Research
Research library
Research worth an advisor's time from research firms, asset managers, regulators, central banks, academics and think tanks, each with a short summary in our own words, plus AdvisorIQ's own analysis.
As of Oct 8, 2026, AdvisorIQ's research library links to 126 pieces from 58 publishers, including research firms, asset managers, regulators and academics.
AdvisorIQ research report
The RIA industry, Q4 2026
As of October 2, 2026, 22,889 independent wealth management RIAs managed $10.1 trillion. SEC-registered independents' assets rose 20.5% in a year. Assets by state, growth, size, concentration, fees and the fastest growers, from Form ADV filings.
Read the reportTitles marked with an arrow open on the publisher's site. How we choose.
Markets and economy
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Can stocks stay resilient with higher Treasury yields? (opens invesco.com)
Invesco's chief global market strategist asks whether stocks can hold up as Treasury yields approach 5%. He attributes the rise mainly to solid economic growth rather than inflation or deficits, flags strain in lower-quality credit and narrowing market leadership, and concludes stocks can stay resilient if earnings and nominal growth hold.
Topic: Markets and economyinvesco.com
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Guide to the Markets U.S. 4Q 2026 (opens am.jpmorgan.com)
J.P. Morgan's quarterly chartbook on the economy, equities, fixed income and other asset classes, with data as of September 30, 2026. It shows US large-cap stocks trading above long-run average valuations, with a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 19.0 against a 30-year average of 17.2, alongside a 10-year Treasury yield above 5%.
Topic: Markets and economyam.jpmorgan.com
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The Impact of Tariffs on the Cost of Capital in the US (opens aei.org)
AEI economists build tariffs into the standard measure of the tax burden on new investment. They estimate tariffs in place before the February 2026 court ruling raised the economy-wide cost of capital by up to 2.7%, enough to offset the investment tax cut in the 2025 law, with the largest effect on equipment.
Topic: Markets and economyaei.org
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How Federal Debt Puts a Damper on Your Wallet (opens americanprogress.org)
This analysis applies a CBO rule of thumb linking federal debt to interest rates to estimate what debt growth since around 2000 costs households. With debt at 99% of GDP, the author estimates a household with a mortgage, a car loan and student debt pays about $4,500 a year more in interest than it otherwise would.
Topic: Markets and economyamericanprogress.org
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Broadening Delivered. Now Prepare for Volatility. (opens franklintempleton.com)
Franklin Templeton Institute strategists review how stock market leadership broadened over 18 months from mega-cap technology to value, small caps and emerging markets. They see the bull market as intact on earnings but expect less accommodative liquidity and more volatility, and recommend staying diversified.
Topic: Markets and economyfranklintempleton.com
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Household Debt Balances Decreased Slightly; Credit Card Delinquency Transition Rates Remained Steady (opens newyorkfed.org)
The New York Fed's quarterly report on US household borrowing for the second quarter of 2026. Total household debt slipped to $18.8 trillion as mortgage balances fell while credit card and auto balances grew, and overall delinquency edged down to 4.7% of debt even as new card and auto delinquencies stayed elevated.
Topic: Markets and economynewyorkfed.org
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Financial Markets, Oil Prices, and Supply-Side Risks (opens frbsf.org)
San Francisco Fed economists read market correlations to judge what kind of risk investors are pricing. Stocks and bonds, and stocks and oil, now tend to move in opposite directions, which they take as a sign that supply shocks dominate, raising the odds of elevated inflation alongside softer growth.
Topic: Markets and economyfrbsf.org
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Made with China: Global supply chains and the limits of US decoupling (opens piie.com)
PIIE researchers trace Chinese content through the US import basket to test whether tariffs since 2018 reduced reliance on China. China's direct share of US imports fell 7 percentage points from 2017 to 2024, but its share of the value added in those imports fell only 2 points, as supply chains rerouted through other countries.
Topic: Markets and economypiie.com
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Monetary Policy Report – July 2026 (opens federalreserve.gov)
The Fed's semiannual report to Congress on the economy and monetary policy. It describes inflation running well above the 2% goal, with core PCE prices up 3.4% over the year to May, citing tariffs and an energy price surge, alongside a 4.2% unemployment rate and a policy rate held steady since the start of 2026.
Topic: Markets and economyfederalreserve.gov
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AI, oil, and a changing global economy (opens corporate.vanguard.com)
Vanguard's midyear economic update argues that AI investment and the oil shock are pulling regions in different directions, lifting US growth while weighing on energy importers such as the euro area. It now expects about 2.3% US growth in 2026 and 3% in 2027, and says the odds of a Fed rate increase have risen.
Topic: Markets and economycorporate.vanguard.com
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Why the National Debt Matters More Than It Used To and Why We Should Not Count on AI To Fix the Problem (opens americanprogress.org)
The authors argue federal debt is now large and costly enough to weigh on growth, citing CBO projections that per-person income in 2055 would be higher if the debt ratio stabilized. They estimate stabilizing it would take deficit reduction of about 2.6% of GDP a year, and argue faster AI-driven productivity is unlikely to close the gap alone.
Topic: Markets and economyamericanprogress.org
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Macro outlook: Growth hinges on Iran war, AI rollout (opens capitalgroup.com)
Capital Group's economists weigh the AI investment boom against the Iran war, higher oil prices and trade disputes. They see US growth of 2.5% or more as possible, find that past oil supply shocks did not do lasting damage to stocks, and treat the jobs market as the key to the Fed's next moves.
Topic: Markets and economycapitalgroup.com
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Financial Stability Report - May 2026 (opens federalreserve.gov)
The Fed Board's twice-yearly assessment of vulnerabilities in the US financial system. The spring 2026 edition judges asset valuations elevated, with stock prices high relative to earnings, sees household and business debt as moderate overall but weaker at riskier private borrowers, and notes hedge fund leverage near record highs.
Topic: Markets and economyfederalreserve.gov
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The Dual Mandate in Conflict: Balancing Current Tensions between Inflation and Employment (opens stlouisfed.org)
A St. Louis Fed economist looks at the Fed's two goals pulling against each other in early 2026, with unemployment at 4.3% and inflation above target. He estimates that about half of the inflation overshoot comes from tariffs, which frames how hard the policy tradeoff is.
