Enjoy the current installment of “Weekend Reading For Financial Planners” – this week’s edition kicks off with the news that the Biden administration will be extending the current moratorium on Federal student loan payments, originally scheduled to end on May 31, until August 31 (which, while welcome to many borrowers, also leaves many in financial limbo as they try to plan for when – if ever – the payments will restart).
Also in industry news this week:
- A new study by Charles Schwab and Ariel Investments shows that participation in the stock market is near an all-time low among Americans amid declining trust in markets and financial institutions (with the effects most acutely seen with Black investors)
- How focusing on client experience (rather than simply client service) can help firms generate more revenue by creating emotional engagement with the firm’s most important clients
From there, we have several articles on the current stock market environment:
- What advisors can do to keep client investment portfolios on track in the current turbulent market and geopolitical environment
- What the recent yield curve inversion means for stock market returns going forward and how advisors might respond
- Why investing in international stocks could still provide diversification benefits even as they lag U.S. equities in performance
We also have a number of articles on direct indexing:
- While the number of direct indexing platforms has proliferated, one industry observer is skeptical of several of its advertised benefits for advisors and their clients
- In the latest sign of direct indexing growth (and its potential to disintermediate ETFs and mutual funds), Charles Schwab plans to launch its direct indexing offering for RIAs and retail investors in late April
- Fidelity has gone live with its Fidelity Managed FidFolios direct indexing platform, and its $5,000 account minimum has the potential to bring direct indexing to a wider range of investors (who may not even benefit from it if they’re already eligible for 0% capital gains rates!?)
We wrap up with three final articles, all about productivity:
- How the rise of remote work has created a late-evening “peak” of productivity for some workers (which on the positive side could mean more workers are optimizing their schedules to their preferred hours, or on the negative side could mean workdays are simply getting longer)
- Why many employees spend at least half of their days “working on work”, including following up on tasks, giving status updates, and searching for information (which comes at the cost of actually getting work done and can prevent organizations from strategizing for the long term)
- How workers can optimize their schedule for productivity by grouping meetings together and leaving the remaining time free to work without distractions
Enjoy the ‘light’ reading!
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