Gaining Perspective

One of the most prominent research studies in the ETF market is the survey that Brown Brothers Harriman does in cooperation with ETF.COM. This is the seventh year that study has been conducted, and my guest, Ryan Sullivan, and I will discuss the results.

Last year – 2019 – was a strong year for precious metals. Gold had its strongest increase since 2010. Silver and platinum also saw their largest annual gains in several years. But the big winner was palladium, which gained over 50%.

Founded in 1999, Tiger 21 is a peer-to-peer network of wealthy individuals who meet on a regular basis to discuss the issues that matter most to them. Many of those discussions are focused on investing. 

Its 700+ members include entrepreneurs who have created, built, and sold their own businesses. Others are Wall Street executives, CEOs of major companies, and real estate investors. All have been successful in their chosen fields and have a minimum of $10 million in assets to invest and the average member has $100 million in assets.

A recent study by Charles Schwab revealed that succession planning ranks last on the list of top priorities for RIAs. Moreover, 92% of firms are considering internal succession. As someone who has first-hand experience selling a business, my guest, Stuart Silverman, will explain why advisors are hesitant to part ways with their firms, how they can identify a successor and how institutional capital can help fuel succession strategies.

After 40 years on Wall Street, stock market expert Marc Chaikin, whose technical indicators are industry standards, introduced a suite of groundbreaking tools to provide a directional edge for investors and advisors. Chaikin Analytics was launched in March 2011 and is a suite of research tools and portfolio management services that help pick winning stocks and ETFs and drop losers ahead of market shifts.

Granite Shares is an ETF company focused on simple, cost-effective access to commodity and alternative investments.

Since the beginning of humankind, we have looked to the skies with immense curiosity in search of answers. Space has always captured human interest, but recently, the space economy has also captured commercial interest like never before. UFO, the Procure Space ETF, is positioned to provide diversification beyond the limitations of solely earthbound companies.

This year, 2019, may be remembered as the year to be invested in large-cap growth stocks, with the Russell 1000 large-cap growth index returning over 30% year-to-date. One of the standout funds this year is the William Blair Large Cap Growth (LCGNX), which has returned over 35% with less than a week to go in the year. But its strong track record extends back even longer. It has returned 9.78% annually over the last 15 years, beating the Morningstar large-cap growth category average by 47 basis points.

Only 2% of mutual fund assets are managed by women. One of them is Rupal Bhansali, who also happens to be a woman of color. She offers some insights into the keys to her successful career path, as well as the top contrarian opportunities she sees in the non-U.S. markets.

One of the most consequential decisions an advisory firm must make is the suite of technology applications it will use – everything from financial planning to investment management to CRM and the myriad ancillary systems that streamline operations and deliver clients the information they want.  My guest today has seen the advisory technology industry evolve from a collection of stand-alone software packages to an integrated, web-based platform, and she will give us her predictions for what the next decade will bring.