Topic: Markets and economystlouisfed.org
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The Economics of Tariffs (opens hoover.org)
A Hoover working paper reviews what economic theory and recent US experience say about tariffs. The authors find that most of the cost of recent US tariffs fell on US importers, retailers and consumers rather than foreign exporters, and that supply chains shifted from China to third countries rather than leaving China behind.
Topic: Markets and economyhoover.org
Tax planning
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Ten Lessons on Managing Concentrated Wealth (opens aqr.com)
AQR distills ten lessons from recent academic and practitioner research on clients who hold a large single stock or business stake. It argues the portfolio that replaces the position matters as much as the sale itself, and that tax, estate, philanthropic and behavioral questions should be planned together and revisited over time.
Topic: Tax planningaqr.com
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What the One Big Beautiful Bill Act could mean for your taxes (opens fidelity.com)
Fidelity's one-year review of the 2025 federal tax law sorts its permanent provisions, such as brackets, the standard deduction and higher estate exclusions, from temporary ones that expire after 2028. It also explains the higher SALT cap and its phase-out, the senior deduction and the new floor on charitable deductions for itemizers.
Topic: Tax planningfidelity.com
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New Approaches to Social Security Benefit Taxation (opens crfb.org)
CRFB explains how Social Security benefits are taxed today, with income thresholds that have never been indexed, and scores options to streamline, expand, repeal or replace that tax. Benefit taxation raised $99 billion in 2025, and the paper estimates full repeal would widen Social Security's long-run gap by about a fifth.
Topic: Tax planningcrfb.org
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Options for Reforming America's Tax Code 3.0: A Policymaker's Guide to Tax Reform Trade-Offs (opens taxfoundation.org)
An interactive guide that scores 86 possible changes to individual, business, payroll, excise and estate and gift taxes for their effects on revenue, debt, after-tax income and the economy. It is a reference for following tax proposals as several 2025 provisions approach expiration after 2028.
Topic: Tax planningtaxfoundation.org
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How asset location can boost after-tax returns (opens corporate.vanguard.com)
Vanguard summarizes its research on asset location, the choice of which account holds each investment. Placing assets well can add up to 0.3% a year after taxes for some diversified investors, most when they hold meaningful balances in both taxable and tax-advantaged accounts, and the core rule is to put taxable bonds in tax-advantaged accounts first.
Topic: Tax planningcorporate.vanguard.com
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Tax Incentives and Venture Capital Risk-Taking: Evidence from the QSBS Program (opens nber.org)
This working paper tests whether the qualified small business stock exclusion changes how startup investors behave. Investors time their exits around the holding-period requirement, and venture funds shift toward riskier, earlier-stage deals when the tax break applies, producing more failures but also more high-value exits.
Topic: Tax planningnber.org
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Do you live in the right state for retirement? (opens capitalgroup.com)
A Capital Group wealth planner examines whether moving states before or in retirement really lowers taxes. The piece compares how states treat income, estates and retirement income, notes that more than 40 states do not tax Social Security, and warns that high-tax states scrutinize claimed moves closely.
Topic: Tax planningcapitalgroup.com
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Year One of Trump-Republican Tax Policy: The Consequences (opens itep.org)
ITEP estimates the combined effect of 2025's tariffs and tax law changes by income group and state. The author finds the middle 60% of Americans pay about $900 more on average in 2026, with a net cut for the top 1% and increases for lower-income groups; the publisher's framing is critical of the policies.
Topic: Tax planningitep.org
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One Big Beautiful Bill? A preliminary assessment (opens taxpolicycenter.org)
A Tax Policy Center assessment of the 2025 reconciliation law's tax and spending provisions, fiscal cost, growth effects and distribution. The authors cite estimates that it adds $3.7 trillion to $5.1 trillion to deficits over 10 years, and find that once plausible ways of paying for it are counted, most households end up worse off.
Topic: Tax planningtaxpolicycenter.org
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US Taxpayers to See a Nearly $2,300 Average Tax Cut in 2026 Under the Big Beautiful Bill (opens taxfoundation.org)
Tax Foundation maps the estimated average federal tax change per filer from the 2025 reconciliation law by state and county, measured against a baseline in which the 2017 individual provisions expired. It estimates individual changes cut taxes by $2,272 per filer on average in 2026, with the average shrinking after 2028 as temporary deductions lapse.
Topic: Tax planningtaxfoundation.org
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Short-term revenue effects of overall limits on exceptionally large retirement accounts (opens brookings.edu)
Brookings researchers estimate the near-term federal revenue from capping very large IRA and 401(k) balances. Barring new deductible contributions to accounts above $5 million would raise less than $0.15 billion a year, while forcing out balances above that level would raise about $84 billion up front, and the authors stress these are partial estimates.
Topic: Tax planningbrookings.edu
Retirement income
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Restoring lifetime income to retirement plans as the default (opens brookings.edu)
The authors propose making partial annuitization the default payout in defined contribution plans, converting a share of larger balances into lifetime income unless the retiree opts out. They note only about 10% of such plans offer lifetime income options, and discuss why employers and retirees rarely choose it today.
Topic: Retirement incomebrookings.edu
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The Latest Projections from the Congressional Budget Office on Social Security Finances and Distribution of Benefits and Taxes (opens aei.org)
An AEI scholar summarizes CBO's 2026 long-term Social Security projections, which put the cut needed at trust fund exhaustion in 2032 at 26%, larger than the Trustees' 22%. He walks through CBO's lifetime benefit-to-tax ratios by birth year and earnings, and discusses means-testing benefits as one possible response.
Topic: Retirement incomeaei.org
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A behavioral case for annuities (opens troweprice.com)
T. Rowe Price researchers look at how retirees actually spend and find most try to preserve their savings: 78% say keeping a certain account balance matters, and real spending falls about 2.3% a year on average. They argue annuities may be better received when framed as a way to protect assets and lifestyle rather than only as longevity insurance.
Topic: Retirement incometroweprice.com
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Health Shocks and Annuity Choices (opens crr.bc.edu)
Using Swedish pension data, where an annuity is the default payout, this brief looks at how a cancer diagnosis changes payout choices. Diagnosed workers annuitize only slightly less, about 4 percentage points, far less than their shorter life expectancy would justify, and a lab experiment points to the default as the reason.
