Latest Insights
Friday, June 06, 2025
Is a Trust Right for You?
Should you add a trust to your estate planning toolbox? No matter your net worth, a trust may offer potential tax benefits, asset protection, and helpful guidance for the next generation. Compare different types of trusts, and ask yourself 3 questions to find out if it’s a smart option for your legacy.
Friday, May 30, 2025
How Cognitive Biases Can Negatively Affect Your Investment Decisions
Bad returns aren’t always a result of a bad market. Are you the problem?
Friday, May 23, 2025
Do Women Invest Differently Than Men?
The short answer? Yes. Here’s what we can learn from their approach.
Friday, May 16, 2025
At the Intersection of Quality and Growth
The goal of quality growth in investing is to own companies with solid fundamentals, setting them up for hopeful long-term success. It’s all about the pursuit of outperformance over time.
Friday, May 09, 2025
What Are Buffer ETFs?
Buffer ETFs can offer investors a pre-defined range of outcomes over a set period, which may shrink potential risk and reward. Should you buy one?
Friday, May 02, 2025
Expand Opportunities by Investing Globally
When exciting opportunities feel a world away, remember that borders don’t have to hold you back from pursuing potential growth.
Friday, April 25, 2025
Diversification and Long-Term Investing
You’ve probably heard that diversification is important. But why is it such a high priority for investors? And how can you achieve it? Here’s what you need to know.
Friday, April 18, 2025
Why Adding Small Cap Stocks to Your Portfolio Could Be a Smart Move
Discover higher growth potential, easy diversification, and an opportunity to invest in hidden gems. Here’s how to invest in small cap stocks.
Friday, April 11, 2025
Understanding Smart Beta
How smart is a smart beta fund? Find out why smart beta ETFs are becoming a popular option for investors seeking a middle ground between index investing and active management.
Friday, April 04, 2025
Forget Forecasting
You’re better off trying to predict the weather than the stock market. So, why are investors obsessed with forecasting? Discover why forecasts are so popular, and the financial strategies you can use instead.
Friday, March 28, 2025
Building a FIRE Portfolio with ETFs
Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) is a popular approach to personal finance—as long as you’re willing to be extremely frugal and invest strategically. ETFs could play an important role in your FIRE portfolio as you pursue diversification, stability, and inflation protection.
Friday, March 21, 2025
The Importance of Investing via Rules and Formulas
Is it possible to take away some of your investing anxiety? Creating your own game plan—and sticking to it—could increase your confidence. Discover rules and formulas to consider for your portfolio.
Friday, March 14, 2025
Why Complex ETFs Aren’t Necessarily Better
Before buying a complex ETF—like a leveraged ETF, inverse ETF, or thematic ETF—read this first. Understand the pros and cons to make a better-informed investing decision.
Friday, March 07, 2025
How to Hedge Your Portfolio Against Inflation
Inflation may be unavoidable, but you can aim to outpace it through savvy, diversified investment strategies.
Friday, February 21, 2025
Why Consumers Underestimate Health of the US Economy
Despite strong economic growth and stock market highs, why do many Americans still believe the economy is in bad shape? Dive into the gap between public perception and economic indicators—and what it can mean for investors like you.
Friday, February 07, 2025
Why Buy When the Market is High?
People who try to time the market are often disappointed. Here’s what the “buy low and sell high” adage can get wrong.
Friday, January 17, 2025
Using ETFs to Rebalance Your Portfolio
Can ETFs help you align your investments with your larger goals? Discover the importance of rebalancing your portfolio, and where ETFs can fit in.
Friday, January 03, 2025
What Could the New Year Bring? Our 2025 Equity Market Outlook
Don’t be impulsive in the equity market this year. Instead, pay attention to these three predictions from our team as you navigate the road ahead.
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Benefits of ETFs for Diversification
How do you diversify your investments? It doesn’t have to be complicated. Here’s why investors are opting for ETFs to achieve easy diversification.
Friday, October 18, 2024
Not All Index ETFs Are the Same
There are thousands of index ETFs on the market. How do you choose between them? First, learn what makes these prominent types of index ETFs different from one another, then see how their goals might align with yours.
