Join the experts at SS&C ALPS Advisors and BBH for an educational webcast exploring municipal bonds and how inflation, geopolitics, and more are impacting the space.
GraniteShares and VettaFi are coming together for a state-of-the-category briefing: the flow data behind the surge, the structural reasons advisors are making room in income sleeves, how the category has held up across different rate and volatility regimes, and the diligence questions worth asking before adding it to a model.
Join the experts at MassMutual Strategic Distributors for an educational webcast exploring income riders and how to evaluation variable annuities beyond surface level features so you can match the right rider to each client’s investor profile and retirement goals.
With the challenges presented in the broader market environment and the rate regime, are you making the most out of your fixed income exposures? Active management can help fixed income investors navigate today’s unusual environment, giving funds the flexibility to react to events in real-time. Join Fidelity for a product due diligence session exploring three active strategies: FBND, FLTB, and FAAA.
We invite you to join NEOS Investments, an award-winning ETF issuer, for a timely discussion on how advisors can evaluate options-based income ETFs, cut through the noise, and identify strategies designed to seek consistent monthly income with a focus on tax efficiency across client portfolios.
Official recession calls are the responsibility of the NBER Business Cycle Dating Committee, which is understandably vague about the specific indicators on which they base their decisions. There is, however, a general belief that there are four big indicators that the committee weighs heavily in their cycle identification process.
There are short duration bonds and corresponding ETFs. For advisors and fixed income investors who really want to minimize interest rate risk, there are ultra-short alternatives. Those products are worth considering this year.
The top-performing non-leveraged ETFs of 2026 span a distinct blend of digital assets, next-generation semiconductor technology, and localized international equity plays. For advisors assessing portfolio allocations heading into the second half of the year, these performance figures highlight a sustained risk-on appetite among investors.
When someone told me recently that her favorite use of AI is for financial advice, I was horrified. I am a retirement economist, and my first reaction was self pity: Now I know how doctors feel when people use AI for medical questions.
There is a general belief that there are four big indicators that the NBER Business Cycle Dating Committee weighs heavily in their cycle identification process. This commentary focuses on one of these indicators: nonfarm employment. In May, total nonfarm payrolls increased by 172,000 while the unemployment rate remained at 4.3%.
The latest employment report showed that 172,000 jobs were added in May, down slightly from April's 179,000 gain. This figure was more than double the projected addition of 85,000 jobs. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate remained at 4.3%, as expected.
The stock market keeps setting records. Bitcoin has minted millionaires. Gold has peaked at new levels. Yet one of the most popular trades is to sit in cash or, more precisely, money-market funds.
Get ready for an absolute blockbuster of a summer, and then some. While mega-cap tech stocks have been busy hogging the headlines on the corporate event calendar, a quiet transformation has been taking place just off the exchange floors. The IPO market, which spent the better part of the last few years stuck in a defensive crouch, has officially smashed the accelerator to start 2026.
It’s May 2026 and once again civilization and financial markets have made it 5-ish months into a new year without self-combusting like a Spinal Tap drummer. It is important to note that dozens of people and stocks spontaneously combust every year, but despite the increasing universality of AI, it’s “just not really widely reported.”
As a symbol of economic vibrancy and opportunity, it’s hard to beat the public market. Its storied venues, where everything from butter to trillion-dollar tech companies are bought and sold, are a foundation of the modern world.
For weeks now, media reports have been suggesting that Washington and Tehran are moving closer to a memorandum of understanding (MOU). In practical terms, that would extend the current ceasefire by roughly 60 days and create a window to negotiate a more durable peace agreement.
The U.S. economy appears resilient, judging from key economic measures. AI-driven capex continues to power investment, support equity markets, and sustain a wealth effect that has propped up consumption. Real GDP growth remains positive. Private sector balance sheets are in generally good condition and many higher income and wealthy households have benefited from equity markets gains.
Climate change has become a defining force in geopolitics. As governments respond to record heat waves, floods, wildfires and droughts, their policies and economic posturing are reshaping manufacturing, trade and energy security across the capital markets.
The rise in U.S. Treasury (UST) yields, specifically the ten-year note, since late February has captured the attention of global investors in a very visible fashion. Just a couple of weeks ago, headlines were blaring that the UST 10-year yield had reached its highest level since the beginning of 2025, leaving market participants to wonder: What comes next?
When it comes to systematic investing, numbers tell only part of the story. Traditional quantitative models rely on prices, earnings, and balance sheet data, but words matter too.
The top-performing non-leveraged ETFs of 2026 span a distinct blend of digital assets and localized international equity plays.
The closed-end fund landscape may be seeing a big change as regulations may be shifting at the SEC, per recent announcements.
Here is a look at real (inflation-adjusted) charts of the S&P 500, Dow 30, and Nasdaq composite since their 2000 highs. We've updated this through the May 2026 close.
Here's an interesting set of charts that will especially resonate with those of us who follow economic and market cycles. Imagine that five years ago you invested $10,000 in the S&P 500. How much would it be worth today, with dividends reinvested but adjusted for inflation?
On Wednesday, June 3, Wellington Management and The Hartford announced that Wellington will be acquiring Hartford Funds. Once the acquisition is complete, Hartford Funds will operate under Wellington’s brand through the firm’s U.S. Wealth business.
