Artificial Intelligence

June saw strong market fundamentals once again in conflict with macroeconomic uncertainties, creating a choppy market. While a durable peace plan with Iran is seemingly underway, investors have regarded the negotiations with caution, pricing in potential setbacks.

Markets may have ended the first quarter with a thud, but stocks put another record run in the books to close out the first half of 2026. The U.S. ETF market had already shattered records, crossing the $15 trillion threshold and cruising past $1 trillion in net inflows right before summer officially began.

It’s been a long time coming for the asset management world, but ETF share classes are now a reality. Fidelity Investments has joined that movement, with the launch of its first ETF share classes for some of its mutual funds.

As growth stumbled, the S&P 500 Momentum Index captures a 7.5% gain in June and a 44% gain in the second quarter.

While the Middle East is still far from calm, it does appear the worst of the volatility in the region is in the past. The U.S.-Iran ceasefire is in place, with negotiations underway for a more durable peace.

A strong quarter across major indexes. The second quarter is winding down and what a quarter it has been with the S&P 500 up 12.6% quarter to date, while the Nasdaq-100 and Russell 2000 are both up over 20%. Despite some twists and turns, the path of least resistance for stocks broadly remained up and to the right for much of the last three months.

Startup equity decisions often happen before a founder has a full advisory team in place. Formation documents get signed, vesting schedules are approved, and the tax consequences may not feel urgent because the company is still young.

In our view, this divergence continues to reflect how the buildout of artificial intelligence (AI) is influencing both the economy and markets as it progresses across the value chain, even as the associated costs continue to climb.

The sharp retreat in oil prices has dramatically altered the market narrative. Just weeks ago, investors feared a renewed inflation shock from the conflict with Iran. Instead, crude has fallen back toward pre-conflict levels, Treasury yields have declined, and markets have begun rotating aggressively away from the large tech hyperscaler, the Magnificent Seven, that dominated recently and toward more cyclical and value-oriented sectors.

Geopolitics, artificial intelligence, and inflation each took their turn commanding market attention last week. U.S. equities were mixed, as a pullback in technology names masked broadening performance beneath the surface.

Insurance investors face a broader opportunity set than ever across public and private credit—from corporate lending to asset-based finance. But those investments come in many forms. In our view, a all-encompassing approach can better assess relative value, pivot to new avenues and align investments with portfolio, liability and regulatory considerations.

For decades, financial advisors have built strong relationships by helping clients manage IRAs, taxable accounts, and rollover assets after they leave an employer. Meanwhile, a significant, often the largest pool, of client wealth has quietly remained out of reach: assets inside workplace retirement plans.

The ETF ecosystem is always changing and growing. Thanks to the ETF’s flexibility, transparency, and tradability, it can help investors achieve plenty of bespoke goals. That even includes investing with an eye towards philanthropic causes as with philanthropic ETFs ASD and DUTY.

The money is REAL. The question was never whether it exists. It’s who’s spending it, and what they borrowed to do it. When the wall of cash and the bottom half finally commit to risk at the same moment the Fed turns hawkish, that’s not the start of something. That’s the part of the cycle where the careful investor gets paid to be careful.

Ten years ago this week, the world watched the United Kingdom vote to walk away from the European Union. While the political class was clutching its pearls and every talking head on television was promising Armageddon by Christmas, I told you something different.

Alan Greenspan passed away last week at the ripe old age of 100. Other than presidents, few Americans have wielded as much power in the arena of economic policy as Greenspan did during his roughly eighteen years and five months at the helm of the Federal Reserve.

Chris Galipeau discusses high-conviction insights that go beyond media headlines.

Despite strong gains in 2026 so far, commodities have remained supported by constrained supply, resilient demand and long investment lead times, pointing to a cycle that seems to remain fundamentally intact.

Whether you’re a seasoned RIA owner looking to accelerate organic growth or a next-gen Advisor building your practice from the ground up, the same fundamentals apply: say clearly who you help, show up consistently where prospects look, and make sure your online presence tells the right story.

Investing is hard enough - This video explains why avoiding overpaying for stocks is one of the most important principles of successful long-term investing. Chuck Carnevale argues that while investing is never risk-free, many costly mistakes can be avoided by understanding a company's intrinsic value rather than reacting to market emotions.

A widening confidence gap in non-traded investment vehicles is testing private credit valuations, sharpening the case for manager selection and diversification beyond direct lending.

