Monte Carlo simulations have become an essential tool for retirement planning, allowing users to model thousands of financial outcomes based on variables like investment returns, inflation, and life expectancy. Using AI assistant Claude, the author generated a detailed simulation for a hypothetical couple—Joe and Jane Average—without needing programming skills or statistical expertise. 

Claude translated the couple’s retirement goals and financial data into a 5,000-iteration simulation using historical return data and a 60/40 stock-bond allocation, delivering a 95.78% success rate for retirement sustainability. 

The simulation projected a median portfolio of $28.2 million by Jane’s life expectancy, with very low depletion risk even in advanced age. Key strengths of the plan included strong pre-retirement savings, realistic spending goals, a balanced asset mix, and delayed Social Security filing. 

Finsum: Monte Carlo simulation can give you the edge to navigate and model various situations to deliver the best results to your clients. 

Although the Trump administration is rolling back some environmental regulations and cutting incentives for renewable energy development, many sustainability-focused investments remain commercially viable. 

Deregulatory moves and proposed tariff increases may challenge clean energy supply chains and weaken enforcement of environmental protections. However, the economics of renewables like wind and solar continue to improve, with costs often rivaling those of fossil fuels in parts of the U.S. Demand for energy is also rising due to technologies like AI, reinforcing the need for diverse and resilient power sources. 

UBS maintains that a diversified, global approach to ESG investing can continue delivering competitive returns even in a less supportive political environment.

Despite shifting U.S. policy, sectors such as infrastructure, energy efficiency, and materials still present strong opportunities for sustainable investors.

Amid a turbulent market and new U.S. tariff regime, actively managed ETFs like the T. Rowe Price Small-Mid Cap ETF (TMSL) are gaining appeal for their flexibility, research depth, and outperformance potential. TMSL, which has outperformed the Russell 2500 Index by 170 basis points year-to-date, exemplifies how active strategies can navigate uncertainty and respond to evolving risks and opportunities. 

The new 10% blanket U.S. tariffs—unseen since 1946—have contributed to earnings downgrades and increased economic unpredictability, making adaptability a critical asset. Active managers can curate portfolios based on bottom-up analysis, selecting strong companies while avoiding those likely to underperform. 

TMSL’s focus on small- and midcap firms adds sector diversification to tech-heavy portfolios, with leading exposures in industrials, financials, and healthcare. 

Finsum: Its key to consider how fees play a role in active funds but many deliver well above depending on the economic environment. 

As ETFs continue to evolve, new “enhanced” or actively structured ETFs are emerging as thoughtful alternatives to traditional passive strategies, especially in today’s volatile market. 

Fidelity leaders emphasized how these hybrid ETFs aim to maintain core market exposure while improving on passive models through modest, research-driven security selection. Amid rising concerns like U.S. tariffs and potential recession risks, investors were advised to stay cautious but open to market rebounds following short-term shocks.

Fidelity’s Craig Ebeling noted that passive index tracking can lead to unintended exposures, while enhanced ETFs allow for greater alignment with investor goals by avoiding certain stocks. The Fidelity Enhanced Large Cap Core ETF (FELC), for instance, leverages a quantitative system to actively select large-cap equities and has returned 9.78% since inception. 

Finsum: Investors remain optimistic about long-term opportunities, particularly with enhanced ETFs designed to improve benchmark outcomes.

Structured notes, once reserved for hedge funds and ultra-wealthy investors, have surged in popularity among retail clients thanks to bite-sized offerings, generous yields, and downside protection amid volatile markets. 

These bank-manufactured products, linked to indexes or stocks, use derivatives to offer tailored exposure—whether for income, growth, or buffered loss protection—with some notes capping upside while guarding against market drops. Products like Bank of Montreal’s Nasdaq 100-linked notes offer a fixed return if markets rise, and principal protection if they fall, while others—like buffered or contingent income notes—offer periodic income with defined loss limits. 

As volatility climbs, advisors increasingly recommend these notes to generate income without taking full equity risk, with firms like iCapital reporting major spikes in interest following market shocks. 

Finsum: It’s interesting that high level investors are using structured notes like buffer products in this high volatility environment.