1. When His Comfort Today Becomes Her Chaos Tomorrow
How to avoid a mistake I see so many older couples make. I had a client named Robert, late 70’s, who didn’t want to move out of his split-level home and into a retirement community that offered supports. His wife Sally did. She was done with the house, the stairs, the isolation. She wanted people, support, and fewer things that could go wrong. At our quarterly meeting, Robert leaned his cane on the conference room table and voiced the same objections I’d heard for years. It’s too expensive. Too small. Too early. Too final. — Tom West
2. Midterm Election Years Are Volatile—But History Favors a Strong Q4 Rally
Midterm years are notoriously the "choppiest" phase of the presidential cycle, seeing an average intra-year drawdown of -17.5% as political uncertainty impacts sentiment. However, history shows this volatility is often followed by a robust recovery in Q4. Staying the course through seasonal turbulence has often been the key to capturing both the Q4 rally and the transition into Year 3, which has historically been the strongest year of the entire four-year presidential cycle. — Lincoln Financial
3. What Nearly 50 Years of Consulting Inside Advisor Offices Taught Us About Best Practices
Most financial advisors have a CRM. Most have integrations. Most have data coming out of their ears. And most are still spending roughly 70% of their time on non-revenue generating tasks.i Data entry. Meeting prep. Documentation. Follow-ups. Reconciliation across multiple systems. The list goes on, and it’s not getting shorter. But here’s the thing that nobody wants to say out loud: having data and knowing what to do with it are two completely different skills. And no amount of software is going to bridge that gap unless somebody sits down and figures out what "good" actually looks like in practice. — Jenny Good Widmaier
4. Four Levers That Drive Higher Valuations for Professional Services Firms
Creating great capital value for a professional services firm is usually one of the owners primary objectives as they more often than not see their business value as a critical part of their own financial independence. Building a profitable business is obviously essential, and it is a more valuable profitable business if a large proportion of the revenue carries certainty of continuity for any prospective purchaser. Pretty much everyone gets that of course, hence the emphasis upon growing renewal commission income or setting ongoing fee for service or advice contracts with clients. — Tony Vidler
5. Thriving Through Uncertainty: A 2026 ETF Toolkit for a More Volatile S&P 500
Why Worry? In 2025, the ‘wall of worry’ comprised multiple unnerving concerns, from Federal Reserve policy uncertainty to trade tensions, unmeasurable geopolitical risk, and questions about AI ROI. Market volatility was characteristically saw-toothed, yet investors benefited as equities climbed higher despite persistent issues. — Calamos
6. AI Is Reshaping Wealth Management Faster Than Most Firms Realize
Why it's good — and why everyone needs to keep their head on a swivel. Wednesday morning I was driving into Orlando when I got a call from an industry reporter looking for a scoop on an AI and a custodian working together. This was coming off of Altruist's announcement of their Hazel-driven agentic solution that immediately turned heads and dropped share prices at the establishment custodians. Even if I had a scoop, I’m careful to never comment when the news isn’t mine to share. I do, however, always enjoy catching up. That phone call confirmed something I've been feeling for months. — Jud Mackrill
7. Hindenburg Omen Strikes Six Times – What It Signals for Markets
Bottom line: market breadth is horrendous and will likely lead to a rotation favoring out-of-favor sectors and stocks. Thus, it’s not surprising that the Hindenburg Omen was triggered. If we continue to see more of these Omens, the threat of a drawdown grows. At the time, Mega-Cap stocks were grossly outperforming the market, while many sectors lagged the market. Since that Hindenburg Alarm, our expectations have come to fruition. We have, in fact, seen a “rotation favoring out-of-favor sectors and stocks.” The graphic below, courtesy of SimpleVisor, shows the significant change in fortunes between sectors. The first column shows each sector’s excess returns (vs. the S&P 500) since the Hindenburg Omen on October 29th. The second column shows the excess returns over the 50-day period preceding the alarm. — Lance Roberts
8. Retirement Is Favoring the Internationally Mobile
Retirement planning is now more than ever favoring the internationally mobile, and this shift is accelerating beneath the surface of global markets. The economic reality facing retirees is no longer defined solely by savings rates or portfolio returns. It’s increasingly defined by geography, and those who structure their lives across borders are positioning themselves with a measurable advantage. — Nigel Green
9. What Retail Investors Are Thinking and Why It Matters to Advisors
Don’t diminish the importance of retail investors. No, they’re not perfect. Far from it. They don’t have Bloomberg terminals and the other fancy accoutrements possessed by the professionals, but there’s much more to the story. A new State Street Investment Management survey contains this interesting nugget: 20.5% of equity trades in the U.S. are completed by retail market participants, exceeding the 15% driven by hedge funds and long-only institutional investors. — Todd Shriber
10. Does YouTube Actually Generate Clients for Financial Advisors the Numbers Are Tougher Than Most Expect
Based on conversations with large advisor creators and consultants, he outlines the volume challenge behind the platform, including the number of views typically required to generate a single qualified appointment. The takeaway is that YouTube can be valuable, but primarily as a long term credibility and trust asset rather than a fast growth lever. Alex explains why business model and time horizon matter when deciding whether YouTube should play a central role in an advisor’s growth strategy. — Alex Khassa
11. AI Is Rebuilding Wealth Management From Infrastructure Up
Last week, Matt Shumer published something I haven't been able to stop thinking about. Matt builds AI companies. He's been living in this world for six years. And he wrote something I've been trying to articulate to people in my own industry for months: we're past the "interesting dinner conversation" phase. The future is already here. It just hasn't knocked on your door yet. He wrote it for the people in his life who keep asking what the deal with AI is. I'm writing this for mine — the advisors, firm owners, technology leaders, and compliance people I've worked alongside for 25 years who are doing one of two things right now: quietly experimenting and saying nothing, or dismissing this as something their firm will address eventually. — James Cantwell
