Articles (176)

Pundits on both sides of the political aisle keep trying to warn investors of potentially dire ...Read More

Cash is a safe-haven for savers. But it can turn into a real drag in trying to reach your long-term investment goals. ...Read More

To analyze client portfolios, we use a specific set of metrics to help determine how funds are working together.  ...Read More

Diversification is important not just in terms of investing, but also in developing a well-rounded and comprehensive financial ...Read More

The latest SPIVA (S&P Indices Versus Active) scorecard is out tracking active fund managers in the past 15 ...Read More

As part of IFA's series breaking down active fund managers' performance, we now put Goldman Sachs under our ...Read More

The latest research by Dimensional underscores the problems associated with trying to invest in active funds over ...Read More

Giving investment advice should always aim to meet investors at their level of understanding. We do not expect everyone to have a PhD in Economics, so it is important to focus on big ideas that are the most crucial to understand. This can include ideas such as diversification, ...Read More

How did Fortune's "Ten Most Admired Companies" hold up over time compared to 10 index-based ...Read More

After logging strong returns in the opening three months of 2019, global equity markets slowed in the second ...Read More

In a wide-ranging Q&A, IFA founder Mark Hebner talks about money management potholes that investors should ...Read More

Long-term minded investors shouldn't be surprised. Traders, however, could've been whipsawed by markets in ...Read More

The third quarter produced a script worthy of the best tear-jerking romantic novel. The world's two biggest economies couldn't resolve an ongoing trade tiff, angst about Brexit and the European Union continued and sliding manufacturing data in the U.S. helped to raise fears of a ...Read More

The crux of such an ongoing argument has to deal with shareholder diversification and its impact on ...Read More

Now paired with eMoney, MGP offers our clients greater flexibility in working with their IFA advisors to build comprehensive financial ...Read More

I was trained as a journalist to approach any type of speculative claim with a high degree of skepticism. But it took years of sifting through a wealth of academic research and market evidence for me to finally make a career change. In all honesty, it's just become too apparent ...Read More

“Reversion to the mean,” Jack Bogle once said, “is the iron rule of financial markets.” And if you understand nothing else about how investing works, grasping this one simple concept will give you a better chance of succeeding at it than supposedly more ...Read More

As part of IFA's ongoing series crunching data of active fund managers, we put under our microscope mutual funds from Eaton ...Read More

Getting a loan against your securities might seem straightforward. But take a closer look at the fine ...Read More

The latest honor bestowed on Dimensional's founder and executive chairman highlight his years of work on behalf of scholars and ...Read More

Experts warn that cryptorcurrencies like Bitcoin bring out investors’ worst behavior, even more so than actively trading in ...Read More

Discounts and tailored loans are some of the services that our planning network can access through other large financial ...Read More

SALT caps make tax-free bonds a timely conversation. But higher returns court a certain amount of ...Read More

By nature, markets are volatile. Here are a few savvy ways to make investing a more palatable road to follow over a ...Read More

The list of misdeeds involves brokers from Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase and ...Read More

The job of a free-market is to set prices so investors are rewarded for the risk they ...Read More

Building on SPIVA research, analysts dig into how persistent active managers are in beating their benchmarks over ...Read More

Imagine you’re at a village fête, and you decide to have a go at guessing the number of jelly beans in a jar. How confident would you be of guessing exactly right or, say within one or two of the actual number? Chances are, it’s a bit of a long ...Read More

Protecting valuable personal assets is a strategy that experts warn many investors might not be fully ...Read More

Dave Goetsch, who worked as an executive producer of TV's "The Big Bang Theory," offers some investment insights. ...Read More

A sound evidence-based investment process needs to consider how market volatility can be used to reduce your ...Read More

Here's why a lone Vanguard S&P 500 fund can fall short for investors looking to build wealth over a ...Read More

The hedge funds industry is in trouble, and for good reason, notes major news outlets like the WSJ and ...Read More

Key options exist for handling required minimum distributions (RMD), including tax rules impacting qualified charitable ...Read More

Determining the best use of these tax-friendly options can prove crucial to boosting your retirement ...Read More

In 2017, we were again reminded of the importance of following an investment approach based on discipline and diversification vs. prediction and ...Read More

The U.S. retirement plan marketplace keeps evolving. Just ask Shareen Balkey, who sees such changes in 401(k) plans and the like as boosting the need for true fiduciaries to help both plan participants and ...Read More

The retirement picture in America isn't pretty. New legislation, though, seeks to reform the 401(k) and IRA savings ...Read More

Investment opportunities exist all around the ...Read More

Passive domestic funds assets have pulled even. Morningstar sees such funds overtaking their active ...Read More

Embarking on a financial plan is like sailing around the world. The voyage won’t always go to plan, and there’ll be rough seas. But the odds of reaching your destination increase greatly if you are prepared, flexible, patient, and well-advised. A mistake many ...Read More

Investors continue to sue their corporate 401(k) and 403(b) retirement plans. The latest, involving Principal Financial Group, is a reminder of how closely passive investing and fiduciary advice need to go ...Read More

Reports cite complaints that bank's wealth management unit is pushing riskier investments and cross-selling banking ...Read More

Warren Buffett may be the most famous advocate of low-cost index funds, but his sidekick Charlie Munger has been just as insistent over the years that, for most people, indexing is the best way to ...Read More

A lack of consistency by active fund managers in beating their respective benchmarks has been a constant theme of research over the years from the S&P Indices Versus Active (SPIVA) ...Read More

Index-based stock funds mark another milestone, surpassing active fund assets in the industry's largest ...Read More

Different sets of ETF research raise concerns about illiquidity issues during periods of heightened ...Read More

How big of a difference can an objective set of professional eyes add to an investor's overall financial success outside of managing a portfolio? A new study takes a look at just that question. Instead of considering hypotheticals, however, this report goes directly to the ...Read More

A select group of market factors are known to drive stock and bond returns. Some offer less advantages to fund investors, such as momentum, which can prove difficult to capture without running up trading and other transactional costs.  Research by professors Eugene Fama and ...Read More

Contribution limits for 2021 in some areas of retirement are rising. Meanwhile, others are staying the ...Read More

The work and research of Monty Roberts raises parallels to how humans must manage their behavior during times of market ...Read More

It's only natural to worry that daily stock slides will reoccur. Here's a look at how markets have actually ...Read More

Portfolio management is only one aspect of building wealth. A new report points to other low-risk ways to stay ahead of rising ...Read More

Here's a comprehensive listing for a new year with commentary on key changes and ...Read More

The largest U.S. pension system has fired most of its active equity managers, joining a growing legion of 'mom-and-pop' ...Read More

Over the last several years, index funds have received increased attention from investors and the financial media. Some have even made claims that the increased usage of index funds may be distorting market prices. For many, this argument hinges on the premise that indexing ...Read More

"Sellers were out in force on the market today after negative news on the economy." It's a common line in TV finance reports. But have you ever wondered who is buying if so many people are ...Read More

Pitches for UITs might seem enticing. But little bit of due diligence can reveal a more critical ...Read More

LPL Financial, which works with thousands of active advisors, is hit again about sales practices of highly illiquid investment ...Read More

Business owners and entrepreneurs do have alternatives to help build their retirement nest eggs at ...Read More