Markets entered 2025 on strong footing but were quickly rattled by earlier-than-expected U.S. tariff actions, delaying anticipated rate cuts and fueling volatility across equities, Treasuries, and currencies. AllianceBernstein expects moderate—not recessionary—growth in the second half, with fiscal and trade policy, Fed actions, and geopolitics serving as key macro drivers. 

Credit markets have shown resilience, and despite tighter spreads, elevated yields make high-quality issuers—particularly BB-rated bonds—attractive for income and risk management. With inflation expected to peak by the third quarter, the firm favors short-to-intermediate bond maturities to balance yield opportunities against interest-rate risk. 

Equity markets, while volatile in early 2025, have since broadened beyond U.S. tech leaders to global and value-oriented sectors, especially in Europe where banks and dividend payers stand out. 

Finsum: Multi-asset income strategies as well-positioned for this uncertain backdrop, combining yield, diversification, and adaptability amid shifting policy and market conditions.

Free cash flow (FCF) is a critical measure of financial health, showing how much cash a company can reinvest or return to shareholders after covering essential costs. In the small-cap arena, where profitability is often limited, strong FCF can distinguish higher-quality businesses with better growth prospects and lower valuation risk. 

The VictoryShares Small Cap Free Cash Flow ETF (SFLO) seeks to capture this advantage by tracking an index that emphasizes both historical and projected FCF performance. By filtering out slower-growing firms and prioritizing those with robust FCF yields, SFLO aims to balance growth potential with disciplined valuation.

 Its broad small- and mid-cap universe also enhances liquidity and diversification, making it a potentially appealing option for investors seeking targeted small-cap exposure with a quality bias.

Finsum: Since a large share of small-cap companies remain unprofitable, focusing on those with consistent FCF can improve portfolio stability.

Amid growing advisor interest in fixed income, American Century’s Joe Gotelli highlights municipal bonds as a timely opportunity, especially after recent market dislocations tied to fiscal uncertainty and tariff concerns. 

Despite early 2025 volatility, muni valuations remain appealing compared to taxable bonds, offering tax-free income and potential for excess returns as the Fed nears possible rate cuts. Gotelli notes that long-duration, high-quality muni assets may benefit in a softening growth environment, positioning investors for attractive long-term yields. 

American Century’s active muni ETFs—such as the Diversified Municipal Bond ETF (TAXF) and California Municipal Bond ETF (CATF)—use flexible strategies to manage duration, credit quality, and sector exposure while maintaining tax efficiency. Gotelli emphasizes Active management provides an advantage over passive approaches by allowing deeper credit research and selective exposure to specialized sectors like charter schools and tobacco settlement bonds. 

Finsum: Active ETF Fixed Income, gives investors innovative tools to navigate complex tax and interest rate dynamics.

Faith-based investing has become an increasingly important niche within sustainable finance, offering investors the opportunity to align their portfolios with Catholic values while still pursuing competitive returns. 

Funds such as Allianz Global Investors’ E.T.H.I.C.A. apply the Church’s social doctrine, emphasizing human dignity, social justice, and environmental care, while excluding sectors like abortion, weapons, or adult entertainment. Similarly, Invesco’s MSCI Europe ESG Leaders Catholic Principles ETF provides exposure to European firms that uphold Catholic ethics, combining strict exclusions with best-in-class ESG practices and achieving strong performance alongside transparency and affordability.

Investment houses like Tressis also integrate moral and financial discipline, using ethical commissions to ensure portfolios support social welfare, sustainability, and human rights, while excluding harmful industries. 

Finsum: These strategies reflect a growing movement where values-based frameworks coexist with robust investment performance, helping advisors tailor to clients.

Advisors navigating today’s complex markets don’t have to go it alone, active ETFs provide institutional expertise and dynamic portfolio management to help address clients’ fixed income needs. In 2025, active bond ETFs have surged in popularity, with fixed income ETF inflows surpassing $325 billion by mid-October despite ongoing uncertainty around rates, tariffs, and geopolitics. 

Vanguard’s Fixed Income Group actively manages portfolios across sectors and durations, offering flexibility for goals like yield enhancement, core exposure, or risk management. The firm’s lineup now includes nine active fixed income ETFs, such as the Core Bond ETF (VCRB), Core-Plus Bond ETF (VPLS), and municipal options like the Core Tax-Exempt Bond ETF (VCRM) and Short Duration Tax-Exempt Bond ETF (VSDM). 