A seemingly endless appetite for buying US stock dips has propelled Vanguard Group’s S&P 500-tracking ETF past $1 trillion in assets, making it the first fund of its kind to reach a milestone once thought unimaginable for the ETF industry.
Our monthly market valuation updates have long had the same conclusion: US stock indexes are significantly overvalued, which suggests cautious expectations for investment returns. This analysis focuses on the P/E10 ratio, key indicator of market valuation, and its correlation with inflation and the 10-year Treasury yield.
Cliffwater LLC’s flagship private credit fund capped redemptions at 5% in the second quarter after investors looked to pull about 17% of shares, in a sign of enduring pressure on the $1.8 trillion market.
The IPO market may be entering one of its largest cycles in years, but the next wave may be defined less by breadth than by scale. Instead of hundreds of companies listing, a smaller group of AI and strategic infrastructure leaders could reset the market on their own.
Foreign investors led by the likes of Stanley Druckenmiller and major Wall Street banks are returning to Argentine stocks this year after some had exited ahead of 2025’s volatile midterm election cycle.
Despite rising global yields and renewed inflation concerns, equities moved higher in May on the back of a strong US earnings season and continued momentum in AI-related stocks. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 8.4% for the month, while the S&P 500 rose 5.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2.9%.
Emerging markets offer important exposure to economic growth through rapid industrialization, natural resource endowments, and strong demographic dynamics.
Wealth today is more complex than ever. Investments, taxes, estate planning, insurance, and even family dynamics are deeply interconnected, and decisions in one area can have meaningful consequences in another.
Stocks extended their advance for a ninth consecutive week, with the S&P 500 rising more than 5 percent in May on the heels of April’s 10 percent rally. This nine-week run coincides with the market’s March 30 bottom, when early signs of a potential off-ramp or ceasefire in the Middle East began to emerge.
Even if the Middle East war does find a lasting settlement, the specter of inflation appears poised to hang over the markets. Indeed, while employment data had, up until recently, been the primary focus for investors, arguably, inflation reports have now moved into the ‘leaderboard’ position.
Learn what's in store for the remainder of 2026 and the challenges that lie ahead in our mid-year outlook for U.S. stocks and the economy.
A strong business isn’t always a winning stock at every moment, and 2025 was a good reminder of that. Developed market equities finished the year up more than 20%, but quality stocks lagged. That’s why Parametric favors a multifactor approach to capture factor risk premia.
Get ready for a magnificent month, and then some. Mega-cap tech stocks dominate the corporate event calendar in June, already highlighted by NVIDIA (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote address at Computex 2026 in Taiwan earlier this week, one of many major conferences.
Last week, several Fed members signaled the central bank may have to raise interest rates to cool price inflation.
Following the Q1 GDP second estimate, the 'Buffett Indicator'—the ratio of corporate equities to GDP—now stands at 229.7%. This marks the second-highest reading in history, eclipsed only by the previous quarter.
Given its focus, the launch presents a milestone for the asset management community. ASD blends a sophisticated index design with structural corporate philanthropy to create an ETF that resonates with those invested financially and emotionally.
Space ETFs have seen strong inflows coupled with standout performance, capturing significant market attention. For investors, the rapid pace of capital deployment into the space economy underscores a compelling investment opportunity. For this edition of Bull vs Bear, writers Zandile Chiwanza and Elle Caruso Fitzgerald debate the use cases for space ETFs in portfolios.
More and more Americans are feeling financially behind in 2026. More than eight in 10 have reported having at least one financial regret from 2025, according to a recent survey from Omni Calculator. 28% said making rushed decisions without enough planning were the leading cause of financial mistakes.
A private credit fund jointly managed by Future Standard and KKR & Co. sold $900 million of junk bonds on Monday, according to people familiar with the matter, in a rare high-yield offering by a publicly traded credit fund.
Blackstone Inc. has entered an agreement to provide Nippon Life Insurance Co. with investment services, adding to an increasing number of tie-ups between private investment firms and Japanese insurers.
Google parent Alphabet Inc. is poised to enter the municipal-bond market’s prepaid energy space by participating in a $1 billion transaction out of California, a major development in the evolution of a booming segment.
A key source of demand for corporate bonds may be fading now that managers of company pension funds have more than enough money on hand to pay their retirees.
US equities continued to climb higher in May, with the S&P 500 Index rising 5.1%. Further de-escalation of geopolitical tension in the Middle East has paved the way for the market’s 19.5% advance from the late-March lows.
Private markets have become integral to modern portfolios, with many investors searching for higher returns and diversification, including from public markets. But recent fund redemptions have reinforced that illiquidity isn’t theoretical, raising questions about the benefits of giving up liquidity. We see several—but investors must understand the trade-offs.
For the dollar-denominated investor weighing how to position for the back half of 2026, last week tightened a thesis we have been building all year.
Reducing equity exposure during periods of elevated risk is not the same as market timing. The financial industry has spend decades blurring that distinction.
Would I be better off waiting for the Fed to make its move on rates before investing?” “Should I wait to increase duration because a blocked Strait of Hormuz could push oil prices higher and push rates even higher?” “Should I invest in bonds gradually to reduce the risk of missing the rate peak?
