Nerd's Eye View

JANUARY 15, 2024

For financial advisors, an ongoing client service model often means finding ways to keep clients engaged and progressing toward their goals outside of the 1 or 2 typical client review meetings each year. For clients, more frequent communication can be a source of behavioral coaching and helpful information that can better equip them to stay the course through rocky markets.

Clients 246

Clients Communication Financial Advisor Wealth Management 246

Wealth Management

JANUARY 17, 2024

A year of resilience and transformation as Tina Powell, former business owner, faces unexpected challenges in her 'year of health.

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The Big Picture

JANUARY 15, 2024

On Monday, I discussed reasons to be bullish or bearish in 2024. #2 in the bearish list is CRE/WFH : “The post-pandemic environment continues to be difficult for commercial office real estate. The banking sector has funded all of the construction and purchases over the past decade. Banks hold over $3 trillion in CRE; Unrealized losses on Treasuries and mortgages are about $684bn (Source: Torsten Slok, Apollo).

Banking 63

Banking Numbers Assets Marketing 63

Calculated Risk

JANUARY 17, 2024

On a monthly basis, retail sales were up 0.6% from November to December (seasonally adjusted), and sales were up 5.6 percent from December 2022. From the Census Bureau report : Advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for December 2023, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $709.9 billion, up 0.6 percent from the previous month , and up 5.6 percent above December 2022.

Retail 307

Retail Sales Food 307

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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?

Sales

Abnormal Returns

JANUARY 14, 2024

Top clicks this week Six reasons to bullish. Six reasons to be bearish. (ritholtz.com) The periodic table of commodity returns over the past decade. (visualcapitalist.com) 34 hard-earned lessons including 'People are busy, distracted, and tired. Always follow up.' (thefp.com) Stock markets around the world are at or near their highs. (downtownjoshbrown.com) Good luck trying to pick the best performing asset class on a year-by-year basis.

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Valuation Assets Investing Investments 293

Wealth Management

JANUARY 18, 2024

Able to create direct indexing portfolios in minutes, the SaaS platform has attracted funding in a venture capital round led by ETFS Capital.

Portfolio 299

Portfolio 299

Calculated Risk

JANUARY 18, 2024

Today, in the Calculated Risk Real Estate Newsletter: Single Family Starts Up Year-over-year in December; Near Record Number of Multi-Family Housing Units Under Construction A brief excerpt: The third graph shows the month-to-month comparison for total starts between 2022 (blue) and 2023 (red). Total starts were up 7.6% in December compared to December 2022.

Numbers 293

Numbers 293

Abnormal Returns

JANUARY 14, 2024

Strategy On the importance of time when it comes to compounding. (humbledollar.com) You can only control your own behavior. (creativeplanning.com) Crypto What you need to know about the spot Bitcoin ETFs. (ft.com) The spot Bitcoin ETF is here. What comes next? (theblock.co) Should Vanguard prevent its customers from buying spot Bitcoin ETFs? (rogersplanning.blogspot.com) Finance Goldman Sachs ($GS) is expanding its lending business to the ultra-high net worth crowd.

Financial Advising 289

Financial Advising Engineering Food Economics 289

Wealth Management

JANUARY 17, 2024

Mariner asked a federal court to pause Edelman Financial Engines' trade-secret lawsuit during an ongoing arbitration process. Edelman says that would only let Mariner continue raiding its advisors and clients "with impunity.

Engineering 297

Engineering Clients 297

Nerd's Eye View

JANUARY 19, 2024

Enjoy the current installment of "Weekend Reading For Financial Planners" - this week's edition kicks off with the news that a recent study has found that while total financial advisor headcount across all channels only increased by 0.3% in 2023, the RIA space showed significantly more strength, with 10.4% growth, as breakaway brokers and new advisors see the potential benefits of the RIA model.

Financial Planner 246

Financial Planner Fiduciary Duty Retirement Retirement Planning 246

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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.