Topic: Retirement incomecrr.bc.edu
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Analysis of the 2026 Social Security Trustees' Report (opens crfb.org)
CRFB summarizes the 2026 Trustees' Report: the retirement trust fund is projected to run out in 2032, triggering a 22% benefit cut, and the 75-year shortfall grew to 4.42% of payroll. It attributes most of the deterioration to lower fertility and immigration assumptions and part to the 2025 law's reduced revenue from taxing benefits.
Topic: Retirement incomecrfb.org
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How to turn retirement savings into reliable income (opens corporate.vanguard.com)
Vanguard sets out a decision framework for turning savings into retirement income rather than a single prescribed strategy. It organizes the choices around purpose, covering essential costs with reliable income, managing withdrawals and taxes, and simplifying, and argues that sustainable income is a better measure of success than account balances.
Topic: Retirement incomecorporate.vanguard.com
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Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025 (opens federalreserve.gov)
The Fed Board's annual survey of household finances. Overall well-being held steady in 2025, but only 35% of non-retirees thought their retirement saving was on track, and lower-income, younger, Black and Hispanic adults and women remained less likely to have retirement accounts or pensions.
Topic: Retirement incomefederalreserve.gov
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2026 EBRI/Greenwald Retirement Confidence Survey (opens ebri.org)
The long-running annual survey of how confident American workers and retirees feel about paying for retirement. In 2026 confidence slipped for both groups, to about three in five workers and three in four retirees, with inflation, the cost of living and worries about changes to Social Security and Medicare weighing on views.
Topic: Retirement incomeebri.org
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How Annuities Could Improve Retirement Security amid Economic Uncertainty (opens urban.org)
Urban Institute researchers trace annuity ownership from 1989 to 2022 using Federal Reserve survey data. Annuity holders 50 and older had median net worth of $938,300 in 2022, more than twice that of nonholders, ownership peaked in 2004, and the authors cite fees, complexity and low awareness as lasting barriers.
Topic: Retirement incomeurban.org
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When Loss Aversion Jeopardizes Lifelong Income (opens pensionresearchcouncil.wharton.upenn.edu)
A research summary on why retirees avoid life annuities and favor costlier versions with money-back guarantees, which the piece says make up more than 60% of the US market. Life cycle modeling shows bequest motives alone do not explain the preference, while fear of losing the premium to an early death does.
Topic: Retirement incomepensionresearchcouncil.wharton.upenn.edu
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Projected Savings Medicare Beneficiaries Need for Health Expenses in Retirement up Again in 2025 (opens ebri.org)
EBRI updates its estimates of what a 65-year-old needs saved to cover Medicare premiums and out-of-pocket health costs. A man with supplemental coverage needs $120,000 for an even chance of covering costs and $212,000 for a 90% chance, women need more because they live longer, and couples with high drug costs face the largest targets.
Topic: Retirement incomeebri.org
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Guide to Retirement 2026 (opens am.jpmorgan.com)
J.P. Morgan's annual retirement chartbook covers saving, spending, Social Security, withdrawals and health care. It finds that six in 10 new retirees see volatile spending in their first three years, and that households with more guaranteed income spend more confidently.
Topic: Retirement incomeam.jpmorgan.com
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Solving the retirement income puzzle one piece at a time (opens troweprice.com)
Written for advisors, this piece frames retirement income planning around three questions: how much to spend, when couples should claim Social Security, and which accounts to draw from first. It cites T. Rowe Price research that two-thirds of pre-retirees do not know how much they can withdraw each month.
Topic: Retirement incometroweprice.com
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How Much Are Emergency Expenses for Retirees and Are They Prepared? (opens crr.bc.edu)
This brief measures surprise expenses for retired households and whether they hold enough cash to absorb them. A typical retiree household spends about 10% of income on unexpected costs in an ordinary year, two in five lack the cash to cover a year of them, and lower-income retirees are the most exposed.
Topic: Retirement incomecrr.bc.edu
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Spousal Social Security Claiming Decisions and the Financial Shock of Widowhood (opens nber.org)
This working paper asks how a husband's Social Security claiming age affects his widow's finances. Widowhood remains a large financial shock for older women, but a smaller one when the husband delayed claiming, because the survivor benefit carries over his delay credits.
Topic: Retirement incomenber.org
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What's a Safe Retirement Withdrawal Rate for 2026? (opens morningstar.com)
Morningstar's annual research on how much new retirees can spend from a portfolio, built on forward-looking return and inflation assumptions. The base case for a 30-year retirement is a 3.9% starting withdrawal rate, up from 3.7%, and retirees who accept spending swings can start near 6%.
Topic: Retirement incomemorningstar.com
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Social Security and Medicare Lifetime Benefits and Taxes: 2025 (opens urban.org)
The annual update of lifetime Social Security and Medicare benefits and payroll taxes for hypothetical workers by earnings and marital status. An average-wage single man retiring at 65 in 2025 is estimated to receive about $753,000 in lifetime benefits and a woman with the same earnings about $843,000, in 2025 dollars.
Topic: Retirement incomeurban.org
Estate planning
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As Advisors Move Upmarket, Tax and Estate Planning Technology Gain Momentum (opens cerulli.com)
Cerulli finds that as advisors serve wealthier clients, demand is rising for tools that support tax and estate planning. More than half of advisors, 55%, already offer trust and estate planning, and many who lack specialized estate planning software expect to adopt it within a year.
Topic: Estate planningcerulli.com
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SLATs: An Estate-Planning Strategy for Couples (opens schwab.com)
Schwab explains how a spousal lifetime access trust moves assets and their future growth out of a taxable estate while the other spouse keeps indirect access. It covers who these trusts suit, funding and trustee choices, and the drawbacks, including lost access on death or divorce and no step-up in basis.
Topic: Estate planningschwab.com
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How Much Financial Help Do People Give and Receive? Evidence from the Understanding America Survey (opens richmondfed.org)
Richmond Fed economists present new survey data on money passed between family members. Transfers are common but usually small and flow mostly from parents to adult children: 42% of respondents gave help and 21% received it, while inheritances and help with housing or education account for the largest sums.
