(San Francsico)

There are mixed signals as to how to currently position oneself in the market as news reports are calling many things a good buy, from doubling down on momentum to cyclical value stocks, but Goldman Sachs is bullish on lots of large-cap internet stocks. Amazon, Facebook, Snap, Uber, Lyft, and Expedia all received buy ratings from Goldman’s investment team. They see secular trends in revenue growth and operating efficiencies scaling these companies even larger over the next couple of years. While they don’t consider themselves overly bullish, they see digital advertising being a key lever to push for these companies to have their full upside priced correctly by the wider market. Subscriptions, the creator economy, cloud computing, and augmented reality are all reasons to be fans of large-cap growth, but they are staying away from Airbnb and Twitter. FINSUM: The fed-keeping rates low is very promising for growth companies that are reliant on the credit-frothy economy. But rate moves are also the key risk.

(New York)

A successful 8-month streak has put the market well above expectations, and there are reasons to still be optimistic, but the number of protection plays is growing on Walls Street. Whether it is a slowing economy, rising inflation, spreading delta variant, or tapering tantrum there are lots of reasons to stay protected which is why over $5 billion in inflows are headed to volatility-based protections. Funds like the Simplify Interest Rate Hedge ETF (PFIX) offer a direct hedge against a future of the interest rate market by placing a call on Treasury derivatives. A wider hedge against the ETF like the Simplify Volatility Premierm ETF (SVOL) which can generate a yield from swings in the Cboe Volatility Index. This hedge is less specific than the PFIX but it gives investors a bigger safety net in any of the scenarios above or unforeseen risks in the economy.

FINSUM: Honestly leave the bond hedges to the past as there is no return. Instead, SVOL and PFIX are hedges that will likely clip the Treasury return anyway and provide more relief in case equities go upside down.

Artificial Intelligence is one of the fastest-growing segments of technology, and while most people think of AI as a computer listening to their conversations to send them advertisements it’s growing just as rapidly in the world of finance. In 2019, AI and machine learning was a $6.67 billion dollar segment of the financial world according to a study by Mordor Intelligence. That number is expected to more than triple by 2025 as the projection is $22.6 billion. Additionally, Business Insider pins the savings to financial institutions and banks by AI at $447 billion in the next two years. Magnifi can bring these powerful tools to your advising team to put research insights, analytics, and custom solutions for your clients at your fingertips. Magnifi uses natural language intelligence that can filter thousands of investment opportunities to provide the best opportunities to your clients, and these features are as simple to use as a Google search.

(Washington)

Rollovers are about to see a huge change. Advisors have largely been sleeping on the effects of the new fiduciary rule, largely because the current one was drafted under Trump and is thus milder. However, what many don’t realize is that come December, rollovers are going to be a lot more complicated. According to Fred Reish, leading industry attorney, the new rule “has turned the rollover world on its head”. Speaking further and addressing compliance, he added “A whole series of steps have to be taken to adjust to this standard”.

FINSUM: Okay so here is the reality. Full implementation begins in December, but the DOL may grant a last-minute stay because it is working on a full new fiduciary rule draft (Biden’s version). In either event, the new rule will certainly not be lighter than this version.

(New York)

Model portfolios are seeing great inflows recently, but their popularity has created its own problems. The biggest of those problems—a dizzying proliferation of funds. Today we are going to make an off-the-cuff recommendation. How about a one-stop, no fee “model portfolio” for retirement. The model portfolio? Buy these four ETFs: the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI), the Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS), the iShares Core Total USD Bond Market ETF (IUSB), and the Schwab US REIT ETF (SCHH).

FINSUM: This is in jest of course, but this is a dead simple and well-conceived set of ETFs for retirement.