Someone: please pass the Tylenol. Come to think of it, you might want to pop one yourself.  

Either way, fixed income investors thank you.

After all, their mantra this year…waiting…waiting…“pain to gain,” according to advisorperspective.com.

Feel free to dry swallow the thing.

Anyway, precedent making losses are making their mark in traditional fixed income benchmarks, opening the door to an environment that’s done anything but double clutch when it comes to investment grade, core fixed income dispensing yields in the mid single digits. 

And talk about bitter cocktails. The drop off in fixed income coupled with the turn south in equities has culminated in questions among investors associated with their bond portfolio. Down the road, what – if any – benefit bonds can yield.

In fact, fixed income’s enduring its nastiest year in a generation, according to investmentweek/co/uk. At the core of the sell off; ta da – the global government bond market.  

Now, with opportunities sneaking over the horizon, investors have a strategy for approaching the asset class, they told Investment Week.  

The mother lode of sweeps? And, nope, Mr. Bond, it’s nothing quite as clandestine as an undercover patting down of a room for listening devices.

Overactive imagination much, James?

According to fa-mag.com, there’s a gargantuan sweep of multiple states of broker dealers to gain a sense of just how effective their Regulation Best Interest implementation will be completed early next year. 

Last November, violations and, rampant, at that -- centering around retail advice and sales – reared themselves through similar multi state exams, which encompassed 443 firms, the site continued. That was despite the fact that, for more than 15 months, by then, Reg Bi had been in place.

Meantime, someone say “grace period?”

--Yes, indeed, and quite succinctly at that. And the one that pulled up to the station in the aftermath of Reg Bi’s implementation date wound to its conclusion with financial firms starting to face the first round of enforcement actions from regulators under Reg BI, according to stradley.com.

--Reg Bi was earmarked a priority by the Securities and Exchange Commission. What does that mean for firms? Well, it’s incumbent upon them to have in place the right people, processes and technology in place so they’re still in compliance.

Retail and direct indexing, it seems, forge quite the cozy twosome.

Fueled by clients with assets of between $2 million and $3 million, by 2026, direct indexing will represent one third of retail separate accounts, according to the second annual white paper commissioned by Parametric Portfolio Associates, released by Cerulli Associates, according to financeyahoo.com. Financial advisors were the target.

Assets in directing indexing where projected to expand at a five year CAGR of 12.3% to hit $825 million by 2026, according to the report.

There’s a “gigantic swath of the market” serving these clients who could benefit from such a product due to their tax needs,” said Tom O’Shea, research director and one of the report’s authors. He added that. compared to other investment vehicles like separate accounts and ETFs, the projected rate’s “aggressive.” 

While financial advisors and their clients might not be exactly flocking to direct indexing, the financial services industry’s bent on persuading the financial planning industry that almost every investor can receive a boost from direct indexing, according to investmentnews.com.

Taking, um, stock, of your portfolio holdings?

Hold on with both paws: with investors updating their economic outcome probabilities, volatility’s the byword for next year in the S&P 500, UBS Global Wealth Management recently said, according to markets.businessinsider.com.

"[Expect] more volatility and large market swings exacerbated by positioning as investors update their economic outcome probabilities in reaction to each new data point and Fed utterance," Jason Draho, head of Asset Allocation Americas at UBS Global Wealth Management, said in a note.

He noted that the S&P’s been marked this year by a "pendulum-like return pattern.” He added “large month-to-month swings could continue well into next year before the economy's eventual destination becomes clear."  

And if you thought the oil market’s were beyond the sticky fingers of volatility: ha!

As in think again.

After heading north on the tailwinds of a post lockdown spark in demand, crude climbed to an almost unprecedented high in the aftermath of the Ukraine invasion, according to currenciesdirect.com. Then, in light of the tumultuous global economy, drooped.

You know those weekly company zoom meetings? Well, over the next decade, a number of today’s financial advisors will be no shows. What, were they recipients of all inclusive get out of jail cards?

Um, nope. Instead, the bulk of them are in the waning days of their careers and over 100,000 will call it a day over the next decade, according to advisorperspectives.com.

Thing is, only 27% of advisors had a succession plan -- or a formal preparations to transition their practice of an kind – according to findings from a 2018 survey by the Financial Planning Association.

That said, succession planning’s a big decision for financial advisors to keep in mind and generate a plan for, according to figmarketing.com. That way, of course, the brand and your clients will say make hay in the aftermath of your departure.

When it comes to a succession plan, toss the cookie cutter out the nearest window. There’s a host of structures and steps available, of course, to design and plan that will accommodate your specific needs.