Gaining Perspective

One of the most contentious topics among RIAs is whether to recommend annuities. While many will recommend a single-premium immediate annuity (a SPIA) or a deferred-income annuity (a DIA), those products represent only a small fraction of annuity sales. We are here to talk about whether RIAs should use the other 95% of annuity products for their clients in their retirement plans – specifically variable annuities, equity-indexed annuities and other related products.

 Our discussion will take the form of an informal debate on the following proposition, “Resolved: Annuities should play a prominent role in most retirement plans.”

The three-decade bull market in bonds may finally be over. Since the start of this year, the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond has risen 70 basis points. Since its low in August of last year, it has risen 111 basis points. The fear of inflation has been a key driver, fueled by a rapidly rising federal deficit and stimulus checks that will soon be in the wallets of American consumers. Here to discuss what that means for advisors and more importantly for your clients’ portfolios is Simeon Hyman of ProShares.

What if you could have an indexed portfolio tailored to personal priorities such as ESG that was highly tax efficient? My guests today, J. Womack and Erich Holland, will discuss how that is now possible, and how mass personalization like this is pivotal for advisor growth in an increasingly digital and personal world.

One of the most widely studied aspects of the capital markets is the low-volatility anomaly. It is the fact that low-volatility stocks have achieved higher performance than what theory predicts. My guest today, Dan Waldron, oversees one of the most popular ETFs based on that strategy. He is here to talk about how a low-volatility and high-quality strategy will achieve superior returns over time.

Shundrawn Thomas is perhaps the only and certainly one of the few African Americans who leads a global investment firm. He’s been quite outspoken and visible with his views on racism and inequities. Over the last year, he wrote three open letters to civic and business leaders which addressed them in an extremely personal and direct manner. He has also appeared numerous times on television presenting the investment case for gender diversity.

Our listeners do not need to be reminded of the lofty valuations in the U.S. equity market. The Shiller CAPE ratio is approximately 35, a value exceeded only at the peak of the dot-com bubble. Some claim those valuations are justified by the low-yield environment. But interest rates are pushing up, and equity prices continue to climb higher and higher. That has left advisors seeking solutions that protect against downside equity risk, but still offer upside opportunity.

As the COVID-19 pandemic wears on, women investors are more concerned about their finances and feel less prepared than they’ve been in years. Nearly three in four women with investable assets of $100,000 or more said the pandemic has negatively impacted their ability to retire. Ann Bair and Lori Hall present findings from Nationwide’s sixth annual Advisor Authority study, powered by the Nationwide Retirement Institute®, reflecting the responses of more than 2,500 individual investors, advisors and financial professionals.

My guest today, Dr. Daniel Crosby, is the author of a New York Times bestselling book that was named the best investment book of 2017, The Behavioral Investor. He has looked at how psychology should inform the art and science of investment management.  Daniel has examined the sociological, neurological and psychological factors that influence our investment decisions, and he is here to offer some practical solutions for improving both returns and behavior.

On February 11, 2020, my guests published a paper titled, “The Next Bear Market” while U.S. stock prices were at all-time highs and climbing daily to new records.  At that time, the prospect of a bear market seemed distant.  But eight days later, the steepest stock market descent in history began, with the S&P 500 Index falling 34%  during a five-week period.  We will discuss their new commentary, “Market Euphoria – How long can it last?”

My guest today, Taylor Schulte, has achieved what virtually every advisor seeks but few attain. He has designed and implemented a successful digital marketing strategy that provides an ongoing source of qualified leads for his fast-growing advisory practice. He is here to share his knowledge of digital marketing tactics with our listeners.