Articles (163)

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 ...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 ...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 ...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 ...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 ...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

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

How to do something different, without doing something ...Read More

The latest update of this research series analyzes fund performances by investment behavior versus actual ...Read More

At least in theory, tax code changes could open new doors for investors with their traditional IRA ...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 ...Read More

Staying invested, whether through small-cap or blue-chip stocks, correlates to greater portfolio ...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 ...Read More

As part of IFA's ongoing research series, we've put under our microscope Principal Financial ...Read More

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

 In the first quarter of 2020, investors were reminded of the importance of understanding how markets really ...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 ...Read More

The CARES Act creates new flexibility for 401(k) and 403(b) savers. But savings and tax nuances ...Read More

With a proposed merger looming, how has Legg Mason's funds lineup performed as a standalone active ...Read More

Don't take lightly April's focus on investment education. At IFA, Mark Hebner says he sure ...Read More

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

It might not seem intuitive, but this graph shows valuable discipline is when markets ...Read More

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

Small business owners and employees aren't the only ones able to take advantage of tax breaks included in the ...Read More

The independent research shop upgrades its ratings, landing DFA in the top-tier of fund ...Read More

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

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

As the old saying goes, there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and ...Read More

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

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