FINSUM
SEC Drafted New Cybersecurity Rules
While the SEC has been pushing public companies to improve their cybersecurity, minimal adoption of stronger cybersecurity rules has led the agency to draft new rules requiring more formal cybersecurity reporting and disclosure. The SEC proposal outlined several requirements that are designed to improve cybersecurity awareness and reporting for corporate executives and board members. The first is cybersecurity incident reporting, including current reporting about material incidents and periodic reporting about previous incidents. The second requirement is cybersecurity policies such as periodic reporting about policies and procedures to identify and manage risks. The third proposal is management requirements including management’s role and expertise in assessing and managing risk and management’s role and expertise in implementing policies and procedures. The final requirement is board oversight such as reporting on how the board of directors performs oversight on cybersecurity and disclosure of the board of directors’ cybersecurity expertise if any.
Finsum:The SEC recently drafted new cybersecurity rules for companies, including incident reporting, policies, management requirements, and board oversight.
Financial advisors often move like a Nolan Ryan fastball
You can, um, bank on it; as sure as taxes and a Nolan Ryan fastball – at least back in the day – for a panacea of reasons, financial advisors regularly switch firms, according to visionretirement.com.
You know; as in now you see ‘em, now, well, not exactly. Good. You get it. Let’s face it: maybe they receive more cash or chances to move their careers forward elsewhere. Whatever the case. you name it, and a bolt of lightning later, they’re out like the wind.
Of course, like many other professions, exactly when they decide to cut the cord isn’t necessarily based on when, according to financial-planning.com. There’s no idyllic time.
Naturally, it helps to have a robust relationship with clients. That way, an advisor can move on to greener pastures no matter how the market’s performing. Maybe he or she wants to upgrade their technology and a broader menu of products. On the other hand, perhaps they’re intent on leveraging on the expansion of their practice or set themselves up to call it a career.
Meantime, clients might be caught off guard when their advisors pull up stakes, noted visionretirement.com. But, hey, there’s always this: a client can maintain a relationship with an advisor or nip it in the old bud or sniff out other options. Call it an Amazon shopping spree. Or not!
Financial Firms Seeing More Ransomware Attacks
Over the past several months, financial firms are seeing an uptick in ransomware attacks. In fact, IT security professionals in the financial industry have noted that ransomware attacks have not only become more common but have also become more sophisticated. Cybersecurity professionals are seeing a new wave of threats that banks and investment firms are struggling to prevent. Over the past two years, financial firms are seeing more ransomware attacks that utilize outside service providers which are also known as ransomware-as-a-service. Firms are also seeing variants that have chosen different attack vectors, meaning they are now attacking other areas of firms such as corporate phone systems. According to Sophos’ The State of Ransomware in Financial Services 2022, 55% of financial service firms were victims of at least one attack in 2021, up from 34% in the previous year. The bigger issue for banks and other financial firms though is not just the number of ransomware threats, but their increasing sophistication.
Finsum:Financial firms are not only seeing an increase in ransomware threats, but the sophistication of attacks has also increased.
European investors groove to fixed income ETFs
Lingering doubts over escalation inflation and the response of the Fed aside, longer duration US Treasuries and investment grade corporate debt ETFS are the cat’s meow among European investors, according to etf.com.
As of the end of July, in Europe, fixed income ETFs attracted more than $4.2bn over the past three months, according to data from Bloomberg Intelligence.
Meantime, Fitch Ratings reported that, in all likelihood, U.S. insurers will continue, unabated, to up their fixed income exchange-traded fund holdings, according to pioonline.com.
Since last December – when new guidelines kicked in in The Big Apple -- Fitch indicated it has rated 10 such ETFs. It eased the way for insurers to hang onto shares of fixed income ETFs. Until Jan. 1, 2027, shares of an ETF, for the purpose of a domestic insurer’s risk based capital report, on the condition the ETF satisfies certain criteria, in a regulation adopted by the New York State Department of Financial Services. It became effective Dec. 15.
Risky business not your forte? Try active fixed income management
Not a fan of leaping off a tall building in a single, crisp bound? Without a parachute? Odd but, well, okay.
Nevertheless, if that’s your mentality, you might tip your glass to active fixed income management. Afterall, one of the primary things it delivers is mitigating risk, according to npifund.ngontinh24.com.
For example, it yields investments beyond the fixed income benchmark index and facilitates the ability of managers to either push or tamp down risk. A passive strategy? Um, nada.
And active fixed income managers who have their antenna up can abandon possible issues before the wreak havoc on client portfolios, the site continued.
And that’s not all, no siree. They also rachet down interest rate sensitivity and keep their hands firmly on the wheel when it comes keeping the length of risk under their thumb, according to catalyst-insights.com. What’s more, they’re adept at uncovering yield against a low yield backdrop and get the most out of the trade off between duration exposure and yield capture.
And you might say they’re rather nimble, with an ability to seize on opportunities stemming from dynamic economic and policy shifts. A prime example, if you’re really keen on being reminded: the recent steepening of the bears. Gee, thanks, ladies and gentlemen, right?