Wealth Management
Over the past five years, inflation in the U.S. has reached its highest levels in decades, peaking at 9.1% in mid-2022 before cooling to around 2.7% as of late 2024. While inflationary periods are inevitable, investors can take strategic steps to protect their wealth.
Warren Buffett, with a net worth exceeding $142 billion, advocates two timeless approaches to counter inflation’s effects. First, investing in yourself—enhancing your skills and abilities—ensures enduring value, unaffected by economic fluctuations.
Second, Buffett highlights real estate’s intrinsic worth, noting its stability and potential for appreciation even during inflationary spikes. Real estates inherently built into the CPI making up 40% providing a strong safeguard against inflation.
Finsum: By focusing on assets with lasting value, investors can safeguard their financial health in uncertain times.
Bitcoin is forecasted to experience significant price growth in 2025, driven by favorable regulatory changes and increasing institutional adoption. Analysts predict potential price peaks ranging from $150,000 to $250,000, with Trump's pro-crypto policies and support for a bitcoin reserve bolstering optimism.
The approval of bitcoin ETFs and the halving event in 2024 set the stage for mainstream acceptance and reduced supply, enhancing price stability. Institutional inflows, including allocations from retirement funds and sovereign wealth reserves, are expected to mitigate past cycles' extreme volatility.
However, experts caution against potential market corrections due to global economic disruptions or policy delays. Overall, bitcoin’s expanding role as a reserve asset and its growing integration into traditional finance solidify its bullish outlook.
Finsum: While these targets seem high its important to note that almost all experts are expecting volatility beyond typical asset classes, so these forecasts carry more risk than usual.
President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Relief Act of 2025, ensuring government operations through March 14 but excluding life and annuity provisions.
The legislation may push financial services advocates to focus on standalone bills, like Secure 3.0, rather than relying on broad spending packages. With the debt ceiling still in place, Congress faces another deadline this summer, creating additional opportunities for policy negotiations.
The package reflects a shift toward separating unrelated provisions from critical bills, as seen in recent debates. These trends could reshape how financial services policies are introduced and passed moving forward.
Finsum: We’ll see a lot of potential changes that could directly or indirectly affect annuities in Trumps first 90 days, so keep your eyes peeled for regulatory changes.
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Evergreen interval funds offer a hybrid structure that combines the benefits of private investments with enhanced liquidity and oversight. These funds provide scheduled repurchase options, allowing investors more control over allocations compared to private vehicles with long lock-up periods and capital calls.
Eliminating capital calls also avoids the J-curve effect, giving investors flexibility in adjusting their exposure and rebalancing their portfolios. As SEC-regulated entities, interval funds offer heightened transparency and protection, making them attractive alternatives to private funds.
Studies by Couts and Goncalves quantify the liquidity benefits of these funds, showing that investors value the improved flexibility, especially when interest rates are high.
Finsum: While focused on private credit, these advantages extend logically to private equity, venture capital, real estate, and infrastructure investments.
Category: Interval Funds
Tags: interval funds, liquidity, alts
The US economy surprised expectations in 2024 by maintaining steady growth despite elevated interest rates, a cooling labor market, and political uncertainty tied to the presidential election. It outpaced other Group of Seven nations, with household spending driving much of this resilience.
Wage growth outstripped inflation, and record household wealth bolstered consumer confidence, even as Americans depleted pandemic-era savings.
However, challenges loomed: inflation proved stubborn, borrowing costs strained housing and manufacturing, and delinquencies rose among credit-dependent consumers. Labor market signals also hinted at strain, with hiring slowing, job openings shrinking, and unemployment rates ticking up.
Finsum: While the Federal Reserve began easing rates later in the year, its cautious stance underscores the delicate balance needed to sustain growth amid persistent inflationary pressures.
As the Federal Reserve moves toward eventual rate cuts, investors may want to diversify their fixed income strategies, especially if their portfolios are bond-heavy. Options-based strategies offer a compelling alternative, providing income generation without being directly tied to interest rate changes.
Invesco has introduced three ETFs that combine exposure to key indexes with active option overlays, aiming to deliver income, downside protection, and equity upside potential. These funds include QQA, focusing on the Nasdaq-100, RSPA with its S&P 500 equal-weight approach, and EFAA, which targets international diversification via the MSCI EAFE Index.
Each fund employs actively managed option strategies, regularly adapting to market conditions to optimize performance and manage volatility.
Finsum: For investors seeking steady income with professional oversight, these ETFs present an innovative way to supplement fixed income while navigating a dynamic rate environment.