August, 2023

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Investing is the Study of Human Decision Making

The Big Picture

Most people believe that investing is the science of generating a return on capital. That is an accurate but incomplete assessment. I believe it is more useful and comprehensive to define investing as the decision-making behavior of human beings as they interact with money: What their financial desires are, the risks they embrace, how they think about wealth, and what emotional pain they willingly suffer in order to generate that return on capital.

Investing 246
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The Word on WealthTech for September 2023

Wealth Management

F2 Strategy's co-founder and CEO provides his take on the most important wealth management technology news of the last month.

Insiders

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MBA: Mortgage Applications Increased in Weekly Survey

Calculated Risk

From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey Mortgage applications increased 2.3 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 25, 2023. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 2.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.

Marketing 306
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Thursday links: impulsive and irreverent

Abnormal Returns

Strategy Some neglected aspects of investing including 'The influence of luck in outcomes.' (investmenttalk.co) The story of a top investor's mistake holding a stock too long. (morningstar.com) Banks How is the integration of First Republic going for JP Morgan Chase ($JPM)? (theinformation.com) More capital would not have saved SVB. (ft.com) Finance A handful of big IPOs are queued up after Labor Day including Instacart, Arm Holdings and Klayvio.

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Data Talks, CFOs Listen: Why Analytics Is The Key To Better Spend Management

Speaker: Claire Grosjean

Finance teams are drowning in data—but is it actually helping them spend smarter? Without the right approach, excess spending, inefficiencies, and missed opportunities continue to drain profitability. While analytics offers powerful insights, financial intelligence requires more than just numbers—it takes the right blend of automation, strategy, and human expertise.

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TD Ameritrade To Schwab Conversion Tips For Financial Advisors

Nerd's Eye View

The announcement of the merger between Charles Schwab and TD Ameritrade in November 2019 kicked off a marathon of preparation for advisory firms to transition their clients on the TD Ameritrade custodial platform to Schwab. And with the final conversion of clients scheduled to take place over the upcoming Labor Day weekend of 2023, the marathon is approaching its final sprint toward the finish line.

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Apple hits big oversold levels, now what?

The Reformed Broker

The Relative Strength Index or RSI is typically expressed as a 14-day reading to determine the degree to which a stock or an index is overbought or oversold, if at all. It was created in 1978 by J. Welles Wilder Jr. (here’s the book) who was a mechanical engineer by trade before turning his mathematical mind to stock and commodity trading, subsequently developing some of the most widely traded tools in technical ana.

More Trending

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Family Offices Look Ready to Step Up Real Estate Investment. What Are They Looking for in Their Partners?

Wealth Management

Transparency in financial reporting, favorable partnership structures are taking on more importance for family offices in a riskier investment climate.

Investing 325
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Realtor.com Reports Weekly Active Inventory Down 6% YoY; New Listings Down 8% YoY

Calculated Risk

Realtor.com has monthly and weekly data on the existing home market. Here is their weekly report from Hannah Jones: Weekly Housing Trends View — Data Week Ending Aug 26, 2023 • Active inventory declined, with for-sale homes lagging behind year ago levels by 5.9%. This past week marked the 10th consecutive decline in the number of homes actively for sale compared to the prior year, however the gap narrowed for the fourth week in a row. • New listings–a measure of sellers putting homes up for sale

Sales 299
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Tuesday links: over-optimized content

Abnormal Returns

Strategy How (and where) to hold cash in your portfolio. (morningstar.com) For alternatives, Is illiquidity a feature or a bug? (savantwealth.com) Don't underestimate how weird the world can be. (mr-stingy.com) Crypto Grayscale won a victory against the SEC raising the prospects of a spot Bitcoin ETF. (blockworks.co) The entire crypto space jumped on the news.

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Crafting More Equitable Advisor Non-Solicit Agreements With The ACRES Agreement

Nerd's Eye View

Non-compete agreements (where a company prohibits an employee from working for competitors, at least for a certain period of time) are often used to help companies protect their investment in the employee (e.g., the time and money spent training the employee) as well as preventing the employee from taking the company's best practices to a new job at a competitor.

Clients 246
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What Your Financial Statements Are Telling You—And How to Listen!

Speaker: David Worrell, CFO, Author & Speaker

Your financial statements hold powerful insights—but are you truly paying attention? Many finance professionals focus on the income statement while overlooking key signals hidden in the balance sheet and cash flow statement. Understanding these numbers can unlock smarter decision-making, uncover risks, and drive long-term success. Join David Worrell, accomplished CFO, finance expert, and author, for an engaging, nontraditional take on reading financial statements.

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Trading Legend Mark Fisher on What it Takes

The Reformed Broker

We had a lot of fun with Joe Terranova and Mark Fisher on the show this week. Mark shared a lot of behavioral stuff about what it takes to make it as a trader. It’s not for everyone and it costs a lot to find this out. I was fascinated by the discussion and judging for the feedback we’ve gotten, a lot of our listeners were as well. You can watch the full episode here: Or find it on your favorite podcast ap.

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10 Thursday AM Reads

The Big Picture

My end of August, morning train WFH reads: • Money Is Pouring Into AI. Skeptics Say It’s a ‘Grift Shift.’ The move from crypto to artificial intelligence has fueled the markets this year, but some are questioning how much of it is real. ( Institutional Investor ) • What to Do With a 45-Story Skyscraper and No Tenants : HSBC’s plan to leave its Canary Wharf tower for a smaller site shows the global challenges ahead in repurposing unwanted office space for a post-pandemic world. ( Citylab ) see al

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IRS Warns of Rampant Fraud Scams and Identity Theft

Wealth Management

The agency urges maintaining robust security measures to protect clients.

