Products & portfolios: archive
Every Products & portfolios story in Advisors, newest first. 143 stories
1 story
The 401(k) savings gap is a plan-design problem
Fidelity's generational deferral spread and Morningstar's managed-account finding hand advisors the argument for getting paid inside the plan, not at the rollover desk.
1 story
Defiance's hourly reset turns leveraged single-stock ETFs into a compounding bet
Six-times-a-day rebalancing means a client's result will not equal twice the stock's daily move.
2 stories
Forced income can cost high-net-worth clients 1% a year
Longview Research Partners prices the drag from forced bond and REIT payouts, and the result belongs in every taxable-account review.
Cliffwater's 5% cap turns redemptions into a three-quarter distribution plan
Advisors whose clients need cash in the next couple of years should treat the $31 billion fund as a position already in wind-down.
1 story
Model portfolios now hold most RIA client assets
Advisor-built and home-office sleeves account for 71% of model assets, showing the shift is about workflow, not handing off the mandate.
1 story
BCRED's 5% gate puts the semi-liquid clock on the RIA
Blackstone's $77 billion private credit fund is paying out 75% of queued requests over 90 days; the redemption calendar is now the advisor's problem.
1 story
The 5% test comes for the 60/40
When the 10-year yield nears 5%, the bond sleeve of a standard balanced portfolio becomes a competitor for the equity risk premium, and the work of the season is stress-testing that allocation before the threshold arrives.
2 stories
The 30-Year's 5% Regime Is the New Baseline
Fifty-five days above 5% is the longest stretch since 2006, and the signal is fiscal, not tactical.
SEC's private-market draft hands advisers two levers
Retail clients would reach private markets through registered funds, and advisers would gain performance-fee flexibility on separately managed accounts. The diligence bar stays put.
2 stories
Copper's data-center rally needs a small sleeve
The AI-driven copper thesis runs to 2040, but the only liquid fund carries roll and K-1 friction, so keep the satellite at 1% to 3%.
Vanguard 500 at 50: the case for a boring core
Fifty years after a disappointing launch, the anniversary numbers give advisors a ready script for defending a low-cost, broad core-equity position.
1 story
BlackRock's EM downgrade warns advisors to look past the geographic label
Before treating an EM fund as a diversifier, check how much of it sits in the same AI supply chain.
1 story
Probability-based guardrails would require 3% where Guyton-Klinger implies 28%
Kitces's analysis finds a 3% reduction can do the job where the classic framework imposes 28%.
2 stories
Schwab's SIPC sweep switch demands a client cash policy
The FDIC-to-SIPC conversion is a coverage change first and a yield event second; advisors who do not move idle cash deliberately will explain it twice.
Bitcoin's $1 million ETF swap beckons advisors
The in-kind exchange mechanism lets clients move concentrated crypto into a managed ETF wrapper without an immediate sale, shifting the advisor's job to custody and fee due diligence.
2 stories
July CTA drawdown puts manager selection to the test
The trend index gave back half its 2026 gain in July; the funds with the most concentrated factor bets took the steepest losses.
IRS proposes 10-basis-point cap for Trump accounts
Proposed regulations confine the growth period to low-cost U.S. index funds and ETFs, with no leverage and Treasury's SPYM pick the starter vehicle.
2 stories
State sales tax turns gold into a state-by-state trade
Advisors recommending bullion should check the client's delivery address before the trade, not after.
Treasury risk premium turns bond ballast into a scenario
A $40 trillion debt overhang shows up in long yields, and retirement income is the collateral.
3 stories
Alfa Prime turns the investment committee into software
The multi-model AI 'investment committee' debuts with a small cohort of institutional partners, leaving advisors to wait for the validation that earns client-portfolio trust.
Proposed Trump Account rules leave a short list of large-cap index funds
A 90% U.S. equity test, a bond ban, and a 0.1% fee cap leave little room for target-date or ESG funds.
The 60/40's bond sleeve is no longer automatic ballast
Inflation broke the relationship that made bonds cushion equity losses, so advisors must now stress-test the 40% as a scenario bet rather than a default.
1 story
First close is the only close that matters in evergreen secondaries
A discount to audited NAV is real value, but it is spent quickly as assets grow; advisors should time allocations accordingly.
6 stories
Schwab's crypto line forces advisors to pick a side
Advisors who want digital assets in client accounts have to source them outside the Schwab custody relationship.
The yield dip is a repricing window for advisors
Fund managers are at their heaviest equity allocation since 2021 while flagging bond yields as a top risk—the Treasury buyback dip is the moment to reprice duration.
Box Spreads Turn Borrowing Into an Options Trade
The strategy gives wealthy clients liquidity without a tax event, but its edge over a bank depends on options pricing.
Advisors steady on today, darker on the next six months
The WMIQ Advisor Sentiment Index holds above neutral on current conditions, but the six-month outlook has worsened for a third straight month.
IRS's Trump account proposal turns on a 10-basis-point cap
Proposed regulations would confine growth-period Trump account assets to low-fee U.S. index funds, leaving advisors to focus on contribution timing and post-17 repositioning.
Clients are still buying risk, but only the quality kind
Weekly flows show large-cap equities and high-grade bonds gaining, a barbell with concentration and income questions for advisors.
2 stories
SEC asks FINRA for an accredited-investor exam that tests know-how
An exam-based accreditation path would give advisors a new way to qualify clients for private-market sleeves.
Invesco cuts fees 20%, prices real estate exit at 95 cents
Advisors weigh a 20% fee break against a 95-cent tender in a fund with a $2.2 billion redemption queue.
9 stories
HSA balances hit a record; most owners still don't invest
EBRI's new data put the average balance at $5,532, with just 18% of holders invested beyond cash. That hands advisors an asset-location opening.
Why active funds lag: their trading erases their stock picks
Morningstar's Jeff Ptak finds the 100 largest active U.S. stock funds picked stocks better than they traded them.
For inherited IRAs, the 60-day rollover is a one-way door
Slott's first uncorrectable retirement error turns a $400,000 inheritance into an immediate tax bill.
Fisher's $4 billion Treasury ETF swap hands advisors a duration check
The Fisher-linked flows arrived before the Treasury's surprise buyback announcement and give advisors reason to revisit duration with 30-year yields at their highest since 2007.
History's capital cycle casts the AI boom as a railway moment
The capital cycle says AI's investors, not the technology, are at risk.
CAIS doubles to $2 billion, and the cap table becomes diligence
A $170 million round at double the last valuation makes the platform's own investor roster part of private-market due diligence.
Vanguard launches customizable models without breaking the 0.07% expense ratio
The new offering lets advisors adjust select Vanguard models through three external platforms while keeping the low-cost pitch intact.
Fidelity pushes cash beyond money markets, without naming the three
A Fidelity briefing claims three fixed income options have outperformed money market products but stops short of naming them, framing the pitch as direction rather than product menu.
Treasury doubles long-dated buybacks as 30-year yield hits 19-year high
The doubling buys a reprieve; the supply picture keeps long-duration risk high.