Topic: Estate planningrichmondfed.org
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Don't take the "state" out of estate planning (opens fidelity.com)
Fidelity explains why the state a client lives in can reshape an estate plan even when federal estate tax is not a concern. Twelve states and the District of Columbia levy an estate tax and five levy an inheritance tax, and the piece covers domicile rules, state exemptions and the limits of portability at the state level.
Topic: Estate planningfidelity.com
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3 Estate-Planning Fallacies in the Post-OBBBA Era (opens schwab.com)
Schwab argues that the permanent $15 million federal exemption does not make estate planning optional. It walks through state estate and inheritance taxes, the cost of unwinding irrevocable trusts, and how a growing portfolio can outpace the exemption, as well as non-tax reasons to plan such as incapacity and guardianship.
Topic: Estate planningschwab.com
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Many Investors Expect Inheritances, Yet Few Likely to Maintain Benefactor's Advisor (opens cerulli.com)
Cerulli examines how heirs view their benefactors' advisors as more than $120 trillion is set to be inherited over the next 25 years. Most affluent investors expect or have received an inheritance, but only 27% of those expecting one would keep the managing advisor, and the share falls to 20% once the money arrives.
Topic: Estate planningcerulli.com
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Bequests (opens nber.org)
A broad review of research on bequests and other transfers between generations. It covers how common inheritances are across countries, the mix of altruistic and self-interested motives behind them, and how expected or received transfers shape saving, spending and work, especially for older givers and for heirs.
Topic: Estate planningnber.org
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How Much Could Will-Writing Reduce the Racial Wealth Gap? (opens crr.bc.edu)
This brief looks at how having a will affects the size of bequests and the passing of wealth across generations. Wills are linked to larger bequests that compound for heirs, and the authors estimate that closing the gap in will-writing between Black and White households would have narrowed the racial wealth gap by 10% over three generations.
Topic: Estate planningcrr.bc.edu
Portfolio construction
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Portfolio Rebalancing: All at Once or Little by Little? (opens dimensional.com)
Dimensional tests whether it matters how quickly a portfolio is traded back to target once a rebalance is triggered. Across hypothetical 60/40 portfolios from 1989 to 2025, spreading trades over several days produced returns within 4 basis points of trading at once, with lower turnover.
Topic: Portfolio constructiondimensional.com
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Exponential Wealth: Centuries of Stock and Bond Returns (opens rpc.cfainstitute.org)
A long-horizon study of stock and bond returns that updates a classic US market history through 2025 and adds earlier and global data. From 1926 to 2025, $1 in US large-cap stocks grew to $14,751, and the book shows how reinvested income, diversification, costs and inflation decide how much of that investors keep.
Topic: Portfolio constructionrpc.cfainstitute.org
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Welcome Back, Balanced Portfolio (opens pimco.com)
PIMCO argues that higher bond yields, about 5% on the broad US bond index in September 2026, have restored bonds' role as both an income source and a diversifier next to stocks. It explains why 2022 is the wrong baseline for judging bonds as a hedge, and notes that household stock allocations are at a record high.
Topic: Portfolio constructionpimco.com
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Active Fund Manager Success Rates Ticked Up in 2026, but Passive Funds Still Hold the Advantage (opens morningstar.com)
The midyear Active/Passive Barometer measures how active US funds fared against passive peers in their categories. Just over 40% of active funds survived and beat their passive composite in the year to June 2026, up 7 percentage points, and the cheapest active funds had better odds in most categories.
Topic: Portfolio constructionmorningstar.com
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The Winning Formula for Fund Investors, and Why Others Left Money on the Table (opens morningstar.com)
Morningstar's annual investor-return study compares what the average dollar in US funds earned with the funds' own returns over the decade through 2025. Investors earned 8.7% a year, about 1.2 percentage points less than the funds, with the widest gaps in more volatile funds and the smallest in allocation funds.
Topic: Portfolio constructionmorningstar.com
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Total Portfolio Approach: A Critical Literature Review (opens rpc.cfainstitute.org)
A review of academic and practitioner research on the total portfolio approach, which manages a fund as one integrated portfolio instead of fixed asset-class buckets. The authors find it is mainly a governance discipline rather than a set of tools, and that the evidence does not show it reliably produces higher returns.
Topic: Portfolio constructionrpc.cfainstitute.org
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Financial Reporting Frequency and Market Premiums (opens dimensional.com)
Prompted by the SEC's proposal to allow semiannual reporting, Dimensional asks whether reporting frequency affects the equity, size, value and profitability premiums. US history since 1926 and a comparison of 42 markets with different reporting rules show no reliable link.
Topic: Portfolio constructiondimensional.com
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Our take on total portfolio approach (opens blackrock.com)
BlackRock answers common questions about the total portfolio approach and how it differs from a static strategic allocation. It argues that big portfolio decisions should be revisited often against a reference portfolio, with risk budgeted across the whole portfolio and public and private markets considered together.
Topic: Portfolio constructionblackrock.com
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2026 Capital Market Assumptions for Major Asset Classes (opens aqr.com)
AQR's annual estimates of medium-term expected real returns for major asset classes, based on valuations at the end of 2025. It puts the expected real return of a global 60/40 portfolio at 3.4%, above the 2021 low but well below the long-run US average of nearly 5%, and adds guidance on currency hedging in return assumptions.
Topic: Portfolio constructionaqr.com
Fixed income
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California designs its fiscal comeback built to last (opens nuveen.com)
A Nuveen municipal credit analyst reviews how California rebuilt its finances after the 2009 crisis through budget, reserve and tax reforms. The state enters fiscal 2027 with $35.2 billion in reserves, and the analyst sees its general obligation credit as far stronger, though heavy reliance on income taxes tied to the stock market remains a risk.
Topic: Fixed incomenuveen.com
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Trading US Corporate Bonds: It Pays to Be Flexible (opens dimensional.com)
Dimensional researchers study 159 million trades in US corporate bonds to see whether flexibility in which bonds to buy pays off. From 2013 to 2024, bonds that were expensive to trade lagged cheaper substitutes with similar quality, duration and yield by 20 basis points on average over three months, net of costs, across credit tiers.
