Blog Center

Jan 27

What comes after a big year for stocks

The questions I am getting from clients now are focused almost entirely on three specific things:  (1) the equity market is at an all-time high and coming off a big year for returns…..danger territory?; (2) inflation running hot and inflationary pressures everywhere, and (3) is the Fed about to abruptly... read more →
Jan 27

What does a bottom look like?

From January 4th, the S&P 500 has fallen close to 10%. A monthly decline of this magnitude has occurred 15 times in the last 50 years; and of those 15 times, 11 have occurred during recessions. We are not in a recession and our proprietary recession model currently forecasts a... read more →
Jan 26

Senior investors at risk

The American population continues to age, and more and more baby boomers are entering their twilight years. Every day, 10,000 Americans reach retirement age; and baby boomers are retiring with the lion’s share of U.S. disposable wealth. Advisors have the opportunity of managing not just senior clients’ accumulated wealth, but... read more →
Jan 19

A Summary of PTE 2020-02

Our Chief Compliance Officer has put together a summary of the fiduciary advice exemption PTE 2020-02 for our own Wealth Managers. PTE 2020-02 provides an exemption from the prohibited transaction rules for investment advisor fiduciaries with respect to employee benefit plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Please consult your compliance consultant... read more →
Jan 06

Mid-term election years are “bumpy”

The blue line, green line, purple line, and red line below all say that midterm election years get more and more bumpy the closer we get to casting our collective votes. Everyone should be expecting market volatility so carry an umbrella and buckle up safe. It’s noise and actually means... read more →
Jan 05

A few predictions for 2022

I have four predictions for 2022 – here goes: The Fed is going to raise interest rates. Maybe the most meaningless prediction in the history of prediction because the Fed has already telegraphed their desire to start hiking rates and the bond and stock market have already priced it in. The... read more →
Dec 07

#45: Carl Noble & Sauro Locatelli | Exposure and Sector Rotation

Carl Noble, Senior Vice President of Investments and Sauro Locatelli, Director of Quantitative Research, of Congress Wealth Management join us today to discuss their recently authored peer-reviewed white paper for the Journal of Financial Planning on how sector rotation and asset allocation, in sync with the economic business cycle, can... read more →
Nov 16

#44: Louis Diamond | Breakaways

Making the decision to breakaway from a wirehouse or larger firm can be a daunting one. There are many things to consider when making a move to independence. In this episode, Louis Diamond offers some important insights into that decision making process. Louis Diamond is president of Diamond Consultants and... read more →
Nov 03

#43: Scott Dell’Orfano | M&A

Mergers and acquisitions are a hot topic in the trade press these days. What then are the causes and formative factors behind the increased M&A activity being seen in the RIA industry landscape in recent months? Listen in to find out more. Scott Dell’Orfano is Chief Strategic Officer at Congress... read more →
Oct 19

#42: Congress Investment Team | All Time Highs

Despite advisor’s best efforts to the contrary, many amateur investors insist on trying some variation of “timing the market” philosophy to guide their investment activity. The myth is that if you’re investing while the market is continually racking up all time high returns, surely there’s a cliff just ahead, now’s... read more →