Broad-based dividend strategies haven’t performed very well in 2023. But panelists at VettaFi’s Equity Symposium argued that there is value in dividend ETFs — investors just need to know where to look.

When Exchange first launched in 2022, it redefined what an advisor-focused conference could look like. Now, Exchange 2024 is just around the corner. The financial services industry prepares to unite at Miami Beach on February 11th-14th.

The European Central Bank is likely at or very near its peak policy rate, but we don’t expect rate cuts in the near term.

What’s inside an ETF really matters. This is an argument I’ve been making for more than a decade. However, with the growth of alternatively weighted index ETFs and actively managed products, this has become even more notable.

Inverted curves (when the gold line goes below the red line meaning that short maturity yields are higher compared to longer maturity yields) have preceded recessions.

The Franklin Templeton Fixed Income team believe that issuers that think critically about the environment in which they operate could outperform throughout the full market cycle compared with those who are slower to adapt.

Whatever stories Americans are told about the strength of the economy under President Joe Biden, they are not going to be persuaded to look past the issue of their own living standards. For most Americans, these have declined somewhat as price increases have outpaced wage growth.

Banks have reemerged as a potential pain point for the investment community, as rating agencies recently embarked on a downgrade cycle in the sector.

Industrial securities are unloved by financial advisors. However, it is the backbone of a relatively popular sector ETF and two relatively new thematic ETFs positioned to benefit from transformational changes. Perhaps they want to dive deeper into the fundamentals with us during the VettaFi Equity Symposium on September 21.

For new investors, the world of finance can appear daunting. But among the sea of investment options, Treasury bonds (often just called “Treasuries”) are a pillar of stability and reliability.

Given the uncertainty over a recession, there are other incremental steps that investors may want to consider instead. These include making adjustments to a portfolio’s market beta and credit exposure.

A return to the Great Moderation Era looks unlikely, which might lead to an increasingly volatile—and somewhat unfamiliar—inflationary, economic, and geopolitical landscape.

In arguably quiet fashion, active managers are performing admirably in 2023. An impressive percentage of active equity and fixed income funds beat their benchmarks in the first half of the year.

Celebrating an exciting milestone: Franklin Income Fund turns 75. Learn more about this flagship strategy and read some fun facts from back in 1948.

In this video, Chuck Carnevale, Co-Founder of FAST Graphs, a.k.a. Mr. Valuation will cover two very interesting stocks for your dividend growth investing that have been requested by subscribers to look at.

The term “Bond Vigilantes” is a nostalgic twist on an old-west theme. In the nineteenth century, the American West formed self-appointed groups, or committees, to seize the duties of law enforcement and judicial authority in situations when citizens found law enforcement lacking or inadequate.

Now seems like a good time to talk about wrappers and which ones are best for different situations. How do you decide whether to use an ETF, a mutual fund, or something else?

When markets are in a rising tide, all boats (aka stocks) can benefit. When the waters are choppier, active equity selection aims to identify the sounder vessels. Tony DeSpirito reviews five reasons why he believes the new environment is setting up to favor an active approach.

The FOMC will make some close calls and tough decisions.

Confidence is returning to the bond markets and one sign is corporations’ willingness to start taking on debt again with new issuance.

Markets are convinced that the Federal Reserve (Fed) is going to pause its interest rate campaign after it finalizes its Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Wednesday, September 20.

Despite substantial growth and huge advancements in public policy support, clean energy has had an abysmal stretch in the stock market the last two and a half years.

The University of Colorado Buffaloes are undefeated and suck up a lot of oxygen in the college football world.

Credit Research Analysts Greg Schantz and Julian Wellesley dive into why they favor European banks vs US banks and why they see a potential opportunity in Yankee bank bonds.

Okay, I took a little poetic license, but the point is that while we try, predictions of the future are difficult at best and impossible at worst.

Forced deleveraging to be chaotic, causing a new Fed and banking panic.

In a significant turnaround for its aviation sector, Mexico’s air safety rating was upgraded from Category 2 back to Category 1 by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The upgrade could be a game-changer, offering opportunities for both Mexican airlines and their U.S. joint venture partners.

Competing narratives have emerged to describe the state of the U.S. economy.

As the artificial intelligence (AI) investment thesis continues evolving, one benefit accrued by investors will be that it becomes easier to identify winners and losers.

With actively managed ETFs, advisors and clients are willing to pay a premium relative to investing in an index-based approach. However, they want to be rewarded. In 2023, VettaFi is seeing this occur and is eager to share more about some of these active equity ETF strategies.

Soft consumer confidence and property-market woes are playing a large role in the slowdown of China’s economy.

The Northern Trust Economics team shares its outlook for U.S. growth, employment, interest rates and inflation.

Today, I am going to do something that I've never done. I am going to start a two-part series describing what is in my personal portfolio and why. Let me start by offering two caveats: This letter is in the “do as I say and not as I do” category.

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, is mired in a slump. The decision in the Greyscale case stoked optimism that the SEC will eventually, finally approve spot bitcoin ETFs. Still, the bitcoin slump has erased all of the upside generated by the court ruling.

Now, is it an oversimplification to say that the upgrade to GDP growth is just down to Taylor Swift and Beyoncé? It is, to a degree, no matter how popular they are—and they are very popular indeed.

AI, with its data analysis and predictive power, can revolutionize investing. However, humans remain a crucial part of the process. Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions provides use cases into how different investors can harness AI to achieve their desired outcomes and workflows.

Bearish China traders have had the upper hand for most of the year. Still, easing deflation could give bulls a glimmer of hope.

The Energizer Bunny! That’s the term that best describes the U.S. economy.

BlackRock and Human Interest have found that American workers earning less than the national average are not saving due to lack of access to saving tools. Broadening access requires an intuitive and automated approach to retirement savings.

If held until the bond is redeemed (either by call or maturity), the annual yield earned for the life of a bond is known upfront at the time of purchase. Knowing the return on an investment upfront makes long-term financial planning a much easier task.

Hear from Jeff Schulze, Head of Economic and Market Strategy at ClearBridge Investments, about the state of the US economy. Get his perspective on the Federal Reserve’s next potential moves.

Some investment trends seem obvious — people are watching more streaming movies, consumers like shopping online, and more people are buying electric cars. So why don’t these ETFs always work?

Although US bond yields are well above their lows of the past decade, it’s always a good idea to think globally.

Municipals posted negative total returns amid rising interest rates. Issuance exceeded tempered expectations, while demand waned as performance struggled.

Last week the World Gold Council reported that central banks continued to add to their global gold reserves during the month of July. The World Gold Council also highlighted that China, Poland and Turkey were among the countries that were the largest buyers of gold during the month.

In February this year we wrote an article entitled A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Recession. Fast forward to the current situation, where opinion has shifted away from recession in favor of a soft-landing scenario. Does that same contrary analysis mean a recession is now more likely? The simple answer is no, not yet anyway!

Inflation averaged 1.8% in the ten years pre-COVID. Don’t expect inflation to average that low in the decade ahead. Not until the US finds a way to repeat the 1980s policy mix.

The 10-year Treasury yield has climbed steadily over the past two years. But we believe fixed-income investors should be prepared for lower yields ahead.

Measuring, anticipating and controlling the cost of healthcare are all difficult.

Touchstone Investments now has six actively managed ETFs. It seeks to bring its “distinctively active” mutual fund approach to meet advisors where they are focused.