Friday, September 06, 2024
Tax Advantages of ETFs
ETFs can have general tax efficiency advantages over mutual funds – but why? Here’s why ETFs can be a tax-friendly option for investors seeking a more diversified portfolio.
Friday, September 06, 2024
How to Stay Committed to Your Long-Term Investing Strategy
The best long-term strategy for you in our view? The one that sticks. By setting realistic expectations, understanding your risk tolerance, and using diversified investment vehicles like ETFs, you may be able to stay committed to your investment goals in spite of short-term volatility.
Friday, August 02, 2024
ETFs vs. Direct Indexing: Which Belongs in Your Portfolio?
As you search for the best route toward your financial goals, how do you know if you’re using the right investment vehicle?
Friday, July 05, 2024
Active vs. Passive Funds: Can You Get the Best of Both Worlds?
Which fund type is better – active ETFs or passive ETFs? Both have their pros and cons, and it depends on your investing goals and style. Fortunately, you don’t just have to pick one or the other…
Friday, June 07, 2024
Balancing Diversification and Dilution
Can you be too diversified in investing? Here are the red flags to look for, plus tips to help avoid dilution in your portfolio.
Friday, May 03, 2024
What Is the Do-Say Ratio?
We believe a do-say ratio can reveal how a company has historically delivered on its promises. It can be an important concept for investors to consider when buying stocks – here’s why.
Friday, April 05, 2024
3 Pitfalls of Politics And Investing… And How to Avoid Them
Policy decisions can send ripples through the economy and the market. How can investors navigate a shifting landscape?
Friday, March 15, 2024
Emerging Market Equities – An Undervalued Opportunity?
Fed rate hikes, developments in sustainability, and the weakened U.S. dollar are just a few factors that could impact the power of emerging markets in 2024. Here’s what we think you should be paying attention to.
Friday, February 02, 2024
The Surprising Truth About the S&P 500 and the “Magnificent 7” in 2024
Bad timing is a costly predicament. If your fight or flight response to the market downturn last year made you pull back your investments, you’re probably wondering when you should re-enter the market. Here are three reasons why the answer is NOW.
Friday, January 05, 2024
A Cure for Bad Investment Timing
Bad timing is a costly predicament. If your fight or flight response to the market downturn last year made you pull back your investments, you’re probably wondering when you should re-enter the market. Here are three reasons why the answer is NOW.
Friday, November 03, 2023
3 U.S. Market Trends That May Help Build Wealth
There are a few stock market trends that explain why any time you invest, there's potential to grow wealth.
Friday, October 06, 2023
Will Picking Today's Hot Sector Drive Long-Term Gains?
No one sector leads the market year after year. So how can a portfolio manager create an ETF that has the potential to perform well regardless of sector rotation?
Friday, September 01, 2023
Is the Market Oversold? Overbought?
How do you know if it's a good time to buy...or sell...securities? Start with these four indicators
Wednesday, August 02, 2023
Baseball’s Stock Appears to be Slumping: What Can It Teach Investors?
Baseball may no longer be America’s favorite pastime. Three decisions may have caused its slide. What lessons can investors learn from baseball’s slump?
Tuesday, July 11, 2023
Did You Know Some Active Funds Aren't Truly Active?
How does active management stack up against passive funds? You might be surprised by the answer and rethink how you invest.
Wednesday, June 21, 2023
What Do We Take Away From Earnings Calls?
During an earnings call, how do you sift through the information companies are throwing at you? Here’s what we pay attention to, and why we think it matters to investors.
Friday, May 05, 2023
Investing in Mid-Cap Stocks During Turbulent Times
Mid-cap stocks are not too big and not too small. What's impressive about this mid-sized group? They've historically outperformed in rising rate environments and recessions. Could they be the right move for you?
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
The Parallels Between the NFL Draft and Investing
What can portfolio managers can learn from the NFL draft, and what teams can learn from investment professionals? Here we discuss four similarities.