Rising office delinquencies within commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) reflect genuine pressures from shifting work patterns, higher interest rates, and greater refinancing risk.
Taylor Topoussis and Chris Galipeau discuss high-conviction insights that go beyond media headlines.
LPL Research analyzes stock valuations, finding them fair given growth, rates, inflation, and AI-driven earnings outlook despite risks.
AI is a transformative technology with both near-term and long-term implications for the economy. For investors, while the debt-funded AI buildout has the potential to become a secular driver of risk premia, we believe any such shift would only play out through a multi-year adjustment and would not override the cyclical forces that affect markets.
Every family has a money story. It gets passed down quietly, invisibly, in the way families talk around the dinner table or on long walks together.
May’s 5.3% S&P 500 gain masked a deeply uneven market: technology surged 16% on AI spending momentum while most sectors declined, and a surprise inflation rebound flipped the Fed narrative from cuts to potential hikes.
Here is a summary of the four market valuation indicators we update on a monthly basis.
As advisors, our role is not to solve fiscal policy; it is to ensure our clients are positioned to weather the uncertainty that comes from that gap, stay committed to their long-term plans, and not let macroeconomic anxiety drive short-term decisions they will regret.
Individual expertise matters. But in complex situations, making good decisions also depends on your financial professionals sharing information. When you support and expect their collaboration, you are no longer the communication relay.
While the mass affluent market may not be feeling the brunt of inflation woes or the rising cost of living, its financial planning is still being impacted by current economic headwinds.
Here is the latest update of a popular market valuation method, Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio, using the most recent Standard & Poor's "as reported" earnings and earnings estimates, and the index monthly average of daily closes for the past month. The latest trailing twelve months (TTM) P/E ratio is 25.9 and the latest P/E10 ratio is 39.9, the highest level since 2000.
Investors are about to get a read on the durability of the soaring rally in cybersecurity stocks when two of the industry’s major players report earnings in the coming days.
The announced expansion comes as the US races to provide huge amounts of electricity for AI data centers, with nuclear power emerging as one of the big winners. The Trump administration is pushing to quadruple output from nuclear plants which will require a leap in uranium fuel production to meet the challenge.
Caution has become the most expensive position on Wall Street. A hot inflation reading this week — sending the annual gauge to its highest in about three years — landed alongside fresh strikes in the Persian Gulf and enduring expectations that the Federal Reserve may need to keep policy tight.
Investors are pouring money back into municipal bonds as higher yields and the approaching summer reinvestment season draw cash into the tax-exempt market.
Geopolitical risks are still lingering in the background, but the story lately has been all about earnings. A strong 1Q26 season, paired with a steady drumbeat of upbeat management commentary, has helped push the S&P 500 to 21 record highs this year.
Businesses are racing to build the physical infrastructure that makes AI usable at scale – data centers, the graphics processing unit (GPU) hardware stack, power, and cooling.
The market continues to demonstrate remarkable resilience. Lower oil prices, easing Treasury yields, and the relentless buildout of artificial intelligence infrastructure are still providing a favorable backdrop for risk assets.
If you’re not familiar with the name Leopold Aschenbrenner, you should be. A 24-year-old wunderkind, Aschenbrenner was hired by OpenAI in 2023 to work on the company’s “superalignment” team, essentially trying to figure out how to keep AI systems safe once they become smarter than the people building them.
Economies around the world aren’t just reliant on AI investments for growth. The appreciation of AI stocks has supported spending, which is following “K-shaped” patterns. A significant correction to the valuations of tech leaders would therefore be even more likely to result in recession.
A little more than six months ago there were narratives circulating that national housing prices were in an even bigger bubble than the one twenty years ago and headed for an “inevitable” collapse. Given that national home prices dropped about 27% from peak to bottom in the last housing bust, that would be something to worry about.
The global defense industry continues to move rapidly from legacy, heavy-hardware platforms to agile, unmanned systems. Today, the Trump Administration announced that it’s pursuing funding deals for drone companies in an effort to increase domestic production in today’s defensive landscape.
Vocabulary is a power builder. Every time I use the word “hegemonic” in a conversation, I see my listeners’ eyebrows go up as if to say, “what does this guy know that I don’t?” Then again maybe they’re just signaling that I’m full of more than baked beans.
The ETF landscape includes a wide variety of innovative, intriguing funds that look to meet investor goals. From equities to fixed income, all kinds of strategies offer intriguing spins on areas like income and dividends.
J.P. Morgan Asset Management has expanded its alternative lineup with the launch of the JPMorgan Managed Futures Plus ETF (JPFP) on the Nasdaq. The actively managed fund combines a core U.S. equity allocation with a systematic managed futures strategy spanning equities, bonds, currencies, and commodities.
Five of the nine indexes on our world markets watch list posted year-to-date gains through June 1, 2026.
The 10-year Treasury yield has experienced dramatic fluctuations, ranging from a peak of 15.68% in October 1981, during the height of the Volcker era, to a historic low of 0.55% in August 2020, amidst the economic uncertainty of the pandemic. At the end of May 2026, the weekly average stood at 4.47%.
