(New York)

When you think of the big wealth management players in the country, even just the big wirehouses, Goldman Sachs is not a name that comes to mind. More associated with investment banking, the bank now plans to greatly expand its wealth management practice as it tries to bring in ultra high net worth individuals as customers. The bank plans to grow advisor headcount by 30% by 2020, with CEO Lloyd Blankfein commenting “The world seems to be growing rich people faster than we can grow advisers to cover them”. Goldman Sachs currently has 700 advisors.

FINSUM: So they only have 700 advisors, but the typical client has over $50m in assets. Goldman is certainly going after the high margin strategy here.

(New York)

After years in the doldrums, the country (and world) now seems to be on a definitive path to higher interest rates. This reality has set the markets on fire, with bonds dropping and equities swinging all over the map. Understandably then, investors are looking for safe income even as rates rise, especially those who are headed towards retirement. In response, Barron’s has searched for companies whose free cash flow exceeds their dividend as a way of finding income one can rely on. The names that come up when doing this sort of screen also resonate a sense of stability just by their stature, and include UPS, Cisco, and JP Morgan. Walmart, Pfizer, and 3M are also in the mix, amongst others.

FINSUM: Companies with stable and positive free cash flow margins seem like a good bet for maintaining or raising dividends.

(New York)

This bull market is getting old. We mean very long in the tooth. However, even if you are anxious about a broader downturn, there are still some good plays, says Barron’s. The two big sectors to consider when planning for the end of a bull market include financials and industrials, as both benefit from rising rates. That said, stocks may not perform as poorly as many imagine, as some argue that stocks never fully priced in ultra low rates, so as they rise, they should be less affected.

FINSUM: Stocks not fully pricing low rates is an interesting argument, and it is somewhat supported by the fact that equities did not sell-off alongside bonds when inflation came out the other day. We think of stocks as both an inflation hedge, and as a direct beneficiary of economic growth, which often accompanies rising rates, so we are not too bearish.

(New York)

Well the market may have been very chaotic in recent weeks, but at least one sector is sending an unequivocal buy signal. That sector is REITs, and the context for the call is that the sector has performed terribly over the last year. REITS were down 5% in 2017 versus an S&P 500 gain of 25%. This year, they are off 10%. Those losses mean REITs are yielding almost 5%. The sector looks fundamentally healthy and will benefit if the economy continues to expand. Big fears over rates rising, which affect REITs, seem to already be priced in.

FINSUM: A simple return to the mean-based investment hypothesis would dictate that REITs should rise, but with so many worries over rates right now, it might take some time for that to play out.

(New York)

There have been a lot of bearish articles lately and few bullish ones. But today we are running are covering an optimistic argument that supports our own view of the market. We have been saying for some time that inflation is not necessarily bad for stocks—they are in fact an inflationary hedge. Now, Barron’s is making a key point about the current relationship between stocks and bonds to show why equities don’t stand to lose much if inflation and rates rise. The reason why is that the spread between equity yields and Treasuries is over 300 basis points, meaning there is a lot of room for rates to move higher before they would be wounded.

FINSUM: We think this is quite an astute view. And while we don’t believe the market is in for another strong run, we think it has a nice cushion for modest gains.

(New York)

The market did something that seems quite odd yesterday. Despite inflation coming out ahead of expectations and Treasury bonds commensurately selling off, stocks rose strongly. It was the first time the two asset classes had moved in significantly opposite directions in some time. Yields on the ten-year bond extended their four-year high to 2.92%, seven basis points higher than in the previous session.

FINSUM: We have been saying for the last couple of weeks that investors would realize inflation wasn’t necessarily bad for stocks. The market seems to have woken up to that reality.

(New York)

While the idea is more important for retail investors, we thought Bloomberg’s article today warning about buying ETFs might also be relevant for advisors. Bloomberg argues that the name “ETF” has become so vague as to be almost meaningless, and that investors need to be very disciplined in understanding the fund before buying it. The catch-all term “ETF” now encompasses everything from ultra-low cost index tracking funds to hugely leveraged volatility funds, all traded under often simple names and tickers.

FINSUM: The name of the game here is to read the fund prospectus and deeply understand the product being bought. But advisors already know that!

(Washington)

There have been relatively few updates on the Trump probe in recent weeks. Ever since the debate over whether Trump should let Mueller interview him calmed down, there has been little news. Now, reports are coming out that a group of investors in the Kushner family business—the family of Trump’s son-in-law—have been subpoenaed by the IRS and the Department of Justice. However, at this point, reports say the subpoenas are unrelated to the more broad probe into the White House’s connection to Russia.

FINSUM: Hard to see what is really going on here, but suffice it to say that the overall probe is deepening.

(San Francisco)

Many investors may have noticed that despite the big selloffs of the last two weeks, tech stocks have actually held up quite well. The sector is up 2.8% on the year versus an S&P 500 gain of just 0.2%. However, beware, as that number is largely an illusion. The reason why is that the vast majority of that performance comes down to Microsoft and Nvidia, which are up 5% and 20% this year.

FINSUM: The performance of tech during the recent downturn is largely an illusion, so investors need to be careful taking refuge in the sector.

(New York)

It has been many years since we had significant and sustained volatility. Both 2011 and 2013 had significant moves, but it had been almost five years since the kind of eruption we saw over the last couple of weeks. It was an amazing 404 trading days that the market had gone without a 5% drop. Barron’s says investors need to get used to the recent discord, as the volatility is here to stay. The paper borrows its argument from equity research analysts who contend that market stability is impossible, and any semblance of it an illusion, as the very forces that try to promote stability, such as the Fed, ultimate drive volatility.

FINSUM: This is quite an esoteric argument, but the reality is that with the economy changing gears into a new paradigm, we are likely going to continue to have some bumps.