New additions, including the Multi-Sector Income Bond ETF (VGMS) and High-Yield Active ETF (VGHY), expand opportunities for investors seeking income and diversification. 

Finsum: Look for expert management and low expense ratios to help advisors meet clients’ evolving bond-market challenges.

Emerging market (EM) bonds are increasingly attractive as EM governments have shifted from deficits to surpluses, while developed markets (DM) have accumulated debt and fiscal imbalances. EMs maintain stronger fundamentals, including lower government and private debt, greater central bank independence, and higher real policy rates, factors that enhance stability and yield potential. 

Unlike DMs, EM policymakers have generally resisted moral hazard, allowing inefficient firms to fail rather than absorbing private risk, preserving long-term financial health. Over the past three decades, EMs have achieved persistent current account surpluses through fiscal discipline, contrasting with DMs’ crisis-prone fiscal dominance and policy coordination.

Actively managed EM strategies, such as VanEck’s, have demonstrated resilience through global shocks, reinforcing the case for a strategic EM debt allocation in modern portfolios.

Finsum: With DMs constrained by debt and low yields, EM debt offers compelling diversification benefits, higher returns, and sounder fundamentals.

Gold and silver prices fell following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest policy announcement, as Jerome Powell’s hawkish comments sparked uncertainty over future rate cuts. Analysts say gold remains the traditional safe-haven asset, performing well during inflation and economic instability, with strong support from central bank and investor demand. 

In contrast, silver’s dual role as an industrial and investment metal makes it more volatile, closely tied to sectors like solar energy and electronics. Experts suggest gold’s stability makes it ideal for conservative, long-term investors, while silver offers higher risk and potential reward during industrial recoveries. 

They advise balancing both metals based on market conditions, gold for protection, silver for growth. 

Finsum: Ultimately, portfolio weighting, not outright preference, should guide investors in the post-Fed environment.

The first half of the 2025 NFL season has been defined by competitive balance, with 13 teams holding at least five wins and nearly two-thirds of games decided by one score or less. Rookie quarterback Drake Maye has elevated the Patriots back into AFC East contention, though executives still view Buffalo as the slight favorite thanks to its offensive consistency and team defense. 

Out west, Seattle has emerged as a legitimate NFC force under Mike Macdonald’s defensive leadership and Sam Darnold’s efficient play, with analysts predicting the Seahawks’ first division title since 2020. 

The AFC West remains dominated by Kansas City, but the Broncos and Chargers are both seen as credible threats capable of challenging the Chiefs’ dynasty. In the NFC North, Detroit’s physical offense and improved defense give them a narrow edge over Green Bay’s young, high-upside roster led by Jordan Love. 

Finsum: Don’t write off the Ravens or Texans just yet, both possess the talent and leadership to rebound and make playoff pushes in the second half.

Meta’s $30 billion bond sale drew demand four times greater than supply, underscoring strong investor appetite despite the company’s stock plunging more than 11% after disappointing earnings. The funds will support Meta’s aggressive AI expansion, which some analysts say reflects Mark Zuckerberg’s relentless spending, but one backed by over $100 billion in annual revenue. 

While shareholders worry about mounting costs, debt investors see little repayment risk, especially as Meta’s recent quarterly income, excluding one-time charges, topped $18.6 billion, surpassing major corporations combined.

Analysts argue demand for Meta’s bonds stems from investors seeking stable, high-quality issuers rather than fear of missing out on AI. By contrast, unprofitable AI startups like OpenAI or Anthropic remain reliant on equity financing, as debt markets favor established tech titans with proven cash flows and tangible assets.

Finsum: Other tech heavyweights are also leveraging strong balance sheets and low borrowing costs to fund infrastructure such as data centers and GPUs, so infrastructure could be a play. 

Despite their volatility, natural resources remain an essential part of a diversified portfolio, both for their growth potential amid the energy transition and their inflation-hedging qualities. 

The Morningstar Global Upstream Natural Resources Index, which tracks companies tied to energy, metals, agriculture, timber, and water, shows that while commodities can be unpredictable, they tend to outperform when traditional assets falter. In 2022, for example, as stocks and bonds plunged together, the index gained more than 15% thanks to surging prices in oil, metals, and timber driven by inflation and supply disruptions. 

Recent years have favored technology-driven markets and left resource exposure underrepresented, inflationary pressures, geopolitical tensions, and the green energy shift may revive their relevance. 

Finsum: Ultimately, natural resources offer diversification and resilience, qualities that matter most when the rest of the market is under stress.