Topic: Fixed incomedimensional.com
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What's Pushing Long-Term Bond Yields Higher? (opens pimco.com)
PIMCO examines why long-dated government bond yields in the US and abroad reached their highest levels in nearly two decades, with the 30-year Treasury near 5.3%. It points to heavy government borrowing, long-dated AI-related corporate issuance and inflation worries, and argues the move is mostly about real yields rather than inflation expectations.
Topic: Fixed incomepimco.com
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Time for Core (Plus) Bond Portfolios Again? (opens franklintempleton.com)
Franklin Templeton Institute strategists argue that yields across bond sectors now justify moving from a short-duration stance toward core and core plus portfolios, using a 10-year Treasury yield near 4.75% as the point to start extending. The piece gives sector views on Treasuries, credit, emerging market debt and euro bonds.
Topic: Fixed incomefranklintempleton.com
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Treasury Market Liquidity Since April 2025 (opens libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org)
New York Fed economists track how easy it has been to trade Treasuries since the April 2025 tariff announcement. Liquidity worsened sharply during that shock, recovered quickly once some tariffs were rolled back, and held fairly steady into early 2026.
Topic: Fixed incomelibertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org
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Why have far-forward nominal Treasury rates increased so much in the past few years? Old risks reemerge in an era of Fed credibility (opens federalreserve.gov)
Fed Board economists ask why long-term Treasury yields stayed high even after 175 basis points of rate cuts. They trace it to a higher risk premium driven by worries about supply shocks and federal deficits, and find no sign that fear of future inflation played a role.
Topic: Fixed incomefederalreserve.gov
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5 core bond themes for 2026: Defense now, offense later (opens capitalgroup.com)
A Capital Group bond manager sets out five themes for core bond portfolios in 2026, after a year in which the broad US bond market returned more than 7%. He favors short and intermediate maturities, finds corporate credit valuations unattractive, and prefers higher-quality securitized bonds while waiting for better entry points.
Topic: Fixed incomecapitalgroup.com
ETF strategy
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Financial Advisors Receptive to Outsourced Models, Lean Into Diversification (opens escalent.co)
Escalent's 2026 survey of advisors finds 54% use model portfolios from asset managers, with frequent use rising fastest among advisors under 45. Average ETF allocations fell to 27.5% from 32.6% a year earlier while separately managed account use rose, and allocations to alternatives are expected to grow by 2028.
Topic: ETF strategyescalent.co
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Summer road trip: Resilient fundamentals remain in the driver's seat for ETF flows (opens ssga.com)
State Street reviews US ETF flows for July 2026, when ETFs gathered $189 billion and year-to-date inflows reached $1.2 trillion. Investors kept a clear risk-on posture, with more than 70% of inflows going to equities, a record $25 billion into sector funds and record demand for leveraged long exposure.
Topic: ETF strategyssga.com
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ETF inflows set records in first half (opens ssga.com)
A midyear review of US ETF flows, which passed $1 trillion in the first half of 2026 for the first time, with total ETF assets at $15.8 trillion. Low-cost core funds took 49% of inflows and active ETFs 39%, bond ETFs drew $300 billion, and flows were concentrated, with many smaller funds seeing outflows.
Topic: ETF strategyssga.com
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New ETF Launches Far Exceed Closures (opens cerulli.com)
Cerulli tracks ETF product development and finds launches still far outpace closures, with nearly 5,000 ETF strategies by the end of 2025. Active strategies made up 84% of 2025 launches, most issuers plan more in 2026, and more than 85% of closures since 2021 were funds under $50 million that never drew advisor demand.
Topic: ETF strategycerulli.com
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2026 Investment Company Fact Book (opens icifactbook.org)
ICI's annual statistical reference on US funds, with a full chapter on ETFs. It reports ETF assets of $13.4 trillion at the end of 2025, record net issuance of $1.5 trillion during the year, 1,099 launches, and fee-based advisers holding 49% of client household assets in ETFs in 2024, up from 17% in 2014.
Topic: ETF strategyicifactbook.org
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Trends in the Expenses and Fees of Funds, 2025 (opens ici.org)
ICI's annual review of what investors pay to own mutual funds and ETFs, weighted by assets. In 2025 index equity ETFs averaged 0.14% and index bond ETFs fell to 0.09%, while long-run declines in mutual fund costs continued as money kept moving to no-load share classes and index funds.
Topic: ETF strategyici.org
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The Newest Wave of ETFs Is Leading to Mini Bubbles (opens morningstar.com)
Morningstar examines the record 1,117 ETF launches of 2025 and finds many chase popular themes after big runs. Most were actively managed, nearly half held fewer than 10 stocks, and they charged more than established funds, which the author argues makes diversification and low cost the better guides.
Topic: ETF strategymorningstar.com
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Four key trends in the 2025 active-passive debate (opens ssga.com)
State Street reviews 2025 flows and performance for active and index strategies. Active ETFs took a record $580 billion while active mutual funds lost $640 billion, and active management fared best in bonds, where 47% of active fixed income managers beat their benchmarks against 32% in equities.
Topic: ETF strategyssga.com
Alternatives
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The Window Narrows: Evergreen Funds and the Choice Before the Industry (opens caia.org)
CAIA examines the rapid growth of evergreen private market funds sold through wealth channels, which held $534.6 billion at the end of 2025. It finds redemption terms work as written but get simplified on the way to clients, and urges clearer language, such as capped liquidity, and more adviser diligence while markets are calm.
Topic: Alternativescaia.org
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Inflation Redux? (opens aqr.com)
AQR revisits how exposed typical portfolios are to an inflation shock now that stock and bond correlations have reached multi-decade highs. Its review of more than 50 years of data finds that commodities and trend-following strategies have tended to do well when inflation rises, including in 2022, while private assets are unlikely to be immune.
Topic: Alternativesaqr.com
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Private Credit Funds and the Retail Shift: Structural Vulnerabilities and Policy Responses (opens rpc.cfainstitute.org)
CFA Institute analyzes what changes when private credit is sold to individual investors through semiliquid and nontraded vehicles. The report argues retail access reshapes rather than removes the asset class's risks, pointing to redemption mismatches, model-based valuations, leverage and weaker loan covenants, and sets out possible safeguards.
