BMT - Banking, Wealth & Insurance

Jim Barnes, Senior Vice President and Director of Fixed Income at BMT Wealth Management, discusses the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) held on June 15/16.  At this meeting, the FOMC revised its projections for the federal reserve target range from no rate hikes through 2023 to 50 basis points (0.50%).  The U.S. Treasury curve shifted higher immediately following the 2:00 statement to reflect the more hawkish tone.  Discussions regarding bond tapering formerly began but no changes were made.  Instead, during the post-meeting conference, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell simply said discussions will continue at upcoming meetings.

Jim Barnes, Senior Vice President and Director of Fixed Income at BMT Wealth Management, discusses the Federal Open Market Committee held on March 16/17.  The quick takeaway, the Federal Reserve (Fed) is in no hurry to remove or alter its accommodative monetary policy this year.  The Fed continues to project the federal funds target rate will remain near 0.00% through 2023 based on the recently updated Summary of Economic Projections.  During the post-meeting conference, Fed Chairman Powell acknowledged the recent rise in bond yields but didn’t believe there was a need to alter the amount of monthly bond purchases.

BMT Chief Investment Officer Jeff Mills cuts through the noise and recent sub-plots in the financial markets to look at Big Tech and what may lie ahead for the Tech sector. In this podcast, Jeff discusses equity valuations, interest rates, inflation, and policy risks related to Tech, a piece of BMT’s overall 2021 Investment Outlook.

Links:

• Big Tech: The Road to Underperformance - www.bmt.com/big-tech-the-road-to-underperformance
• BMT's 2021 Economic and Investment Outlook - www.bmt.com/2021-economic-and-investment-outlook

Jim Barnes, Senior Vice President and Director of Fixed Income at BMT Wealth Management, discusses the first Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting of 2021 that concluded on January 27.  As expected, the Federal Reserve (Fed) left monetary policy unchanged but acknowledged recent economic weakness in the post-FOMC statement.  Fed Chairman Powell played down the likelihood of removing current monetary policy accommodations in 2021 by simply stating the discussion was premature given the economic uncertainty related to the pandemic.

In a new Q&A format, Chief Investment Officer Jeff Mills and Director of Fixed Income Jim Barnes discuss the Federal Reserve banking system, starting with the basics and moving to more granular topics. What is the Federal Reserve system? What does the Fed do? What is the central bank? What is monetary policy? What is the Fed's dual mandate? Listen for these and more – like a deep dive into interest rates – in BMT Wealth Management's latest podcast.

In this podcast, BMT Director of Tax Services Jennifer Marshall offers a post-election tax discussion based on a Biden-Harris administration scenario. Jen does a deep dive into the various tax proposals mentioned during the campaign, at town hall sessions, and campaign rallies. How do the various proposals impact 2020 year-end tax planning? Listen to hear Jen's analysis.

Links:

• BMT Year-End Tax Planning Guide (COMING SOON)
• BMT Wealth Management

BMT Chief Investment Officer Jeff Mills provides an overview of the private equity asset class. In this podcast, Jeff covers what private equity is and why some investors may want to consider it within a diversified portfolio. Listen as Jeff discusses why now might be a particularly interesting time to consider private equity, highlighting that the pandemic has created opportunities to invest in certain middle-market private companies.

This is an audio-only version of a recent BMT Perspective webcast on year-end tax planning. It was recorded live in September 2020. Learn from the experts on income tax and estate planning opportunities to consider in 2020, effective planning strategies for low-interest environments, and Trump vs. Biden tax proposals and how those may impact planning and much more.

Jim Barnes, Senior Vice President and Director of Fixed Income at BMT Wealth Management, discusses the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting that concluded on September 16th.  At this meeting, the FOMC released an updated Summary of Economic Projections which projected the Fed will keep interest rates near zero through at least 2023.  In the post FOMC press conference, Chairman Powell acknowledged the improving economy and the recent bounce in economic data but also reiterated the U.S. economy has a way to go before getting back to pre-COVID days.  

Jim Barnes, Senior Vice President and Director of Fixed Income at BMT Wealth Management, discusses the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting that concluded on July 29.  As expected, the Federal Reserve (Fed) left monetary policy unchanged but added within the FOMC statement that “The path of the economy will depend significantly on the course of the virus.”  Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged in the post-FOMC meeting press conference that recent economic data reflected a deceleration of growth but that more data will be needed to determine the overall strength of the current recovery.