(New York)

ESG has been getting more and more mainstream, and yesterday it likely took the final hurdle to major acceptance...View the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

(New York)

Inflation concerns are on the rise. The Fed has reacted with large unprecedented moves to the Covid-19 recession. The Biden administration is...View the full story on our partner Magnifi’s site

(Washington)

The meme stock frenzy is one of the best things that could have happened to broker reps. Why is that you might ask? Because it probably just distracted the new leadership of the SEC for about a year. The meme stock frenzy has dominated headlines and become a Democratic cause, which means newly nominated SEC chief Gensler will likely be focusing on that immediately upon taking over. Bitcoin is another emerging issue given the huge run-up in prices and public focus. Reg BI is obviously very important, but may become second fiddle because of the other, more newsworthy issues.

FINSUM: This makes perfect sense. It seems likely that the SEC might not move as fast in Reg BI changes because of Robinhood/meem stocks. As evidence of this, look no further than Reg BI hawk Barbara Roper, who has recently been talking more about Robinhood.

(New York)

Annuities are a widely available and popular product, and they are heavily utilized by retirees whose main focus is income. Therefore, it would make sense that tax planning around that income would be more of a major consideration—especially because annuities have some peculiarities as it regards taxation—but in general it does not seem to be an explicit topic. One of the first things to remember is the difference between qualified and nonqualified annuities—the former being in retirement plans, the latter not. Both require mandatory withdrawals after age 72. It is critical to remember that only interest, not principal is taxable when withdrawing money from a nonqualified plan. This is a big danger zone that some retirees fall into. Two other important notes: annuity interest used to fund long-term care insurance can be used tax free; and spouses can assume ownership of an annuity in the event of the death of their spouse tax-free.

FINSUM: For advisors who readily deal in annuities, this info will be second nature. However, there are a lot of advisors who are just starting to get into annuities and this info will be quite useful.

(Houston)

Unprecedented freezing temperatures across the south have wrangled most news headlines this week. This is causing a not so surprising collapse in production from the major U.S. manufacturers in the state most affected, Texas. But the lack of demand from refineries is creating a negative pull on oil prices as they are slower to adjust to changing conditions. Sluggish oil prices will be expected to continue despite a 3.5 million barrel shortfall in production because the refineries aren’t in high demand. On top of this demand shortfall, OPEC has announced plans to ramp up production. These combining factors have produced about a 2% decline in WTI crude futures after declining 1% in trading last Thursday. Finally, the Biden administration has set the course to re-engage with the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, however, Trump-era oil sanctions have not been reversed.

FINSUM: The run-up in oil prices over the last two weeks was driven by inclement weather in the U.S. but look to the finer details of global production in the next couple of weeks to push oil prices back down. Examine related sectors, like the airline industry, to capitalize on these fluctuations.

January and early February offered some rough times for investors. The two-week meme stock debacle had most investors’ hearts skip a beat...view the full story on our partner Magnifi's site

Two junk bond indices, Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Corporate High Yield Index and ICE BofA US High Index Yield, hit record lows both dipping to about 4%...view the full story on our partner Magnifi's site

(Chicago)

Municipal bond market returns remain low, but nonetheless investors seem willing to keep demanding low yield munis. This rise in demand...view the full story on our partner Magnifi's site.

(Washington)

In what comes as a surprise to the entire industry, President Biden’s administration has just let the Trump-era version of the Fiduciary Rule go into effect. Almost everyone in wealth management thought Biden would surely use his administrations powers to stop the rule’s enactment, but they elected to let it go into effect as of this Tuesday, accompanying the announcement with positive and supportive language. The industry’s reaction was immediate and positive, while consumer advocates were disappointed as they were hoping for a more stringent rule from the Democratic administration.

FINSUM: Frankly, we take this as an incredibly positive sign for the wealth management business. This is a big signal to us that the Biden administration is not going to be as onerous and impractical on the regulatory front as many might have feared.

(New York)

In what is easily our favorite investing metaphor of the year, Kiplinger recently wrote an article that said annuities are the broccoli of investing—many people try to avoid them, but every retirement portfolio needs them. A recent study found that while most people buy auto, home, health, and life insurance, the large majority of people avoid buying insurance for one of their biggest fears—running out of money in retirement. This is exactly where annuities come in, as they are essentially insurance contacts that provide guaranteed income in retirement (depending on the type you choose). Deferred annuities are the most common option, as they defer payment for up to decades, and then start paying out upon retirement or an age threshold.

FINSUM: Advisors who are sell annuities already understand utilities, but many don’t fully grasp their use, especially given the negative aura they have had for many years. Most retirees’ portfolios can benefit from annuities.