It’s hard to believe we’re nearing the halfway point of 2026 – and what an eventful start it’s been. Markets have pushed through a geopolitically driven energy shock, rising inflation pressures and accelerating disruption from the artificial intelligence boom.

AI infrastructure spending is driving record equity market raisings and has lifted expectations for long-term GDP growth in the US. But what will happen to growth when the AI capex surge has peaked? Today’s elevated long-bond yields suggest that the market expects AI-related productivity gains to support faster growth over the longer term.

What has started to stand out more recently is not the opportunity itself, but the behavior forming around it. The conversation has shifted. It is no longer centered on understanding what is being built or how it will be monetized over time.

The top 10 active ETFs YTD by fund flows show some intriguing trends and successful names that may pique the interest.

Friedman was reasoning from the equation of exchange, MV = PQ. Money times velocity equals prices times real output. It’s an identity, not a theory. Where it gets interesting is when you ask which variable does the work.

Transformative new technologies and geopolitical tensions have become powerful disruptive forces, redefining business models, global supply chains and the economy. These seismic shifts are upending competitive dynamics across industries and drawing trillions of dollars in capital flows that we believe are reshaping the sources of long-term equity returns.

Markets have been hyper-focused on AI, crypto and buffer ETFs, but REIT ETFs have quietly staged an impressive comeback. The REIT terrain has shifted rapidly over recent years, and forward-looking investors and advisors have taken notice.

As expectations have shifted toward slower growth, higher inflation, and higher rates, investors have rotated back to sectors like large-cap technology and semiconductors, capable of delivering durable earnings in a tougher macro environment.

Circumstances since 2020 have repeatedly demonstrated how adaptable the economy is in the face of new challenges. We see no reason for that resilience to fade in the balance of the year.

During the past month, the ETF market has seen a wave of excitement surrounding a concentrated group of companies. While investors still want exposure to the tech giants that have dominated the past few years, the successful launch of SpaceX in early June created widespread anticipation for planned IPOs like Anthropic and OpenAI.

I’m hopeful new chair Kevin Warsh will help change the Fed’s inflation-tolerating institutional culture. Early signs look positive. Today we’ll talk about how insidious inflation is and why those who think a little inflation is fine should have their heads examined. It is not fine… for anyone.

The AI boom goes from strength to strength. Big technology companies are pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into chips, data centers and power-hungry infrastructure. One estimate puts annual AI infrastructure investment above $650 billion in 2025 and potentially over $800 billion in 2026..

Before your firm starts using AI across operations, client service, reporting, or advisor workflows, there’s one basic question leadership needs to answer: what kind of AI are we talking about?

In a world of high starting yields and rupturing economic alliances, investors who actively diversify across regions, sectors, and currencies can be better positioned to pursue durable returns.

As the market continues to broaden in 2026, a balanced approach matters more than ever.

AI is both a foundational technology and the ultimate replacement product, which we believe explains why it has attracted unprecedented levels of capital and why the investment opportunities are so compelling.

Kevin Warsh, the newly appointed Federal Reserve chair, led his first committee meeting in June. The decision to leave short-term interest rates unchanged didn’t surprise anybody, but there was plenty for markets to chew on. Warsh seems likely to make structural changes that may not impact near-term monetary policy but could matter much more to the US economy over the long run.

Halfway through 2026, this market perspective is harder to write with confidence than most. That’s not a phrase I use lightly. Over four decades of markets, there have been plenty of uncertain moments, but the number of significant, unresolved issues I’m watching right now is unusually high.

VettaFi currently has index products tied to ETFs issued by American Century, Victory Capital, and ALPS ETFs, but the addition of RAFI products issued by Invesco and PIMCO that are fundamentally weighted is really exciting, according to Rosenbluth.

According to Gleason, the freezing of Russian assets following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine accelerated the global push toward de-dollarization. Nations around the world took notice that access to the dollar-based financial system could be restricted, increasing the appeal of gold as a reserve asset that cannot be frozen or sanctioned by foreign governments.

Kevin Warsh’s first Federal Reserve meeting as chair mattered less for the rate decision than for what he revealed about how the Fed intends to operate. Warsh signaled a shift toward less guidance and more flexibility.

On May 5, 2026, researchers from Cleveland Clinic, RIKEN, and IBM successfully simulated a 12,635-atom protein complex using quantum-centric supercomputing, a problem relevant to drug discovery that classical computing could not match at comparable speed and accuracy.