited investors with at least C$1 million ($695,000) in financial assets or more than C$200,000 in annual income

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BlackRock Gets Record Client Cash, Revamps Leadership Team

Advisor Perspectives

BlackRock Inc. attracted an annual record of $641 billion in client cash, underlining the firm’s global reach across public and, increasingly, private assets as it integrates multibillion-dollar acquisitions and reshapes its leadership.

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Fall In Love With the Month-End Close

It's the time of year to give our close process some TLC. Join us in this one hour webinar where we discuss how to adopt leading practices and infuse technology into the month-end close process to improve our experience and increase our productivity during month-end and quarter-end close. Learning Objectives: This course's objective is to understand how the month-end close can be improved with automation and adoption of leading practices.

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Back 2 Basics

Carson Wealth

The good news is that American households have a totalnet worth of $85.2 trillion.The bad news is that mostfamilies are still behind where they were financially in 2007.In a recent survey, over half of Americans said they hadless than $1,000 in their checking and savings accountscombined. Download Guide The post Back 2 Basics appeared first on Carson Wealth.

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NAHB Housing Market Index: Builder Confidence Inches to 9-Month High in January

Advisor Perspectives

Builder confidence inched up in January to its highest level in 9 months on hopes for economic growth and an improved regulatory environment. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Housing Market Index (HMI) rose to 47 this month, up one point from December. The latest reading came was above the forecast of 45.

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Examining the culture of your own team

Norman Marks

People talk about organizational culture (sometimes just risk culture), but too few are examining the culture of their own team. As the leader of internal audit practitioners, I was very conscious of how my team behaved and the culture I had built that led to that behavior.

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Philly Fed Manufacturing Index: Activity Jumps to Highest Level Since April 2021

Advisor Perspectives

The latest Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index jumped to its highest level since April 2021 as manufacturing activity increased overall. In January, the index rose to 44.3 from -10.9 in December, the largest monthly increase since June 2020. The latest reading was much higher than the forecast of -5.0.

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The Future Of Finance: How To Manage Spend The Right Way

Speaker: Aaron Berson

Managing spend is more than a cost cutting exercise – it's a pathway to smarter decisions that unlock efficiency and drive growth. By understanding and refining the spending process, financial leaders can empower their organizations to achieve more with less. Explore the art of balancing financial control with operational growth. From uncovering hidden inefficiencies to designing workflows that scale your business, we’ll share strategies to align your organization’s spending with its strategic g