[To understand how modern financial data technology and advanced research are responding to the evolving challenges of portfolio management — and what they mean for the relationship between adviser and client — we spoke with Joseph Wickremasinghe, Executive Director of MSCI Research. Our conversation on InvestTech solution development explores how research and technology come together to support […]
Most newly blended couples handle the logistics fast. You open a joint account, or you don’t. You decide who covers the mortgage and who covers the groceries. Within a few weeks, the financial side of the marriage feels settled. Those decisions are mechanical, and mechanics are the easy part. The harder work is figuring out […]
As Baby Boomers begin passing more of their wealth to the next generation, inherited IRAs are becoming increasingly common. Unlike previous generations, many boomers built much of their retirement wealth through 401(k)s and IRAs rather than relying primarily on traditional pensions. Those retirement accounts are now becoming part of the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in […]
[“InvestTech” has been an emerging, informal sub-category within FinTech, used to describe technology applied to the investment management process — research, portfolio construction, trading, risk, and analytics. Unlike its better-defined siblings — RegTech, WealthTech, and InsurTech — the term still isn’t an industry standard. That is beginning to change as the investment-technology arena draws more […]
[It is important to recognize that there is a triumvirate of emerging technologies at play in financial services – AI, data management, and the cloud. Developing strategic firm applications with these forces requires purposeful design and careful integration to reach desired goals. Cloud services platforms, for instance, can do far more than just support infrastructure. […]
Divorce in your 40s and early 50s occupies a specific financial territory that does not get discussed enough. You are not in your 30s, when the asset base is smaller and the runway to rebuild is long. And you are not in your late 50s or 60s, where the gray divorce conversation addresses concentrated retirement […]
Got PFIC’s in your overseas portfolio? This one is for you. In this post, I’ll discuss the passive foreign investment company (PFIC). I’ll address the origin (briefly), the taxation, and how you can tell if there is a PFIC lurking in your overseas accounts or not. I’ll conclude with how to think about them if […]
I recently attended the Basis Northwest Conference in Seattle, which centered around tax-aware investments and how the landscape is changing. About 30 years ago, ETFs were the hot new thing. But as wealth continues growing and incomes rise, they’re not enough to meet the demands of high-net-worth investors. More often, clients are coming to me […]
IPOs and the excitement surrounding them tend to bring out investors’ emotional biases. Fear of missing out on big potential gains, excitement over the “hot stock” everyone’s talking about, or the optimistic belief that a company’s recent growth means more is coming—these can all influence an investor’s decision-making process. When a well-known company finally goes […]