Closed-end funds may not be a hot topic right now, but they offer a highly compelling means to solve today's macroeconomic woes.
Goldman Sachs announced a partnership with Anthropic in early May, though you probably shouldn’t view it as just a cool innovation story. It is infrastructure in motion. When institutions like Goldman move, pay attention to what problem they believe they are solving.
New York City is facing one of the most significant fiscal challenges in recent memory. The NYC Comptroller has projected a $2.2 billion budget shortfall for FY2026, growing to a $10.4 billion gap in FY2027 (Source: New York City Comptroller, January 2026). That is a two-year deficit of roughly $12.6 billion.
For the last eight years, GMO’s Asset Allocation team has held a differentiated view on Japanese equities. Long before Japan re‑entered the global investment narrative, we argued that the country was undergoing slow but durable structural changes aimed at improving corporate governance, growth, and capital efficiency. These reforms were never expected to deliver quick results. Instead, we expected them to compound quietly over time.
The essential feature of a useful alternative asset isn’t that it’s unusual or exotic, but that its returns aren’t tightly linked to the risks that already dominate the portfolio. The value of an alternative asset comes from the way it interacts with the other assets in the portfolio.
Before I recommend what to do, I want to first state what not to do. Don’t invest as if you think you know what long-term inflation will be. Will we return to the double-digit inflation of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s? The answer is: Nobody knows.
The assumption that muni equals tax-free is deeply embedded in how the asset class gets discussed and presented. But for high-net-worth clients in high-tax states, the gap between partially exempt and fully exempt is material enough to be worth a conversation.
Mentioning artificial intelligence to the graduating class of 2026 has been sure to get you booed. And why not? Fresh graduates have spent the past few years being told about the wonders of AI and watched seniors struggle to get a toehold in the labor market.
The industry is entering a more customized phase of liability-driven investing, he said. While earlier stages focused on adding duration and raising fixed-income allocations, better-funded plans are now tinkering at the margins to more precisely match their holdings with their obligations.
US stocks headed for a positive open on Monday as traders remained hopeful that Washington and Tehran would strike a peace deal, even amid a rise in oil prices.
Innovation drives productivity growth, which in turn raises the standard of living for a nation's population. Accordingly, we support the theory that AI will benefit the economy and the population. We laid this bullish case out in "The AI Economy: Looking Beyond The Façade Part I."
Income
Why Munis Matter in 2026
Join the experts at SS&C ALPS Advisors and BBH for an educational webcast exploring municipal bonds and how inflation, geopolitics, and more are impacting the space.
The Quiet Boom in Autocallable ETFs
GraniteShares and VettaFi are coming together for a state-of-the-category briefing: the flow data behind the surge, the structural reasons advisors are making room in income sleeves, how the category has held up across different rate and volatility regimes, and the diligence questions worth asking before adding it to a model.
Variable annuities, income riders, and retirement income innovations
Join the experts at MassMutual Strategic Distributors for an educational webcast exploring income riders and how to evaluation variable annuities beyond surface level features so you can match the right rider to each client’s investor profile and retirement goals.
Activating fixed income portfolios
With the challenges presented in the broader market environment and the rate regime, are you making the most out of your fixed income exposures? Active management can help fixed income investors navigate today’s unusual environment, giving funds the flexibility to react to events in real-time. Join Fidelity for a product due diligence session exploring three active strategies: FBND, FLTB, and FAAA.
Rethinking Tax-Efficient Income Generation
We invite you to join NEOS Investments, an award-winning ETF issuer, for a timely discussion on how advisors can evaluate options-based income ETFs, cut through the noise, and identify strategies designed to seek consistent monthly income with a focus on tax efficiency across client portfolios.
The Big Four Recession Indicators
Official recession calls are the responsibility of the NBER Business Cycle Dating Committee, which is understandably vague about the specific indicators on which they base their decisions. There is, however, a general belief that there are four big indicators that the committee weighs heavily in their cycle identification process.
Good Reasons to Keep It Short With Bond ETFs in 2026
There are short duration bonds and corresponding ETFs. For advisors and fixed income investors who really want to minimize interest rate risk, there are ultra-short alternatives. Those products are worth considering this year.
Look to State Street, Invesco, VanEck for Top-Performing ETFs in 2026
The top-performing non-leveraged ETFs of 2026 span a distinct blend of digital assets, next-generation semiconductor technology, and localized international equity plays. For advisors assessing portfolio allocations heading into the second half of the year, these performance figures highlight a sustained risk-on appetite among investors.
Can AI Financial Advice Help You Retire More Comfortably?
When someone told me recently that her favorite use of AI is for financial advice, I was horrified. I am a retirement economist, and my first reaction was self pity: Now I know how doctors feel when people use AI for medical questions.
The Big Four Recession Indicators: May 2026 Employment
There is a general belief that there are four big indicators that the NBER Business Cycle Dating Committee weighs heavily in their cycle identification process. This commentary focuses on one of these indicators: nonfarm employment. In May, total nonfarm payrolls increased by 172,000 while the unemployment rate remained at 4.3%.