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Can Companies' Carbon Emissions Affect Their Stock Performance?
Does investing in an environmentally friendly manner mean you may need to accept lower returns? Unfortunately, the answer to this question is complicated. Here’s why…
Friday, March 31, 2023
An All-Weather Predictor of Stock Returns?
Investors are always searching for indicators of stocks’ current strength and future potential. Here’s one metric we pay special attention to.
Friday, March 31, 2023
Could Quality and Growth Investing Lead to Faster Loss Recovery?
Historical patterns may shed light on the way growth and quality stocks tend to recover losses. Let’s take a look at which investing styles tend to lead the way out of a falling market—and how quickly.
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
Recession: A Stock Picker’s Paradise?
Here’s what a game of darts can teach us about active investing, diversification, and pursuing winners in a down market.
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
A Replay of the Financial Crisis?
We just experienced the biggest bank failure since the Great Recession of 2008. But here’s why we don’t believe 2023 will be another 2008.
Thursday, March 09, 2023
Recession Investing: Reevaluate? Reallocate? Or Hold Fast?
The economy and the stock market are not one and the same, but they can be intertwined. Here are some important moves we think investors should consider during recessionary periods.
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Recession Obsession: How Scared Should Investors Really Be?
For investors, a recession’s bark may be bigger than its bite. Find out how you can zoom out from the headlines, resist the fear-mongering, and approach a recession with more confidence as an investor.
Thursday, February 16, 2023
Are We in a Recession?
Are your clients worried about what a recession will mean for their investment accounts. Or are they confused about what a recession even means? Here, we break down the characteristics of a recession and see how they apply to 2023.
Saturday, February 04, 2023
The 3 “T”s That Distinguish ETFs From Mutual Funds
ETFs vs. Mutual Funds: The differences may seem subtle, but they could have a big impact on your money over time.
Friday, February 03, 2023
Is Globalization Dead? (And Why You Should Care!)
Why would a fire in a mine in South America three months ago cause the refrigerator you just ordered to be back ordered? Or why did COVID cause the price of beef to skyrocket? Even more perplexing,...
Tuesday, January 24, 2023
How Do Geopolitical Risks Impact Your Investments?
The pandemic taught us many lessons. But none may be more pronounced than how massively interconnected the world is—often in ways that none of us had known before. Globalization has been a boon for...
Friday, January 06, 2023
In the Stock Market, Price and Value are Not the Same Things
Have you ever played the game two truths and a lie? It’s a game where someone gives you three statements, and you have to figure out which one is false. We’re going to play our version right now:
Friday, January 06, 2023
Did November's 5% One-Day Gain Signal We’ve Hit Bottom?
On November 10, 2022, the S&P 500 gained 5.54%, the largest rally since April 2020. This jump prompted several clients to ask if the market had finally reached the bottom. Of course, we’d love to...
Friday, January 06, 2023
Does Unionization Mean You Should Expect Lower Returns?
“[L]aymen and economists alike tend, in my view, to exaggerate greatly the extent to which labor unions affect the structure and level of wage rates.” – Milton Friedman1 Apple.* Trader Joes.*...
Friday, January 06, 2023
Why ETFs Can Be More Tax Efficient Than Mutual Funds
No one likes to pay taxes. That’s just one of life’s truisms. While it’s ill-advised (and illegal!) to avoid paying your taxes, fortunately, there can be a few ways to lessen the burden. For...
Friday, January 06, 2023
Is a Strong U.S. Dollar Good or Bad?
The U.S. dollar is flexing its muscles. So far this year, the U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against six other currencies, has gained 15% and is near a 20-year high.1 So, is a...
Friday, January 06, 2023
Tackling ETFs: What You Should Know
Chances are you’ve heard of ETFs before. But do you feel you have a decent grasp of their ins and outs?
Friday, January 06, 2023
Wondering When You May Recover Your Market Losses?
At the beginning of this year, investors were experiencing a literal high with peak returns following the remarkable recovery from the initial pandemic lockdowns. But lethargy rapidly kicked in with...
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