A properly functioning Strait of Hormuz holds the keys to clarity around the growth, inflation, and market shock that has stemmed from the war in the Middle East.
Silver had a phenomenal 2025, more than doubling from around $30/oz to above $70 by late December, and the rally continued into the new year.
Private credit is a key pillar of debt capital formation alongside public credit markets and bank balance sheets. But an important part of its value proposition—to borrowers and end investors—is its illiquidity relative to public markets. That distinction is by design, and we think it should stay that way.
Economic dislocations create opportunities. While many market watchers are seriously concerned about the microshifts in markets and stocks, others may see the opportunities that emerge when oil prices spike.
Engaging with client family members may seem tricky, but it can start with simple questions to the client first. In fact, asking your client about the personalities and desires of their loved ones may be a way of deepening your understanding of your client’s financial needs.
Nate Geraci hosted a live ETF Prime episode from the Exchange conference in Las Vegas. The panel featured discussions on active ETFs and industry trends with Dimensional’s Wes Krill, and a roundtable of experts.
Alphabet Inc.’s Google is moving ahead with plans for a major data center in Michigan that features a 20-year electricity contract requiring it to cover the full expense of adding a haul of new clean power.
The federal funds rate will remain 3.5% to 3.75%. The 'dot plot' still projects a single rate cut this year, and the Fed sees slightly stronger economic growth and inflation.
Gold sank for a seventh session as the escalating war in the Middle East drove oil prices higher and reduced prospects for a US interest-rate cut in the near term. Silver slumped more than 10%.
JPMorgan Asset Management is issuing its first Taiwan-focused wealth management product in more than a decade, joining global rivals rushing into one of Asia’s hottest exchange-traded funds markets.
For ultra-high-net-worth families, the landscape of wealth stewardship is evolving. As the largest intergenerational transfer of capital in history unfolds, women are increasingly shaping the future of family wealth—not only as inheritors and beneficiaries, but also as creators of wealth, entrepreneurs, investors, and leaders guiding multigenerational strategy.
The FOMC held the fed funds rate at 3.50%–3.75% for a second straight meeting as policymakers weigh slowing growth, persistent inflation, with core PCE at 3.1%, and geopolitical uncertainty from the Middle East.
The wealth transfer didn’t create a new problem; it exposed one advisors have postponed for decades.
China’s underappreciated equity market and energy resilience amid current geopolitical tensions warrants consideration, according to Franklin Templeton ETFs’ Dina Ting. In this article, she discusses the different factors that underpin her views.
Royce Investment Partners: Co-CIO Francis Gannon discusses how US small caps remain market leaders even as volatility and uncertainty are on the rise.
Despite gold’s sideways performance in recent weeks, UBS still expects gold to gain 20 percent from its current price this year.
Now that investors are aware of withdrawal limits, they’ll have a greater incentive to always ask for the maximum, requiring further asset sales that will depress returns — which, in turn, will encourage more withdrawals.
Outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) relationships have evolved dramatically. What once teed up primarily as a solution for smaller institutions seeking a roadmap to improving their governance, strategy and execution is now being adopted by much larger asset owners.
Historically, major geopolitical or economic crises, such as the war against Iran, have prompted investors to sell riskier assets and buy “safe-haven” investments whose values were expected to remain stable or even rise amid the disruptions.
Rob Arnott, founder & chairman of Research Affiliates, took part in a session at Exchange 2026 to discuss this, his views on growth opportunities, and more. Roxanna Islam, CFA, CAIA, head of sector & industry research at VettaFi, moderated the session.
Federal Reserve officials left interest rates unchanged and continued to expect one rate cut this year as they acknowledged increased uncertainty due to war in the Middle East.
If someone has deeply entrenched views — either to the right or to the left — they are not likely to change their minds because they listened to you. You could definitely offer some education here by talking about the long-term impacts of this war.
The recent 30% surge in crude oil prices has led many observers—drawing on memories of past energy crises—to immediately warn of recession. That may ultimately prove correct, but we’re cautious about narrative-driven, back-of-the-envelope predictions.
It’s been a volatile stretch for US equities as Wall Street tries to wrap its arms around the war in Iran. But with the fighting now in its third week, investors are becoming more sanguine about the stock market as signs emerge that the worst may be over.
US stock futures extend a two-day rally as investors remain cautiously optimistic amid rising energy prices and before the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate decision.
It took a war in Iran to reveal the full extent of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s sway over the White House — and his centrality to mending the frayed US-India bilateral relationship.