Employment Report: 172K Jobs Added in May, Higher Than Expected
The latest employment report showed that 172,000 jobs were added in May, down slightly from April's 179,000 gain. This figure was more than double the projected addition of 85,000 jobs. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate remained at 4.3%, as expected.
Chilling in Money-Market Funds is the Hot Retail Strategy Now
The stock market keeps setting records. Bitcoin has minted millionaires. Gold has peaked at new levels. Yet one of the most popular trades is to sit in cash or, more precisely, money-market funds.
The New-Issue Window Flies Open: Inside 2026's Red-Hot First-Half IPO Rush
Get ready for an absolute blockbuster of a summer, and then some. While mega-cap tech stocks have been busy hogging the headlines on the corporate event calendar, a quiet transformation has been taking place just off the exchange floors. The IPO market, which spent the better part of the last few years stuck in a defensive crouch, has officially smashed the accelerator to start 2026.
Venus and Mars are Alright Tonight?
It’s May 2026 and once again civilization and financial markets have made it 5-ish months into a new year without self-combusting like a Spinal Tap drummer. It is important to note that dozens of people and stocks spontaneously combust every year, but despite the increasing universality of AI, it’s “just not really widely reported.”
A Universe of Potential Opportunity Lies Beyond the Public Markets
As a symbol of economic vibrancy and opportunity, it’s hard to beat the public market. Its storied venues, where everything from butter to trillion-dollar tech companies are bought and sold, are a foundation of the modern world.
Oil Market Underestimates Frictions Beyond a Deal
For weeks now, media reports have been suggesting that Washington and Tehran are moving closer to a memorandum of understanding (MOU). In practical terms, that would extend the current ceasefire by roughly 60 days and create a window to negotiate a more durable peace agreement.
The Quiet Erosion Beneath U.S. Growth
The U.S. economy appears resilient, judging from key economic measures. AI-driven capex continues to power investment, support equity markets, and sustain a wealth effect that has propped up consumption. Real GDP growth remains positive. Private sector balance sheets are in generally good condition and many higher income and wealthy households have benefited from equity markets gains.
Climate Power Plays: Energy, Geopolitics and the Repricing of Risk
Climate change has become a defining force in geopolitics. As governments respond to record heat waves, floods, wildfires and droughts, their policies and economic posturing are reshaping manufacturing, trade and energy security across the capital markets.
Are Bessent’s Hands Tied?
The rise in U.S. Treasury (UST) yields, specifically the ten-year note, since late February has captured the attention of global investors in a very visible fashion. Just a couple of weeks ago, headlines were blaring that the UST 10-year yield had reached its highest level since the beginning of 2025, leaving market participants to wonder: What comes next?
Reading Between the Lines: NLP for Long-Horizon Factor Investing (Part 1 of 2)
When it comes to systematic investing, numbers tell only part of the story. Traditional quantitative models rely on prices, earnings, and balance sheet data, but words matter too.
Look to State Street, Invesco, VanEck for Top-Performing ETFs in 2026
The top-performing non-leveraged ETFs of 2026 span a distinct blend of digital assets and localized international equity plays.
SEC’s Proposed Closed-End Fund Changes: What to Know
The closed-end fund landscape may be seeing a big change as regulations may be shifting at the SEC, per recent announcements.
The S&P 500, Dow, and Nasdaq: Real Returns Since 2000 Peak (May 2026)
Here is a look at real (inflation-adjusted) charts of the S&P 500, Dow 30, and Nasdaq composite since their 2000 highs. We've updated this through the May 2026 close.
The Total Return Roller Coaster: May 2026
Here's an interesting set of charts that will especially resonate with those of us who follow economic and market cycles. Imagine that five years ago you invested $10,000 in the S&P 500. How much would it be worth today, with dividends reinvested but adjusted for inflation?
Wellington Announces Plan to Buy Hartford Funds for $1.9B
On Wednesday, June 3, Wellington Management and The Hartford announced that Wellington will be acquiring Hartford Funds. Once the acquisition is complete, Hartford Funds will operate under Wellington’s brand through the firm’s U.S. Wealth business.
Vanguard’s VOO Hits $1 Trillion of Assets in ETF Industry First
A seemingly endless appetite for buying US stock dips has propelled Vanguard Group’s S&P 500-tracking ETF past $1 trillion in assets, making it the first fund of its kind to reach a milestone once thought unimaginable for the ETF industry.
Market Valuation, Inflation and Treasury Yields: May 2026
Our monthly market valuation updates have long had the same conclusion: US stock indexes are significantly overvalued, which suggests cautious expectations for investment returns. This analysis focuses on the P/E10 ratio, key indicator of market valuation, and its correlation with inflation and the 10-year Treasury yield.
Cliffwater Private Credit Fund Stung by 17% Redemption Requests
Cliffwater LLC’s flagship private credit fund capped redemptions at 5% in the second quarter after investors looked to pull about 17% of shares, in a sign of enduring pressure on the $1.8 trillion market.
Four Watchpoints for 2026’s Potential Mega IPO Class
The IPO market may be entering one of its largest cycles in years, but the next wave may be defined less by breadth than by scale. Instead of hundreds of companies listing, a smaller group of AI and strategic infrastructure leaders could reset the market on their own.