Accounting

Calculated Risk

JANUARY 19, 2024

Today, in the CalculatedRisk Real Estate Newsletter: NAR: Existing-Home Sales Decreased to 3.78 million SAAR in December; Months-of-Supply above December 2019 Excerpt: Sales Year-over-Year and Not Seasonally Adjusted (NSA) The fourth graph shows existing home sales by month for 2022 and 2023. Sales declined 6.2% year-over-year compared to December 2022.

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Sales 289

Abnormal Returns

JANUARY 19, 2024

Crypto Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund ($FBTC) has surpassed $1 billion in AUM. (theblock.co) Why the churn at the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ($GBTC) matters so much for Bitcoin. (ft.com) Vanguard made the right call. (morningstar.com) Companies Airbnb ($ABNB) didn't end up killing the hotel (stocks). (paulrlamonica.substack.com) Meta ($META) now wants in on the AGI game.

Financial Advising 279

Financial Advising Media Economy Sales 279

Wealth Management

JANUARY 17, 2024

Amidst the sea of hype over how spot Bitcoin ETF rollouts will unlock a fresh wave of advised money, it is a challenge to find advisors showing them love.

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Nerd's Eye View

JANUARY 16, 2024

Welcome back to the 368th episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast ! My guest on today's podcast is Thomas Kopelman. Thomas is the co-founder of AllStreet Wealth, a financial planning firm for millennial business owners and those with equity comp based in Indianapolis, IN, that has quickly grown to more than $500,000 of run-rate revenue generated from serving 70 ongoing client households.

Media 246

Media Financial Advisor Financial Planning Planning 246

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.

Assets

Calculated Risk

JANUARY 17, 2024

From the MBA: Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey Mortgage applications increased 10.4 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending January 12, 2024. Last week’s results included an adjustment to account for the New Year’s holiday.

Accounting 290

Accounting Marketing Marketing 290

Abnormal Returns

JANUARY 13, 2024

Transport Electric school buses have a number of advantages. (grist.org) Waymo is beginning to test self-driving taxis on the highway. (forbes.com) Comparing the cost of charging an EV vs. gasoline. (grist.org) Energy Despite growth in renewables, fossil fuel consumption is not going down. (coldeye.earth) Students don't want to major in oil and gas engineering.

Food 278

Food Financial Advising Transportation Engineering 278

Wealth Management

JANUARY 19, 2024

Yieldstreet has been helping hundreds of thousands of investors get access to a wide range of alternative investments for several years. The deal with Luma is "our first big push into the RIA channel," its CEO says.

Investing 290

Investing Investments 290

The Big Picture

JANUARY 19, 2024

 This week, we speak with Shomik Dutta , founder and managing partner at Overture , a venture capital firm focused on climate tech and sustainability startups. He is also co-founder and General Partner of Higher Ground Labs. He previously worked on both Obama presidential campaigns and served as a Special Assistant to the White House Counsel. Dutta discusses why Climate Investing is a for-profit opportunity, and not as it is so often portrayed as “Woke Investing.” The 2023 COP resu

Startup 179

Startup Investment Advisor Investing Investments 179

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

Management

Calculated Risk

JANUARY 17, 2024

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported the housing market index (HMI) was at 44, up from 37 last month. Any number below 50 indicates that more builders view sales conditions as poor than good. From the NAHB: Builder Sentiment Surges on Falling Interest Rates Mortgage rates well under 7% over the past month have led to a sharp increase in builder confidence to begin the new year.

Sales 288

Sales Numbers Marketing Marketing 288

Abnormal Returns

JANUARY 15, 2024

Podcasts Michael Kitces talks about starting over with Kimberly Enders who is the Lead Financial Planner and Managing Partner of Enders Wealth Management. (kitces.com) Thomas Kopelman and Jacob Turner talk Roth IRA conversions with Steven Jarvis. (podcasts.apple.com) Hiring RIAs need to think more broadly when it comes to hiring. (riabiz.com) Why women are still struggling to make progress in the world of financial advice.

Financial Planner 278

Financial Planner Wealth Management Retirement Planning Financial Advising 278

Wealth Management

JANUARY 16, 2024

The Birmingham, Ala.-based team of four managed $420 million at the wirehouse before going independent with Dynasty Financial Partners.