Topic: Alternativesrpc.cfainstitute.org
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Private Credit and Leveraged Loan Markets: Similarities, Differences, and Substitution (opens federalreserve.gov)
Fed Board economists compare private credit with the leveraged loan market, each about $1.4 trillion at the end of 2025. The two serve similar borrowers but are funded and traded very differently, and larger companies can switch between them while smaller ones would bear more of any private credit pullback.
Topic: Alternativesfederalreserve.gov
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Early Warning Signals in Private Credit? What BDC Portfolios Reveal about Emerging Risks (opens bostonfed.org)
Boston Fed researchers use public filings from business development companies as a window into private credit. The share of loans paying interest in kind rose from about 6% to about 10% by early 2026, a sign of cash strain at borrowers, while narrowing spreads suggest competition is squeezing pricing.
Topic: Alternativesbostonfed.org
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Private Markets Set to Add $2 Trillion in Advisor-Intermediated Assets Over Next Five Years (opens cerulli.com)
Cerulli estimates advisors hold about $2.2 trillion in less-than-fully-liquid private capital products and expects that to grow by $2 trillion over five years. Interval funds, other semi-liquid vehicles and alternative allocation models drive the outlook, with client demand for income cited as a main reason.
Topic: Alternativescerulli.com
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The power of private real assets (opens nuveen.com)
Nuveen researchers use more than 30 years of data to assess farmland, timberland, infrastructure and commercial real estate in diversified portfolios. They find these private real assets showed low correlations to stocks and bonds and better risk-adjusted returns than public real asset proxies, while noting illiquidity and access hurdles.
Topic: Alternativesnuveen.com
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The cost of being too liquid (opens franklintempleton.com)
Franklin Templeton Institute strategists explain the illiquidity premium in private markets and how large institutions budget for it. They propose that advisors set aside an illiquidity bucket for money a client can lock up for seven to 10 years, suggesting 10% to 20% may suit many high-net-worth investors.
Topic: Alternativesfranklintempleton.com
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Asset Managers Face Distribution Challenges as Alternatives Demand Accelerates (opens cerulli.com)
Cerulli surveys how asset managers support advisors who use alternatives. Advisors managing at least $500 million allocate 4.4% to illiquid alternatives and expect 5.7% by 2027, and three-quarters of managers say advisor education is the biggest obstacle to wider use.
Topic: Alternativescerulli.com
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Right-sizing private equity in a portfolio (opens corporate.vanguard.com)
Vanguard offers a framework for deciding whether and how much private equity belongs in a portfolio. It finds the diversification benefit is often overstated by smoothed valuations, and that a sensible allocation ranges from 0% to 40% of total equity depending on liquidity needs, tolerance for active risk and access to skilled managers.
Topic: Alternativescorporate.vanguard.com
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Should Trend Follow Carry: Lessons from Bonds, Gold, and 2022 (opens syzygyassetmanagement.com)
Researchers at the firm formerly known as Research Affiliates test whether trend-following strategies should trade only in the direction of an asset's carry. Using 83 futures and forward markets since 1989, they find carry filtering has generally helped but backfired in 2022, and that it adds the most in bond markets.
Topic: Alternativessyzygyassetmanagement.com
Practice management
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What Separates Sophisticated Investors? Risk Literacy and Investment Decision-Making (opens finrafoundation.org)
A research brief that sorts investors by how well they understand risk rather than basic terms. Only 18% show advanced investment literacy, and willingness to take a fraud-like pitch peaks among those with basic-only knowledge, which points to client education on risk and scams that goes beyond the basics.
Topic: Practice managementfinrafoundation.org
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The AI advice frontier: Use, trust, and the human edge (opens corporate.vanguard.com)
A Vanguard survey of 6,686 investors finds about 32% have used AI for financial guidance, but only 19% of them trust its accuracy. AI was far more likely to raise than lower the perceived value of a human advisor, and the paper suggests advisors lean into empathy and help clients use AI tools safely.
Topic: Practice managementcorporate.vanguard.com
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Will AI Replace Financial Advisors? Here's How to Prove Your Value to Clients (opens morningstar.com)
A Morningstar behavioral scientist draws on the firm's research into why clients hire advisors: behavioral coaching, goals-based planning and advice that feels personal and reliable. She concludes AI is best used for efficiency, and that uses which make the client relationship feel less personal can do harm.
Topic: Practice managementmorningstar.com
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M&A in wealth management: 2026 mid-year update (opens clearingcustody.fidelity.com)
Fidelity's midyear review of wealth management deals finds 120 RIA transactions in the first half of 2026, down from 132 a year earlier, but acquired assets of $342.9 billion, nearly double. Median deal size rose to $630 million, and acquirers are using deals to add capabilities such as tax and estate planning.
Topic: Practice managementclearingcustody.fidelity.com
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7 Ideas to Redesign Wealth Management Operating Models (opens bny.com)
Drawing on panels with operations and technology leaders at wealth firms, BNY Pershing outlines seven ways to redesign operating models around AI rather than automate old processes. Themes include treating advisors as co-designers, keeping control of client data, planning for change management early and avoiding a sprawl of tools.
Topic: Practice managementbny.com
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Advisor Retirements Underscore Need for Stronger Rookie Development (opens cerulli.com)
Cerulli finds that about 35% of advisors, managing 40% of industry assets, plan to retire within 10 years, and more than a quarter of them are unsure of their succession plans. Practice management staff cite the time needed to train new advisors as the main hurdle, and Cerulli argues placing rookies on larger teams eases both problems.
Topic: Practice managementcerulli.com
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Survey: AI Dominates Compliance Priorities at Historic Margin as Firms Move from Awareness to Action (opens investmentadviser.org)
The 2026 compliance testing survey of 411 adviser firms finds 85% name AI the top compliance topic and 80% have formally adopted AI tools. Fewer have the controls to match: 48% have a human-review policy and 30% address third-party AI use, and the survey also benchmarks compliance staffing and budgets.
Topic: Practice managementinvestmentadviser.org
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2026 RIA Benchmarking Study (opens aboutschwab.com)
Schwab's annual benchmarking study of 1,236 RIA firms with more than $2.5 trillion in assets, collected in early 2026. Growth remains the top priority, firms credit organic growth to clear value propositions and marketing, and talent, AI and digital processes are the main levers for efficiency.