Druckenmiller Leads Wall Street’s Return to Argentine Stocks
Foreign investors led by the likes of Stanley Druckenmiller and major Wall Street banks are returning to Argentine stocks this year after some had exited ahead of 2025’s volatile midterm election cycle.
Record Highs on the Back of Earnings and AI. Will Inflation Prove Sticky and Derail the Rally?
Despite rising global yields and renewed inflation concerns, equities moved higher in May on the back of a strong US earnings season and continued momentum in AI-related stocks. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 8.4% for the month, while the S&P 500 rose 5.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2.9%.
Guided by Fundamentals: Navigating Emerging Markets with Value
Emerging markets offer important exposure to economic growth through rapid industrialization, natural resource endowments, and strong demographic dynamics.
The Value of an Integrated Wealth Strategy
Wealth today is more complex than ever. Investments, taxes, estate planning, insurance, and even family dynamics are deeply interconnected, and decisions in one area can have meaningful consequences in another.
AI Drives Stock Market Higher Despite Uneven Growth
Stocks extended their advance for a ninth consecutive week, with the S&P 500 rising more than 5 percent in May on the heels of April’s 10 percent rally. This nine-week run coincides with the market’s March 30 bottom, when early signs of a potential off-ramp or ceasefire in the Middle East began to emerge.
Could the ‘I’ in AI Stand for Inflation?
Even if the Middle East war does find a lasting settlement, the specter of inflation appears poised to hang over the markets. Indeed, while employment data had, up until recently, been the primary focus for investors, arguably, inflation reports have now moved into the ‘leaderboard’ position.
2026 Mid-Year Outlook: U.S. Stocks and Economy
Learn what's in store for the remainder of 2026 and the challenges that lie ahead in our mid-year outlook for U.S. stocks and the economy.
Factor Investing Endures Despite Tough 2025 for Quality Stocks
A strong business isn’t always a winning stock at every moment, and 2025 was a good reminder of that. Developed market equities finished the year up more than 20%, but quality stocks lagged. That’s why Parametric favors a multifactor approach to capture factor risk premia.
AI Stocks Enter a Crucial Month as Major Tech Events Crowd the Calendar
Get ready for a magnificent month, and then some. Mega-cap tech stocks dominate the corporate event calendar in June, already highlighted by NVIDIA (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote address at Computex 2026 in Taiwan earlier this week, one of many major conferences.
Rate Hikes: The Right Medicine at the Wrong Time
Last week, several Fed members signaled the central bank may have to raise interest rates to cool price inflation.
Buffett Valuation Indicator: May 2026
Following the Q1 GDP second estimate, the 'Buffett Indicator'—the ratio of corporate equities to GDP—now stands at 229.7%. This marks the second-highest reading in history, eclipsed only by the previous quarter.
Investing With Purpose: Defiance Launches Autism Impact ETF
Given its focus, the launch presents a milestone for the asset management community. ASD blends a sophisticated index design with structural corporate philanthropy to create an ETF that resonates with those invested financially and emotionally.
Bull vs Bear: Are Space ETFs Ready for Liftoff or Grounded by Macro Headwinds?
Space ETFs have seen strong inflows coupled with standout performance, capturing significant market attention. For investors, the rapid pace of capital deployment into the space economy underscores a compelling investment opportunity. For this edition of Bull vs Bear, writers Zandile Chiwanza and Elle Caruso Fitzgerald debate the use cases for space ETFs in portfolios.
The True Cost of Indecision in 2026
More and more Americans are feeling financially behind in 2026. More than eight in 10 have reported having at least one financial regret from 2025, according to a recent survey from Omni Calculator. 28% said making rushed decisions without enough planning were the leading cause of financial mistakes.
FS KKR Sells $900 Million Bonds in Rare Junk-Rated BDC Deal
A private credit fund jointly managed by Future Standard and KKR & Co. sold $900 million of junk bonds on Monday, according to people familiar with the matter, in a rare high-yield offering by a publicly traded credit fund.
Blackstone Ties Up With Nippon Life on Private Credit Investment
Blackstone Inc. has entered an agreement to provide Nippon Life Insurance Co. with investment services, adding to an increasing number of tie-ups between private investment firms and Japanese insurers.
AI Funding Boom Reaches Muni Market With Google-Tied Bond Sale
Google parent Alphabet Inc. is poised to enter the municipal-bond market’s prepaid energy space by participating in a $1 billion transaction out of California, a major development in the evolution of a booming segment.
Company Pension Funds Stuffed With Bonds Ease Up on Debt Buying
A key source of demand for corporate bonds may be fading now that managers of company pension funds have more than enough money on hand to pay their retirees.
AOR Update: Resilience
US equities continued to climb higher in May, with the S&P 500 Index rising 5.1%. Further de-escalation of geopolitical tension in the Middle East has paved the way for the market’s 19.5% advance from the late-March lows.
What Are Investors Really Getting from Private Markets?
Private markets have become integral to modern portfolios, with many investors searching for higher returns and diversification, including from public markets. But recent fund redemptions have reinforced that illiquidity isn’t theoretical, raising questions about the benefits of giving up liquidity. We see several—but investors must understand the trade-offs.
Records on the Tape. Savings at a Three-Year Low.
