Articles (175)

The media has been sharpening its focus on cycles lately, but not in anticipation of the Tour de France. Rather, the financial media’s spotlight is on business cycles. A common refrain from the industry is that the performance of certain groups of stocks is tied to the ...Read More

IFA defines index funds as mutual or exchange-traded funds that follow a set of rules of ownership that are held ...Read More

A handful of large technology stocks have garnered attention for outsize returns in recent years. Collectively referred to by the FANMAG acronym, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Microsoft, Apple, and Google all substantially outperformed the US ...Read More

After peaking, GameStop’s subsequent fall in price put it in the low profitability growth space of the small cap market, which we exclude across our equity portfolios due to low expected returns. Our daily process allowed us to again respond quickly. By February 3, we had ...Read More

Here's how much havoc owning a lot of shares of the same company can create in an otherwise diversified ...Read More

A recent flurry of return spikes for a handful of US stocks has captivated investors and noninvestors alike. Wall Street news trending on social media even amid an NFL playoff season is indeed an unusual event.So, what should investors make of these dramatic price movements? A ...Read More

IFA's ongoing research series examines the banker's actively managed mutual ...Read More

Investment returns have two parts: the expected return and the unexpected return. The expected return is the best guess of what will happen based on all the information currently available. The unexpected return is the surprise, the difference between what does happen and what ...Read More

Addiction experts are warning that excessive stock trading represents a growing gambling ...Read More

Patient investors who kept their tilts to small-cap and value stocks were rewarded in the year's final ...Read More

The year 2020 proved to be one of the most tumultuous in modern history, marked by a number of developments that were historically unprecedented. But the year also demonstrated the resilience of people, institutions, and financial markets. The novel coronavirus was already in ...Read More

The value of our advice is only as good as the data provided. Here's a tip sheet for a more efficient ...Read More

The latest report digs deeper than its sister SPIVA scorecard to focus on how consistently active managers ...Read More

A DAF can be a tax-efficient and less-complex tool to accomplish your philanthropic goals. Here's what to ...Read More

Medicare Part B and Part D surcharges are tied to income. Here are some tips to help avoid triggering higher ...Read More

In this study, we compare DFA's funds to those from the investment shop that John Bogle ...Read More

To help choose the best retirement savings option that fits your needs, here's a look at some ...Read More

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

To prepare for the end-of-year filing crunch, we present our top recommendations to lower your tax ...Read More

New entrants into the field of systematic investing must look for ways to differentiate themselves. Impressive backtested performance is one way to stand out. But are these backtests robust? Are they likely to withstand the challenges of real-world implementation? Historical ...Read More

During any downtime in this holiday season, here are some quick ways to sharpen your finances heading into a new ...Read More

Here's a cheat sheet to help wade through your healthcare ...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

IFA's stock and bond indexes kept gaining ground in the year's third quarter. Here's a breakdown of what took ...Read More

Climate scientists have identified greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as the largest contributor to global climate change.1 As a result, many investors are looking to reduce their emissions exposure through their portfolios and wondering if doing so would affect their expected ...Read More

As part of IFA's ongoing research series, we've put under our microscope Putnam's actively managed mutual ...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

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

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

It’s probably not news to most value investors that the value premium has struggled over the past decade. What might be news is just how extreme an outlier recent value stock underperformance represents. The periodic returns for value versus growth in Exhibit 1 convey a ...Read More

A pandemic leads S&P to issue a special edition to include this year's quarterly ...Read More

At IFA, we've designed an alternative portfolio with a stock tilt to more profitable ...Read More

A top-heavy stock market with the largest 10 stocks accounting for over 20% of market capitalization and a marquee technology firm perched at No. 1? This sounds like a description of the current US stock market, dominated by Apple and the other FAANG stocks,1 but it is actually ...Read More

As part of our ongoing research into active managers, we put this insurance giant's funds under our ...Read More

I have been sheltering in place on a former dairy farm in rural New Hampshire—surrounded by more Scotch Highland cattle than people—and relying on my iPhone and Microsoft Surface Pro to keep in touch with the office via email and Zoom video. I haven’t sat in a ...Read More

To many people, the financial markets are nothing more than a giant casino where the odds are stacked against ...Read More

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

If you have ever spent any time in a casino, it is likely that you have seen supposedly random events that appeared to be non-random. Perhaps the roulette wheel came up red seven times in a row, for example. If your reaction was to place a large bet on ...Read More

Figuring out a good Social Security benefits strategy can be a confusing and complex challenge. Here's how IFA can ...Read More

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

Maybe we're just a bunch of geeks. But each year, we look forward to this latest collection of market ...Read More

As part of IFA's ongoing research series, we've put under our microscope Great-West's active ...Read More

The story of how this insurance giant has grown involves two of history's most well-known ...Read More

The 'Oracle of Omaha' has led Berkshire Hathaway to prominence. But has the past 20 years been as ...Read More

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

Here's what the evidence shows about trying to chase returns over the past 10 ...Read More

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

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

Stocks staged a dramatic second quarter reversal, highlighting the need for investors to remain ...Read More

Financial research abounds. At least one fund company, though, is trying to highlight more robust ...Read More

Many plan participants may not fully understand all the advantages their employerprovided retirement plan provides. Here are three aspects of a retirement plan that may surprise ...Read More

More complaints about Merrill Lynch again highlight need to work with fiduciaries, not ...Read More

This popular tech tool, which clients can utilize for free, is part of an enhanced IFA financial planning ...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

Dimensional's co-head of research explains how best to track and quantify the premium investors gain from tilting to value ...Read More

Once in the dear dead days beyond recall, an out-of-town visitor was being shown the wonders of the New York financial district. When the party arrived at the Battery, one of his guides indicated some handsome ships riding at anchor. He said, “Look, those are the ...Read More

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

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