Investigation of Federal Reserve chair hits an obstacle, while the Department of Homeland Security remains shut down amid funding standoff.
As has been the case from day one when the first airstrikes began, the key factor in assessing economic and market impact is the duration of the effective Strait of Hormuz closure and resulting effects on prices of energy and other commodities. Prediction markets are split on whether the conflict ends by the end of May.
Comparing business-cycle-related primary trends of the falling 2-year Treasury yield shows that this is the slowest business cycle since WWII. I argue the slowness of this cycle is evidence of the 6+% average pro-cyclical fiscal deficit over the last three and a half years.
For decades, the 60/40 portfolio was the gold standard for balanced investing. However, as correlations between stocks and bonds fluctuate and traditional safe havens face new pressures, advisors are looking toward alternatives to increase portfolio efficiency.
With 2026 now in full swing, it’s time to announce the global podium for robotics — brought to you by the ROBO Global Robotics and Automation Index (ROBO).
Understanding how traditional RIA growth models have evolved is essential for advisors making deliberate decisions about the structure, scale, and long-term direction of their firms.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is leading a push by Wall Street banks to offload risky loans for acquisitions. The latest is a $2 billion debt sale to finance the purchase of asset manager Janus Henderson Group Plc by Nelson Peltz’s Trian Fund Management and General Catalyst.
Every financial crisis has a moment — usually identified only in retrospect — when an obscure product intended to mitigate risk spreads through what author Rick Bookstaber called “tightly coupled” interconnections to cause widespread damage.
Morgan Stanley is sticking with a forecast that sees the Federal Reserve resuming interest rates cuts in June and delivering another reduction in September, even as soaring oil prices prompt traders to curb bets for how much policymakers will lower borrowing costs this year.
When geopolitical tensions flare up, the natural assumption is that gold should immediately surge. War breaks out, markets panic… and the metal rallies as investors rush to safety.
Skyrocketing oil prices were accompanied by mixed inflation readings last week. The headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate held steady in February at 2.4 percent annually, while core CPI, which excludes more volatile food and energy costs, rose a modest 0.22 percent for the month.
The whole world will feel the consequences of this conflict.
Despite less reliance on oil, higher oil prices will add pressure to inflation. If energy costs stay elevated, inflation could rise again, potentially delaying interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve (Fed). Geopolitical uncertainty remains a risk. Conflicts in the Middle East could disrupt supply chains and increase price volatility in key commodities like oil.
In the aftermath of the first Internet stock-market bubble of the late 1990s the economy went into a relatively shallow recession starting in 2001. That recession was precipitated by a tight monetary policy, with the Federal Reserve setting short-term interest rates consistently above the pace of nominal GDP growth (real GDP growth plus inflation).;
International equities — non-U.S. equities — brought in a record $60 billion in January. Investors are looking abroad for their investment opportunities amid domestic uncertainty like significant concentration risk, Fed questions, and policy concerns.
The Procure Space ETF (UFO) has entered 2026 with significant momentum as investor enthusiasm around the commercialization of space continues to build.
It’s human instinct to want to know what the future holds and to protect and grow our nest egg based on our perceived knowledge of the future. It takes courage to ignore those economic forecasts from brilliant, well-meaning experts with very impressive credentials. Their logic is always compelling, but investing based on that logic can be hazardous to your wealth.
In our recent article, "The Value Rotation Illusion," we explained that in the recent rotation from growth to value. In this follow-up, we take the three-tier earnings valuation framework we introduced in the previous article a step further to uncover true value stocks.
For years it was a punch line. Now the Laffer Curve — which purports to show that tax cuts can increase revenue — is making a kind of comeback.
Nvidia Corp. executives will likely need to deliver a surprise at the chipmaker’s annual AI conference that begins Monday to spark a rally in the moribund stock.
The mood in the stock market by the end of last week was the type of stuff that contrarian investors dream about.
As advisors explore 2026 ETF Trends, Exchange presented a session covering top-of-mind stories. The session featured members from Women in ETFs, that inlcuded J.P. Morgan’s Julie Abbett, American Century Investments’ Cleo Chang, Fidelity Investments’ Lubna Lundy, and moderator Roxanna Islam from VettaFi, who unpacked the state of ETF markets in 2026.
As artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure debt floods bond markets, investors face a new risk landscape shaped by complex financing structures and potential overbuilding across the data center ecosystem.
We covered a lot of ground, but one image stuck with me: He called the Strait of Hormuz the sword of Damocles hanging over the global economy. For decades, the world’s most critical energy chokepoint has dangled there.
