In our continued coverage of Morningstar’s top model portfolios, today we are featuring those ranked 6-10. Morningstar is soon going to double the coverage of the growing model portfolio universe, which is great news for advisors having trouble deciding on which to choose. Without further delay, here are the rankings. Number 10: Vanguard S&P (Silver rating). Number 9: Vanguard Russell (Silver rating). Number 8: Vanguard CRSP (Silver rating). Number 7: American Funds Tax Aware Income (Silver rating). Number 6: American Funds Tax Aware Growth and Income (Silver rating).

FINSUM: Well the list isn’t very diverse in terms of managers, but the Russell model from Vanguard looks like an interesting way to play small caps. Additionally, given Biden’s proposals, tax aware income would be a wise strategy in which to take a holistic approach.

China’s giant real estate group Evergrande Real Estate Group is in hot water. While they may be China’s second-largest real estate holding company, they are the world’s most indebted as their balance sheet carries an excess of $300 billion in liabilities. Despite this, some of the most prominent investment firms such as BlackRock, UBS, and HSBC Holdings have all bought up their debt. Evergrande’s bonds are trading at 25 cents on the dollar. BlackRock, for example, has increased its holdings from 12.2 million units to 43.5 million YTD and is now nearly 1% of its portfolio. Evergrande is taking measures like discounting apartments, parking spaces, or retail property to pay back its debt as notes are beginning to reach their maturity. Many investors are expecting Chinese authorities to step in to accommodate the debt by either rolling it over or taking other measures.

FINSUM: There is certainly safer debt to hold, but many investment firms see Evergrande as a buy and a risk worth taking because it may be too big to fail.

Healthcare technology is a rapidly changing field that has a plethora of new ideas entering the market daily, but driving that change is impact investing. The Covid-19 pandemic laid bare many of the problems in the healthcare sector and health technology is closing many of those gaps. For example, Zipline used fleets of drones to distribute vaccines to out of reach populations around the globe after securing $250 million in funding. Healthcare is the third-largest portion of impact investing, lagging climate and financial services, but it’s the fastest-growing area. Venture capital in healthcare doubled in 2020 from 2019, and many see this capital as augmenting government and charitable giving to healthcare to improve access and distribution. Breakthroughs in the sector include companies like Han Genix, which uses ultrasound technology to ensure safety procedures are followed by medical workers, or Plethy which syncs sensors and apps to improve post-orthopedic care.

FINSUM: Technology healthcare blends could become one of the best ways to capture growth and industry diversity in your portfolio.

There has been extensive coverage as to the number of new loans issued being tied to ESG factors, namely greenhouse gas emissions and environmental sustainability, but there is a new dimension as to which companies are securing funding—gender equity. Many companies are signing loans that are tied to increasing women’s share of a company’s workforce from entry-level jobs all the way to executive and board positions. BloombergNEF estimates that these loans make up $19 billion of the market this year, already more than quadrupling 2020’s numbers. Companies improving diversity have better retention, collaboration, decision-making, and a broader talent pool according Tania Smith, leader of a bank authorizing these new loans. If companies fail to meet the diversity criteria they can face interest rate penalties much like the ESG market. Gender equity and diversity loans are a fraction of the total ESG market of $231 billion, yet they are a quick growing segment that will aim to improve gender equity in the corporate world.

FINSUM: This gives companies a new avenue to secure credit at a discount, much like ESG. If companies meet this criterion they can have an edge over competitors in terms of rates and access.

President Joe Biden is expected to nominate Professor Saule Omarova for the office of the Comptroller of the Currency, one of the leadership positions in banking oversight and regulation. Omarova is currently teaching at Cornell University Law School and is a critic of the role fintech is playing in the current financial system, all the way from cryptocurrency to robo-advising. Additionally, she believes regulation should be tightened across the board in banking, calling for a larger role in government supervision. She has also advocated for restructuring the Fed and having them provide consumer bank accounts. This is only the beginning of the journey as both fintech and the banking sector will lobby hard to make sure she doesn’t get confirmed for her position.

FINSUM: This would be a drastic leadership change in regulation compared to the relatively hands-off approach fintech has benefited from so far. The suggested changes to the Fed would pump shockwaves through the financial system.