Management 291

Management 291

The Big Picture

JANUARY 13, 2024

The weekend is here! Pour yourself a mug of coffee, grab a seat by the fire, and get ready for our longer-form weekend reads: • Two centuries of vibecessions : When recessions were just part of the weather, people shrugged them off more easily, but nowadays every one is cause for existential national angst. Perhaps we’ve all just become economic snowflakes?

Portfolio Management 159

Portfolio Management Economy Economics Portfolio 159

Speaker: Duke Heninger, Partner and Fractional CFO at Ampleo & Creator of CFO System

Are you ready to elevate your accounting processes for 2025? 🚀 Join us for an exclusive webinar led by Duke Heninger, a seasoned fractional CFO and CPA passionate about transforming back-office operations for finance teams. This session will cover critical best practices and process improvements tailored specifically for accounting professionals.

Accounting

Calculated Risk

JANUARY 16, 2024

From the MBA: Delinquency Rates for Commercial Properties Increased in Fourth-Quarter 2023 Delinquency rates for mortgages backed by commercial properties increased during the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) latest commercial real estate finance (CREF) Loan Performance Survey. "Ongoing challenges in commercial real estate markets pushed the delinquency rate on CRE-backed loans higher in the final three months of 2023," said Jamie Woodwell, MBA's Head

Retail 270

Retail Marketing Marketing 270

Abnormal Returns

JANUARY 17, 2024

Crypto Vanguard's decision to ban the purchase of Bitcoin ETFs should not be all that surprising. (riabiz.com) How Bitcoin ETFs are akin to gold ETFs a couple decades ago. (peterlazaroff.com) Is the spot Bitcoin ETF the beginning of something? (caia.org) Drizly Uber ($UBER) is shutting down Drizly. (techcrunch.com) The demise of Drizly is not the end of booze delivery.

Startup 264

Startup Financial Advising Insurance Media 264

Wealth Management

JANUARY 17, 2024

Heckerling panel discusses value of policies for income and estate tax purposes.

Insurance 291

Insurance Taxes 291

A Wealth of Common Sense

JANUARY 14, 2024

Bonds have had a rough go at it these past few years. 2021 was a down year. 2022 was the worst year in history for bonds. 2023 was better although rates were so volatile that the ride certainty wasn’t much fun to be on. In the 10 years ending 2023, 10 year Treasury bonds had an annual return of just 1.5%. The annual inflation rate over that same time frame was 2.8%, meaning you lost money on a real basis in the benc.

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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.

Accounting

Calculated Risk

JANUARY 18, 2024

Realtor.com has monthly and weekly data on the existing home market. Here is their weekly report: Weekly Housing Trends View — Data Week Ending January 13, 2024 • Active inventory increased, with for-sale homes 7.9% above year ago levels. Active listings in the past week grew by 7.9% above the previous year, the 10th straight week of annual growth. Active inventory picked up slightly compared to the previous week, diverging from the typical seasonal pattern which would suggest falling inventory

Sales 246

Sales Numbers Marketing Marketing 246

Abnormal Returns

JANUARY 16, 2024

Markets Where are real interest rates going to settle? (mrzepczynski.blogspot.com) Domestic equities are expensive relative to international equities. (apolloacademy.com) Strategy Stocks usually beat bonds and cash, but not all the time. (awealthofcommonsense.com) How to identify an investor who has gotten too attached to a stock. (investmenttalk.co) Companies What went wrong at Boeing ($BA)?

Financial Advising 263

Financial Advising Economy Media Marketing 263

Wealth Management

JANUARY 16, 2024

Deal volume dropped for the first time in more than a decade, as average deal size increased and the influence of private equity continued to play a major role.

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290

A Wealth of Common Sense

JANUARY 18, 2024

A reader asks: Ben, I love reading your work. Stocks, bonds, and cash are the categories to compare but it hit me as a “boomer” retired, what about home ownership as a comparison? Stay warm! This question was in response to my recent piece on the historical returns for stocks, bonds and cash: There are typically a fair number of requests for other asset classes whenever I post this kind of data.

Retirement 143

Retirement Numbers Assets 143

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