Wealth Management
Large-cap blend funds, core holdings that mirror the U.S. stock market, have posted strong results, returning 15.84% over the past year, 22.50% annually over three years, and 14.81% over five. Morningstar data identified 15 standout funds with top-quartile returns across one-, three-, and five-year periods, including American Funds Fundamental Investors, AQR Large Cap Multi-Style Fund, and Vanguard 500 Index Fund.
The American Funds Fundamental Investors fund rose 23% in the past year, boosted by global exposure and a refreshed management team, while The Investment Company of America fund gained 22.25% with a balanced focus on dividend growth and capital appreciation.
AQR’s Large Cap Multi-Style Fund outperformed its peers with a 23.52% annual gain, leveraging value, momentum, and quality factors to manage market sensitivity efficiently.
Finsum: These funds demonstrate that disciplined diversification, data-driven strategy, and cost efficiency continue to drive superior long-term performance.
Coinbase Asset Management and Apollo have partnered to launch tokenized credit products, combining Apollo’s private credit expertise with Coinbase’s blockchain infrastructure to introduce new stablecoin-backed strategies in 2026. Their initiatives follow the GENIUS Act, which established the first U.S. federal framework for stablecoins and is expected to drive the market to $3 trillion by 2030.
Meanwhile, fund managers such as Hamilton Lane and Laser Digital have begun tokenizing credit funds via KAIO, a protocol purpose-built for institutional-grade onchain assets, with over $200 million already tokenized. KAIO, backed by Nomura, recently integrated with the Sei blockchain to provide fast, compliant access to funds like Hamilton Lane’s senior credit platform and BlackRock’s ICS US Dollar Liquidity Fund.
In a related move, Securitize announced plans to go public through a merger with Cantor Equity Partners II, valuing the company at $1.25 billion and positioning it at the forefront of a $19 trillion market for real-world asset tokenization.
Finsum: Demand for tokenized assets is rising sharply, with Broadridge reporting that while only 15% of asset managers currently offer tokenized funds, 41% plan to do so soon.
The SEC’s pending approval of dual share classes marks a major turning point for ETFs, allowing mutual funds and ETFs to share the same underlying portfolio. Dimensional Fund Advisors, which has long pursued this exemption, is expected to be the first mover once operational logistics are in place.
Industry leaders say investors will benefit from the ability to convert between mutual fund and ETF shares without triggering taxes or transaction costs, though custodians must update systems to enable this functionality.
Firms like F/m Investments are preparing to launch mutual fund versions of existing ETFs to expand into retirement markets, while others, such as Touchstone Investments, anticipate a slower rollout due to operational hurdles
Finsum: Fund boards will play a critical oversight role, ensuring proper governance, investor education, and alignment between fund structures as this transformation unfolds.
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Assets in European active ETFs have more than doubled in two years to reach €62.4 billion, though they still make up only 2.6% of Europe’s total ETF market—far behind the 10.2% share in the U.S., signaling early-stage adoption. Investor interest is rising, with €13.4 billion in inflows so far in 2025 following €18.4 billion in 2024, yet active ETFs still represent just 6% of total European ETF flows.
JP Morgan continues to dominate with a 56% market share, followed by Fidelity and Pimco, while new players like HSBC, Avantis, and Goldman Sachs are intensifying competition and pushing fees lower.
Equity offerings are mostly “shy-active”, benchmark-aware strategies seeking modest outperformance, while fixed-income active ETFs have quietly excelled, expanding into complex areas like CLOs and mortgage-backed securities with strong early results.
Finsum: Overall, Europe’s active ETF market is maturing rapidly, blending innovation, cost competitiveness.
The Nasdaq-100 Index has long rewarded investors with strong returns, delivering a 19.43% annualized gain over the past decade, outpacing the broader U.S. market’s 13.93% return, though with greater volatility. This volatility, often seen as a drawback, can actually benefit investors through direct indexing, a strategy that allows ownership of individual stocks within an index.
Unlike ETFs, direct indexing enables tax-loss harvesting, where investors sell underperforming stocks to offset capital gains and lower tax bills while maintaining market exposure. Wealthfront has pioneered this approach with its new Nasdaq-100 Direct portfolio, offering retail investors access to innovative companies and potential tax savings with a low 0.12% annual advisory fee.
Direct indexing can help investors turn volatility into an advantage by improving after-tax returns while closely tracking the index’s performance.
Finsum: Ultimately, the strategy offers a cost-effective, tax-efficient way to capture the long-term growth potential of the Nasdaq-100’s most dynamic companies.
As private investment strategies become more accessible and clients demand more integrated services, high-net-worth (HNW) investors are beginning to expect the same sophistication long reserved for ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) families.
This shift means advisors can no longer rely solely on investment management but must offer curated, multigenerational, and tax-efficient strategies tailored to each client’s full financial life. HNW clients increasingly seek private market opportunities, holistic advice, and solutions uncorrelated to public markets.
Experts emphasize that this evolution requires a cultural shift, where advisors act less as portfolio managers and more as strategic partners guiding family enterprises, estate planning, and intergenerational wealth transfer.
Finsum: As aging clients, complex assets, and family dynamics reshape expectations, advisory firms must broaden their expertise and redefine “value” around the totality of a client’s wealth.