Topic: Practice managementaboutschwab.com
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AI Adoption Accelerates, Driving Financial Advisor Loyalty, JD Power Finds (opens jdpower.com)
J.D. Power's 2026 survey of more than 4,500 advisors links effective firm-provided AI tools to higher satisfaction and loyalty. Active AI use rose to 73% among employee advisors and 42% among independents, and teaming is spreading among younger independent advisors.
Topic: Practice managementjdpower.com
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Five factors set to disrupt the financial advice business (opens im.natixis.com)
Natixis distills its 2026 global survey of 2,950 advisors into five pressures on the business, from clients moving to cash to digital competition and an aging advisor workforce. Advisors expect assets to grow about 12% a year, 43% expect AI tools for self-directed investors to become their main competitor within five years, and 77% see advisor retirements as an opportunity.
Topic: Practice managementim.natixis.com
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Top 10 priorities shaping the future of wealth management leadership (opens ey.com)
EY summarizes its global wealth management industry report in 10 priorities for firm leaders. It expects pure asset-based fee schedules to get harder to defend, with pricing moving toward complex advice such as tax and succession, and treats AI as a redesign of the operating model rather than an add-on.
Topic: Practice managementey.com
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RIA Consolidation Drives M&A Activity as Market Nears $4 Trillion (opens cerulli.com)
Cerulli examines continuing consolidation in the RIA channel, where more than half of firms, 54%, are seeking an acquisition. Retiring advisors, more than 26,000 projected over the next decade, form the largest pool of targets, while breakaway teams are harder to capture because leaving a broker-dealer is complex.
Topic: Practice managementcerulli.com
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Study: Financial Planner Compensation Outpaces Inflation for Third Consecutive Year (opens cfp.net)
CFP Board's annual pay survey of 1,624 planners puts median 2025 total compensation at $195,000, up 15% from 2024. It reports CFP professionals earn 11% more than other planners after controlling for experience and firm size, and that nine in 10 plan to stay with their employer for the next two years.
Topic: Practice managementcfp.net
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Investment Adviser Industry Snapshot 2026 (opens investmentadviser.org)
An annual statistical portrait of SEC-registered advisers drawn from Form ADV filings. The 2026 edition counts 16,544 advisers managing $176.8 trillion for 73.7 million clients, finds 92.8% of firms employ 100 or fewer people, and shows individual clients using advisers for asset management more than doubling over eight years.
Topic: Practice managementinvestmentadviser.org
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AI and the New Economics of Wealth Management (opens bcg.com)
A chapter of BCG's 2026 Global Wealth Report arguing that AI changes the economics of advice rather than adding another tool. BCG sees a likely future in which AI-first firms expand advisor capacity without removing the human role, and says firms with unified data can scale AI while those with fragmented systems stall in pilots.
Topic: Practice managementbcg.com
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The Effects of Organizational Trust on Investors' Expectations and Allocations (opens pensionresearchcouncil.wharton.upenn.edu)
An experiment showing that the name of the firm on an otherwise identical index fund changes what investors expect and how much they invest. A trusted name raised expected returns, lowered perceived risk and increased allocations by five to 13 percentage points, and financial literacy dampened the effect.
Topic: Practice managementpensionresearchcouncil.wharton.upenn.edu
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Internal succession planning: 5 key steps (opens ssga.com)
State Street's practice management team sets out five steps for handing a practice to someone already inside the firm, from choosing a single successor or a team to financing the sale when internal buyers lack capital. It recommends allowing at least five years, and up to 10, before a planned exit.
Topic: Practice managementssga.com
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Over 40% of U.S. financial advisors see wealth transfer as an existential threat to business, Natixis IM finds (opens im.natixis.com)
Natixis surveys advisors and investors on what happens to assets when wealth passes to heirs. Forty-one percent of US advisors call the wealth transfer an existential threat and 22% say they have already lost significant assets, while 47% of investors expecting an inheritance do not plan to keep the family's advisor.
Topic: Practice managementim.natixis.com
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The Impact of Financial Advisors Since the Uptick in Policy Risk (opens crr.bc.edu)
This brief compares how advisors and their older clients view policy risks such as Social Security, Medicare, deficits and inflation. Advisors are more upbeat overall but share specific worries, and having an advisor did not measurably change clients' outlook or investment approach, which the authors link to mixed messages.
Topic: Practice managementcrr.bc.edu
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Affluent Investors' Willingness to Pay for Financial Advice Reaches New Heights (opens cerulli.com)
Cerulli tracks how the share of affluent investors willing to pay for advice rose from 38% in 2010 to 68% in 2025. Willingness rises with wealth, reaching 75% among households with $5 million or more, and the firm credits wider access to advice, lower fees and the spread of fiduciary models.
Topic: Practice managementcerulli.com
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Gen Z and Millennial High-Net-Worth Investors Are Reshaping Wealth Advice (opens cfainstitute.org)
CFA Institute surveyed more than 2,400 affluent and wealthy investors in six markets on what younger clients expect. More than 90% of wealthy Gen Z and millennial investors use some paid advice and most of those meet their adviser monthly, while human advisers remain the most trusted source even as about a third use AI to learn.
Topic: Practice managementcfainstitute.org
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Clients expect AI-savvy advisors. But fear not. (opens troweprice.com)
A T. Rowe Price survey of 182 advisors in January 2026 finds 83% use AI at least monthly but 77% do not consider themselves advanced users. The piece lays out a measured path for practices: start with one business need, build skills, assign responsibility and set review and disclosure rules for AI output.
Topic: Practice managementtroweprice.com
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A year in review: 2025 mergers & acquisitions (opens clearingcustody.fidelity.com)
Fidelity's annual review of RIA deals documents a record 2025, with 276 completed transactions and $796.4 billion in acquired assets, up from 233 deals in 2024. A record 102 buyers were active, private equity backed 88% of deals, and acquirers increasingly bought capabilities such as tax and ultra-high-net-worth services.