For the dollar-denominated investor weighing how to position for the back half of 2026, last week tightened a thesis we have been building all year.
Risk Management For Retirees: When To Reduce Exposure
Reducing equity exposure during periods of elevated risk is not the same as market timing. The financial industry has spend decades blurring that distinction.
Asking the More Appropriate Question
Would I be better off waiting for the Fed to make its move on rates before investing?” “Should I wait to increase duration because a blocked Strait of Hormuz could push oil prices higher and push rates even higher?” “Should I invest in bonds gradually to reduce the risk of missing the rate peak?
CMBS: A Tale of Two (office) Markets?
Rising office delinquencies within commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) reflect genuine pressures from shifting work patterns, higher interest rates, and greater refinancing risk.
Strong Earnings Season Complete! Where Will the Market Focus Now?
Taylor Topoussis and Chris Galipeau discuss high-conviction insights that go beyond media headlines.
Add Context, and Stock Market Valuations are Fair
LPL Research analyzes stock valuations, finding them fair given growth, rates, inflation, and AI-driven earnings outlook despite risks.
AI Financing Needs Do Not Override Cyclical Drivers of Yield
AI is a transformative technology with both near-term and long-term implications for the economy. For investors, while the debt-funded AI buildout has the potential to become a secular driver of risk premia, we believe any such shift would only play out through a multi-year adjustment and would not override the cyclical forces that affect markets.
How to Pass Down Your Values Along with Your Wealth
Every family has a money story. It gets passed down quietly, invisibly, in the way families talk around the dinner table or on long walks together.
The S&P 500 Hit Record Highs, but Eight of Eleven Sectors Ended May in the Red
May’s 5.3% S&P 500 gain masked a deeply uneven market: technology surged 16% on AI spending momentum while most sectors declined, and a surprise inflation rebound flipped the Fed narrative from cuts to potential hikes.
Market Valuation: Is the Market Still Overvalued?
Here is a summary of the four market valuation indicators we update on a monthly basis.
America's Tab: What 100% Debt-to-GDP Means for Advisors
As advisors, our role is not to solve fiscal policy; it is to ensure our clients are positioned to weather the uncertainty that comes from that gap, stay committed to their long-term plans, and not let macroeconomic anxiety drive short-term decisions they will regret.
Clear Communication Helps Your Financial Team Help You
Individual expertise matters. But in complex situations, making good decisions also depends on your financial professionals sharing information. When you support and expect their collaboration, you are no longer the communication relay.
How Advisors Can Adapt as the Needs of the Mass Affluent Change
While the mass affluent market may not be feeling the brunt of inflation woes or the rising cost of living, its financial planning is still being impacted by current economic headwinds.
P/E10 and Market Valuation: May 2026
Here is the latest update of a popular market valuation method, Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio, using the most recent Standard & Poor's "as reported" earnings and earnings estimates, and the index monthly average of daily closes for the past month. The latest trailing twelve months (TTM) P/E ratio is 25.9 and the latest P/E10 ratio is 39.9, the highest level since 2000.
AI Fuels $280 Billion Cybersecurity Rally as Earnings Test Looms
Investors are about to get a read on the durability of the soaring rally in cybersecurity stocks when two of the industry’s major players report earnings in the coming days.
Biggest US Nuclear Fuel Enricher Is Scaling Up in Bet on AI Boom
The announced expansion comes as the US races to provide huge amounts of electricity for AI data centers, with nuclear power emerging as one of the big winners. The Trump administration is pushing to quadruple output from nuclear plants which will require a leap in uranium fuel production to meet the challenge.
Wall Street Dumps Crash Hedges as Most-Shorted Stocks Jump 30%
Caution has become the most expensive position on Wall Street. A hot inflation reading this week — sending the annual gauge to its highest in about three years — landed alongside fresh strikes in the Persian Gulf and enduring expectations that the Federal Reserve may need to keep policy tight.
Muni Funds Lure Near-Record Cash as Reinvestment Season Nears
Investors are pouring money back into municipal bonds as higher yields and the approaching summer reinvestment season draw cash into the tax-exempt market.
Market Focus Shifts From Earnings to Macro Catalysts
Geopolitical risks are still lingering in the background, but the story lately has been all about earnings. A strong 1Q26 season, paired with a steady drumbeat of upbeat management commentary, has helped push the S&P 500 to 21 record highs this year.
Investment Discipline Amid the AI Infrastructure Boom
Businesses are racing to build the physical infrastructure that makes AI usable at scale – data centers, the graphics processing unit (GPU) hardware stack, power, and cooling.
Falling Yields Reinforce Equity Market Resilience
The market continues to demonstrate remarkable resilience. Lower oil prices, easing Treasury yields, and the relentless buildout of artificial intelligence infrastructure are still providing a favorable backdrop for risk assets.
The $13.7 Billion Hedge Fund That’s Betting Big on AGI Infrastructure
If you’re not familiar with the name Leopold Aschenbrenner, you should be. A 24-year-old wunderkind, Aschenbrenner was hired by OpenAI in 2023 to work on the company’s “superalignment” team, essentially trying to figure out how to keep AI systems safe once they become smarter than the people building them.