Clients 312
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Inflation Adjusted House Prices 3.9% Below Peak; Price-to-rent index is 7.6% below recent peak

Calculated Risk

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Inflation Adjusted House Prices 3.9% Below Peak; Price-to-rent index is 7.6% below recent peak Excerpt: It has been over 17 years since the bubble peak. In the June Case-Shiller house price index released yesterday, the seasonally adjusted National Index (SA), was reported as being 65% above the bubble peak in 2006.

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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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Personal finance links: accumulation vs. decumulation

Abnormal Returns

Podcasts Peter Lazaroff talks with Tyler Olsen about strategically paying down student debt. (peterlazaroff.com) Captain FI talks financial independence with Jonathan Clements. (captainfi.com) Frazer Rice talks longevity and aging with Phil Pearlman of the Pearl Institute. (open.spotify.com) Morgan Housel on the difference between intelligence and smarts.

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Kitces & Carl Ep 119: Navigating Succession Plans When Founders Are Having Second Thoughts On Retirement

Nerd's Eye View

For many next-gen financial advisors who start with or move their careers to an established firm, eventually earning an equity stake in that firm can be an exciting prospect and is often a major career goal that many advisors aspire to achieve. However, when these aspirations are delayed or blocked by senior advisory firm partners who choose to delay their retirement plans, it can leave younger advisors frustrated and in a place of uncertainty about their futures with their firm.

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Will There Ever Be Another Warren Buffett?

The Reformed Broker

Welcome to the latest episode of The Compound & Friends. This week, Michael Batnick, Guy Spier, and Downtown Josh Brown discuss lunch with Warren Buffett, value investing, managing a hedge fund, Berkshire after Buffett, the bull case for Ferrari, and much more! You can listen to the whole thing below, or find it wherever you like to listen to your favorite pods!

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Forget the iPhone: BlackBerry is still the one to beat

The Big Picture

How little do we know about the future? A great way to figure that out is to look to our past, to see what we previously thought about what the future will hold. To wit: 26 years ago, the image above came from the cover story of Fortune magazine: “There’s a lot of buzz in the smartphone business lately, with Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone turning the mobile world upside down and Nokia’s (NOK) upcoming phone announcement providing a new challenge.

Media 246
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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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Focus Closes on Sale to CD&R in Take-Private Deal

Wealth Management

Two private equity players take Focus private in an all-cash deal; the firm’s stock has ceased trading on the NASDAQ.

Sales 306
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Fannie Mae Single-Family Mortgage Serious Delinquency Rate Lowest since 2002

Calculated Risk

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Fannie Mae Single-Family Mortgage Serious Delinquency Rate Lowest since 2002 Brief excerpt: Fannie Mae reported that the Single-Family Serious Delinquency decreased to 0.54% in July from 0.55% in June. The serious delinquency rate is down year-over-year from 0.76% in July 2022. This is below the pre-pandemic low of 0.65% and the lowest rate since 2002.

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Wednesday links: opening the vault

Abnormal Returns

Strategy Why the low interest rate era has come to an end. (ft.com) Generating alpha is more than just stock selection. (flyoverstocks.com) Who is to blame for the behavior gap? (ritholtz.com) ETFs 2023 is on track for a record number of ETF closures. (wsj.com) The SEC's logic in the Grayscale case was flawed. (ft.com) Economy The labor market is not all that tight.

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Weekend Reading For Financial Planners (August 26-27)

Nerd's Eye View

Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" - this week's edition kicks off with the news that a recent CFP Board survey indicates that consumers do not expect AI tools to replace human financial advisors, but rather supplement advisors' work. Further, 87% of respondents said they would trust advice from human advisors, more than any other source of advice surveyed, and well above the 37% who said they trust generative AI tools.

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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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Incorporating Life Settlements into Your Client Strategy

Wealth Management

A policy that performs justifies the premium costs and liquidity constraints. Unfortunately, it's all too common for life insurance to use and hold value that's better deployed elsewhere.

Clients 299
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The Private Equity Playbook

Wealth Management

Private equity players open up about challenges and opportunities in the wealth management space.

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Alternative Investments Are an Increasingly Popular Tool in Client Portfolios

Wealth Management

Greater education around alternatives and the need for diversified assets have boosted use — and there is still room to grow.

Portfolio 290
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The IRS' Proposed Regulations on Digital Asset Taxation Explained

Wealth Management

The proposals aim to align tax reporting on digital assets with that of other financial assets.

Assets 290
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Avoiding Lease Accounting Pitfalls in 2025: Lessons Learned from Spreadsheet Errors

Speaker: Abdi Ali, Sr. Lease Accounting Consultant

Join this insightful webinar with industry expert Abdi Ali, who will discuss the challenges that can arise from managing lease accounting with spreadsheets! He will share real-world examples of errors, compliance issues, and risks that may be present within your spreadsheets. Learn how these tools, while useful, can sometimes lead to inefficiencies that affect your time, resources, and peace of mind.

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Serial Sellers and Collaborative Investors Define Noteworthy Deals of the Decade

Wealth Management

A look at seven of the most notable private equity deals in the RIA space.

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401(k) Real Talk Episode 74: August 30, 2023

Wealth Management

Open, honest and candid discussions about the latest news in the RPA industry.

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12 Must Reads for Real Estate Investors (Sept. 1, 2023)

Wealth Management

Some companies that reduced their office space are now going back and signing new leases, reports Bisnow. U.S. non-life insurers are positioned to withstand any difficulties in their mortgage portfolios, according to Fitch Ratings. These are among the must reads from around the real estate investment world to end the week.

Insurance 288
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Portfolio Optimization For Non-Nerds

Wealth Management

Building a portfolio involves tradeoffs and intelligently evaluating them will yield a better result than using rigid cutoffs.

Portfolio 269
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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