Perspectives

As newly minted COO of a dynamic business unit, Skyler Bloxham reflects on lessons learned with practical application for anyone striving to succeed.

Have you ever envisioned a future where your wallet or purse has become substantially lighter due to lack of monetary contents or perhaps a future where you don’t even need to carry a wallet at all? That future may be closer than you think.

We’ve all heard the lament and most likely have verbalized it ourselves. When you ask about a colleague’s well-being, you often hear how busy he or she is. And not just busy, but really busy. Our busyness has become a point of pride, perhaps as a subtle way of demonstrating our value. In many ways, busy has become synonymous with success.

Socially responsible investing (SRI) is becoming an increasingly important topic as investors evolve their thoughts on which corporate attributes will deliver above-average returns for shareholders. In fact, Pension and Investments recently reported that market share for SRI funds in Europe accounts for over 50 percent of assets under management, indicating an increasing willingness for investors to make SRI allocations within their portfolios.

In an industry of approximately 300,000 financial advisors nationwide, women financial advisors are still few and far between. In 2016 only 16% of advisors were women, according to research firm Cerulli Associates, although the number could be increasing. Why such underrepresentation when women are expected to control two-thirds of the nation’s wealth by 2030, and are already the primary breadwinners in almost half of American households?

As we become adults, one would assume that naturally we also become more attuned to finances and how to apply that knowledge to the real world. However, that is not always the case. According to FINRA’s ongoing National Financial Capability Study, 63% of Americans are financially illiterate. Perhaps this ineptitude comes from a lack of understanding on a foundational level. An ongoing concern is that children are not receiving the education they need to make successful financial decisions and p...

As technologies offer new and faster ways for people to “connect” and communicate, the world is experiencing a growing trend toward self-selected isolation, automation and even an outright preference to avoid human interaction. As a result, service and convenience are increasingly viewed as “better” when the person requiring service does not have to actually deal with another human being. In fact, many of the companies with the highest-rated customer service are now technology companies that...

The popularity of low-cost passive investment strategies has garnered significant press recently, leading many to question if active management is dead or simply doesn’t work. Underperformance of the average active investment manager has certainly added fuel to the fire, as investors search for cheaper index alternatives.

A market commentator and 30-year veteran of the financial industry, fixed income trader Mary Ann Hurley shares useful insights ranging from where she thinks interest rates are headed to her own idea of perfect happiness.

Millennials are described as potentially the next “Great Generation” by William Strauss and Neil Howe, the authors who originally coined the term. But up to this point, all the millennial tweeting, snapping, posting, swiping, and selfie taking hasn’t been accompanied by much in the way of investing.