Trying Tango
Economies around the world aren’t just reliant on AI investments for growth. The appreciation of AI stocks has supported spending, which is following “K-shaped” patterns. A significant correction to the valuations of tech leaders would therefore be even more likely to result in recession.
More Slow Home Price Growth Ahead
A little more than six months ago there were narratives circulating that national housing prices were in an even bigger bubble than the one twenty years ago and headed for an “inevitable” collapse. Given that national home prices dropped about 27% from peak to bottom in the last housing bust, that would be something to worry about.
White House Drone Funding News Sent DRNZ 15% Higher
The global defense industry continues to move rapidly from legacy, heavy-hardware platforms to agile, unmanned systems. Today, the Trump Administration announced that it’s pursuing funding deals for drone companies in an effort to increase domestic production in today’s defensive landscape.
America’s Hegemonic Glory is Under Threat
Vocabulary is a power builder. Every time I use the word “hegemonic” in a conversation, I see my listeners’ eyebrows go up as if to say, “what does this guy know that I don’t?” Then again maybe they’re just signaling that I’m full of more than baked beans.
ProShares Leaders Q&A on Dividend Aristocrat Suite
The ETF landscape includes a wide variety of innovative, intriguing funds that look to meet investor goals. From equities to fixed income, all kinds of strategies offer intriguing spins on areas like income and dividends.
JP Morgan Adds Futures ETF to Lineup
J.P. Morgan Asset Management has expanded its alternative lineup with the launch of the JPMorgan Managed Futures Plus ETF (JPFP) on the Nasdaq. The actively managed fund combines a core U.S. equity allocation with a systematic managed futures strategy spanning equities, bonds, currencies, and commodities.
World Markets Watchlist: June 1, 2026
Five of the nine indexes on our world markets watch list posted year-to-date gains through June 1, 2026.
10-Year Treasury Yield Long-Term Perspective: May 2026
The 10-year Treasury yield has experienced dramatic fluctuations, ranging from a peak of 15.68% in October 1981, during the height of the Volcker era, to a historic low of 0.55% in August 2020, amidst the economic uncertainty of the pandemic. At the end of May 2026, the weekly average stood at 4.47%.
3 Reasons To Invest In Closed-End Funds This Summer
Closed-end funds may not be a hot topic right now, but they offer a highly compelling means to solve today's macroeconomic woes.
Goldman Sachs Didn't Partner With Anthropic to Write Better Emails
Goldman Sachs announced a partnership with Anthropic in early May, though you probably shouldn’t view it as just a cool innovation story. It is infrastructure in motion. When institutions like Goldman move, pay attention to what problem they believe they are solving.
The Muni Brief: NYC’s Pied-à-Terre Tax
New York City is facing one of the most significant fiscal challenges in recent memory. The NYC Comptroller has projected a $2.2 billion budget shortfall for FY2026, growing to a $10.4 billion gap in FY2027 (Source: New York City Comptroller, January 2026). That is a two-year deficit of roughly $12.6 billion.
Japan Equities
For the last eight years, GMO’s Asset Allocation team has held a differentiated view on Japanese equities. Long before Japan re‑entered the global investment narrative, we argued that the country was undergoing slow but durable structural changes aimed at improving corporate governance, growth, and capital efficiency. These reforms were never expected to deliver quick results. Instead, we expected them to compound quietly over time.
Record Extremes, Alternative Investments, and the Hippo
The essential feature of a useful alternative asset isn’t that it’s unusual or exotic, but that its returns aren’t tightly linked to the risks that already dominate the portfolio. The value of an alternative asset comes from the way it interacts with the other assets in the portfolio.
High Inflation May Continue: How It Could Affect Your Investing
Before I recommend what to do, I want to first state what not to do. Don’t invest as if you think you know what long-term inflation will be. Will we return to the double-digit inflation of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s? The answer is: Nobody knows.
The Hidden Tax Drag in Municipal Bond Portfolios: What Advisors Are Missing
The assumption that muni equals tax-free is deeply embedded in how the asset class gets discussed and presented. But for high-net-worth clients in high-tax states, the gap between partially exempt and fully exempt is material enough to be worth a conversation.
Guess Who’s Got an AI Edge in a Tough Job Market?
Mentioning artificial intelligence to the graduating class of 2026 has been sure to get you booed. And why not? Fresh graduates have spent the past few years being told about the wonders of AI and watched seniors struggle to get a toehold in the labor market.
Company Pension Funds Stuffed With Bonds Ease Up on Debt Buying
The industry is entering a more customized phase of liability-driven investing, he said. While earlier stages focused on adding duration and raising fixed-income allocations, better-funded plans are now tinkering at the margins to more precisely match their holdings with their obligations.
US Futures Rise as Traders Remain Hopeful of US-Iran Peace Deal
US stocks headed for a positive open on Monday as traders remained hopeful that Washington and Tehran would strike a peace deal, even amid a rise in oil prices.
Timing Productivity Benefits: The AI Economy
Innovation drives productivity growth, which in turn raises the standard of living for a nation's population. Accordingly, we support the theory that AI will benefit the economy and the population. We laid this bullish case out in "The AI Economy: Looking Beyond The Façade Part I."