First Republic Bank’s recruiting spree is paying off with the recent announcement that the bank nabbed a Morgan Stanley team managing $1.2 billion in assets for ultra-wealthy clients in Los Angeles. The six-person team is led by advisors Alexander H. Kadish, Nicholas Davey, and J.P. Garofalo, who generated a combined $9.2 million in revenue. The team, which specializes in helping executives with large corporate stock plan holdings, also moved with three support staff. In addition, another former member of their team, Robert A. Daly Jr., will continue to work with the team as an outside consultant. Daly and Kadish moved the team to Morgan Stanley in 2016 from J.P. Morgan Advisors. Kadish has worked at six firms over his 21-year career. He started at discount broker Banc of America Securities in 2001, then shifted to Smith Barney in 2003 and worked for Jefferies & Co before joining J.P. Morgan Advisors in 2010. Daly started his career at J.P. Morgan’s Bear, Stearns & Co. in 1998 and also worked at UBS Wealth Management USA before rejoining J.P. Morgan in 2009. Garofalo started with Wells Fargo Advisors in 2013 and has worked for Morgan Stanley, Ares Investor Services, and Nuveen Securities before returning to Morgan in 2020. The addition of the team brings First Republic’s 2023 recruiting total to four teams managing a combined $4.6 billion in assets.

Finsum:First Republic Bank lured away a $9.2 million team from Morgan Stanley bringing its recruiting tally for 2023 to $4.6 billion in assets.

Is there a little something something between bonds and James Bond?

Well, bonds, at least, are expected back this year, according to schwab.com. 

James? Filming a movie somewhere. Yeah, yeah; unreliable as ever.

Thing is, in the aftermath of an extended period of low yields -- not to mention last year’s to eagerly forget price dip, three tries at what’s on the precipice of a comeback: returns in the fixed income market, according to the site.

So, why so upbeat about returns? It goes like this:

Both nominally and in reality, starting yields are the highest in years;

The bulk of the Fed tightening cycle has wrapped up; and

A deceleration of Inflation’s likely

Following a prolonged dry spell, the bond market’s replete with yields that – compared to other investments – are appealing. A portfolio consisting of bonds; and high quality at that, like Treasuries, can translate -- without an excessively long period – around 4% to 5%.

Bonds, explained Ted Stephenson, professor of Accounting and finance at George Brown College, continue to be part of a diversified investment portfolio – an indispensable one at that, according to usnews.com.

"Regardless of correlation, bonds have done well versus stocks in six out of seven historical recessions. Ultimately, the correlation between stocks and bonds is not as important as relative performance."

As Yogi Berra likely would say: if it wasn’t a challenge, what kind of challenge would it be?

And if he didn’t say it, one too many fastballs must have ricocheted off his glove and against his noggin.

Point is, what with escalating interest rates, an unpredictable economy and relentless inflation starring you in the kisser, it takes work to manage and grow your financial management business, according to forbes.com.

Well, do abet your efforts, to prepare for the first quarter of the new year, 16 members of Forbes Finance Council dispense advice for business leaders.

A few tips:

1. Focus on liquidity 
2. When calculating the cost base, make space for contingencies 
3. Build up Your forecast by customer
4. Consider your insurance model 
5. When it comes to resiliency planning, pay attention

Business plans, marketing strategies, operational processes and business technology aside, your company’s financial side calls for considerable effort, according to ceoworld.com. Not only that, your company’s longevity and expansion seemingly leans on a solid system of financial management.

You can incorporate quality financial management practices without a hitch in a few ways, including by leveraging the most effective financial software and tools; regularly managing your accounting records and creating seamless billing processes. What’s more, you can establish financial goals that are clear and monitor business performance. 

Based on Cerulli Associates' research analysis of mutual fund and exchange-traded product trends in January, institutional investors expect to increase allocations to active investment strategies. According to the data, while mutual funds lost $1.9 billion to start 2023, a few asset classes are generating positive inflows. For instance, taxable bond mutual funds added more than $15 billion of inflows during January, while municipal bond mutual funds added $7.7 billion during the month. This bucked the trend in 2022 in which outflows were $148.7 billion. The release from Cerulli stated, “The gap between active and passively managed funds hit new lows in December 2022; however, [the] Cerulli survey [shows], most institutional investors still want a majority of their portfolios to be actively managed. A noteworthy number of institutional investors indicate increasing their allocations to active strategies in equities (28%) and fixed income (20%).” The release also stated that “Although mutual funds closed 2022 on a “sour note,”—having dropped 4.5% in December—they have so far reversed course in 2023, with assets climbing 5.8% to $17.2 trillion.” The report noted that the data was based on a survey administrated in the second quarter of 2022.

Finsum:According to the results of a recent Cerulli Associates report, institutional investors plan to increase allocations to active strategies as taxable bond mutual funds and municipal bond mutual funds saw a combined $22.7 in inflows during January.

U.S. government and corporate bond ETFs took a hit in February, as Treasury yields rose due to continuing fears over high inflation. According to a February 28 note from Lawrence Gillum, fixed income strategist for LPL Financial, “While bonds are back, 2023 may be bumpy. We don’t think we’ll see another year like 2022 anytime soon, but despite the higher starting yield levels, we could see periods of negative returns.” For instance, according to FactSet data, the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (BND) fell 2.7% last month, while the iShares 20+ Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) dropped 4.9% in February. When bond yields rise, prices of debt fall. However, shorter-duration Treasury bonds fared much better than longer-term U.S. debt last month as investors adjusted their rate expectations. For example, the SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) posted a small return of 0.3% in February. In addition, two-year Treasury yields, ended February at 4.795%, up from 0.730% at the end of 2021 as higher yields have been attracting investors after rates surged last year.

Finsum:While longer-duration bond ETFs faltered last month due to continuing fears over inflation, shorter-duration Treasury bond ETFs such as the SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (BIL) fared much better.