Advisors, beware—index fund asset managers can change their target indexes without you noticing. A new study from Morningstar, “The Transformation of Index Funds: More Than Meets the Face,” found that about a quarter of the index funds it examined switched target indexes at least once since their inception. Depending on how significant the change is…

Many financial advisors and estate planning practitioners focus primarily on managing their clients' lifetime cash flow and minimizing their estate taxes. However, a helpful planning tactic—and one that's often overlooked—is maximizing charitable contributions with certain retirement plan assets, such as individual retirement accounts and Internal Revenue Code section 401(k) accounts. , when an individual dies….

(Bloomberg) — A federal judge ruled that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission cannot enforce its near-complete ban on non-compete agreements that was set to take effect next month, blocking an attempt by the agency to make labor markets more competitive. In a ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Ada Brown in Dallas sided with the U.S….

Sponsored by Since 2016, Nitrogen has collected over 1 million responses from investors about how they feel about the markets and their financial future. This white paper explores the evolution of investor sentiment as it dives into these emotions—categorized as “Market Sentiment” and “Financial Futures”—and analyzes their relationship to market movements. The findings provide valuable…

Discover the evolving technology landscape in wealth management with insights from our latest survey. Explore how Innovators, Operators and Laggards approach technology and learn about the latest trends shaping the industry. Key points: Increased satisfaction: 44% of respondents are very satisfied with their technology, up from 37% last year. Budget increase: 79% of…

(Bloomberg) — Crypto exchange-traded fund provider Bitwise Asset Management is acquiring ETC Group, a London-based digital asset issuer, adding to a string of deals within the ETF industry. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. At the close of the transaction, San Francisco-based Bitwise will manage $4.5 billion, the company said in a statement on…

It's been just over a year since Ed Swenson, former COO and co-founder of Dynasty Financial Partners, joined Osaic (then Advisors Group) as president of RIA Solutions, a newly created role. Swenson was charged with creating and managing Osaic's RIA-only and hybrid channel strategy, along with developing a corporate RIA platform for fee-based advisors. He…

(Bloomberg Opinion) — Does legalized online sports betting strain family finances? A recent study, “Stability of gambling: The impact of sports betting on vulnerable households,” argues yes, but the conclusion reflects the authors' moral assumptions rather than statistical evidence. That doesn't mean this is a bad study. It is a good and useful one, but…

(Bloomberg) — Gold is in record form, surging past $2,500 an ounce on expectations that the Federal Reserve is poised to cut U.S. interest rates. The precious metal's 21% year-to-date rise has made it one of the top performing commodities in 2024 and banks including UBS Group AG and ANZ Group Holdings Ltd. say there…

Raymond James has added a pair of advisors managing over $360 million in assets to its employee advisor channel, Raymond James & Associates. Advisors Gary Perl and Katie Janda are joining from Morgan Stanley. The team will operate as Raymond James' Perl Group and will be based in offices in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and…