Topic: Practice managementclearingcustody.fidelity.com
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Advisors Signal Desire for More Technology and Product Education to Drive Growth in New Study from Broadridge and FSI (opens broadridge.com)
A Broadridge and Financial Services Institute survey of 428 advisors and staff finds 68% are not confident their firm's technology is set up for their growth goals. Most say better tools and training would help them win clients, and 51% use generative AI somewhere in their business, a share that is higher among younger advisors.
Topic: Practice managementbroadridge.com
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US wealth management in 2035: A transformative decade begins (opens mckinsey.com)
McKinsey sketches how US wealth management could change by 2035 as wealth shifts to younger generations and women and AI takes on more of the work. It flags a shortfall of roughly 100,000 advisors as nearly 40% retire within a decade, and notes that the share of investors seeking holistic advice rose from 29% to 52% between 2018 and 2023.
Topic: Practice managementmckinsey.com
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FSI Survey: Advisors Enter 2026 With Guarded Optimism and Growing Concerns (opens financialservices.org)
The Financial Services Institute's survey of more than 220 members looks ahead to 2026 for independent advisors and their firms. Members cite misperceptions of the role and unclear career paths as the main reasons young people hesitate to join, and about 20% say they are integrating AI across key functions.
Topic: Practice managementfinancialservices.org
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Team-Based Advisor Practices Outperform Solo Practices in Growth and Service Offerings (opens cerulli.com)
Cerulli compares team-based and solo advisor practices. Just over half of advisors work on teams, and team practices average more than three times the assets of solo practices and more than double their annual organic growth, helped by specialist staff who widen the services they can offer.
Topic: Practice managementcerulli.com
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Investors in the United States: A Report of the National Financial Capability Study (opens finrafoundation.org)
The FINRA Foundation's fourth national survey of US investors with taxable accounts. The pandemic wave of new investors has faded, 34% of investors feel they must take big risks to reach their goals, rising to 62% among those under 35, and 26% use recommendations from social media influencers.
Topic: Practice managementfinrafoundation.org
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New CFP Board Report Charts the Path Forward for AI in Financial Planning (opens cfp.net)
CFP Board's AI working group sketches four ways AI could reshape financial planning by the end of the decade, depending on how far the public trusts AI and how much new entrants disrupt the field. The report names workforce development and professional standards among the areas the profession should prepare.
Topic: Practice managementcfp.net
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Financial advice economics: What SEC filings reveal about costs and services (opens corporate.vanguard.com)
Vanguard used AI to read the Form ADV filings behind more than 26,000 US advice offerings and compare what firms charge with the services they describe. Digital-only offerings typically cost 40% less than hybrid ones, fees for similar services vary more than six-fold, and 65% of advisors also charge fixed fees.
Topic: Practice managementcorporate.vanguard.com
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Schwab's 2025 Independent Advisor Outlook Study: Trust, Talent and Technology Shaping the Next Era of Independent Advice (opens pressroom.aboutschwab.com)
Schwab's survey of 912 independent advisors covers growth priorities, AI and technology. Fifty-seven percent of firms already use AI and 69% expect it to be fully embedded within five years, and advisors rank adding new clients and raising assets per client as their top goals.
Topic: Practice managementpressroom.aboutschwab.com
Regulation and ethics
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Examinations Observations Regarding Investment Adviser Annual Compliance Review (opens sec.gov)
SEC examiners list recurring failures in the annual review of compliance policies every registered adviser must perform. They cite skipped or late reviews, review periods longer than 12 months, training or attestations used in place of a real review, thin documentation and problems left unresolved.
Topic: Regulation and ethicssec.gov
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Investor Perspectives: Quarterly Reporting (opens rpc.cfainstitute.org)
CFA Institute surveyed analysts and portfolio managers as the SEC considers letting public companies report semiannually. Most want quarterly reporting kept mandatory, expect less useful information under a voluntary regime, and do not see earnings releases as a substitute for quarterly filings.
Topic: Regulation and ethicsrpc.cfainstitute.org
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Conflicts of Interest in Continuation Funds: Part II in a Series on Ethics in Private Markets (opens rpc.cfainstitute.org)
An ethics analysis of continuation funds, where a private equity manager sells assets from an older fund to a new one it also runs and so sits on both sides of the price. The report separates unavoidable conflicts from process failures and misconduct, and sets out practices such as competitive bidding and full disclosure.
Topic: Regulation and ethicsrpc.cfainstitute.org
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Examinations Observations of Investment Adviser Obligations Related to Economic Conflicts of Interest (opens sec.gov)
SEC examiners detail conflicts tied to advisers' own compensation that were left undisclosed or described misleadingly. Problem areas include cash sweep revenue, costlier share classes when cheaper ones were available, margin and clearing markups, Form ADV language saying a firm may earn revenue it actually earns, and billing that did not match agreements.
Topic: Regulation and ethicssec.gov
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Additional Observations Regarding Advisers' Compliance with the Advisers Act Marketing Rule (opens sec.gov)
SEC examiners describe where advisers fall short when using testimonials, endorsements and third-party ratings in marketing. The most common failure was missing the required disclosures when a testimonial was shared, and staff also found undisclosed promoter pay and conflicts, including with influencers, referral networks and paid reviews.
Topic: Regulation and ethicssec.gov
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Don't Let Scammers Steal Your Holiday Spirit: NASAA Unveils the 12 Top Investor Threats (opens nasaa.org)
State regulators' list of the scams most likely to reach investors, built from enforcement data and a member survey. It highlights AI-driven fraud such as deepfakes and fake trading bots, social media lures, crypto schemes, account takeovers, unregistered sellers and the continued targeting of older investors.
Topic: Regulation and ethicsnasaa.org
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2026 FINRA Annual Regulatory Oversight Report (opens finra.org)
FINRA's yearly guide to what its exams and surveillance are finding at broker-dealers, with effective practices for each area. The 2026 edition adds a section on generative AI and covers cyber-enabled fraud, small-cap manipulation, third-party vendor risk, crypto, Regulation Best Interest and Form CRS.
Topic: Regulation and ethicsfinra.org
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SEC Division of Examinations Announces 2026 Priorities (opens sec.gov)
The SEC exam division's plan for fiscal 2026, linked from this release. For advisers, examiners will focus on fiduciary duty to retail clients, with extra attention to alternative, complex and higher-cost investments, advice to older investors and retirement savers, dual registrants, recently merged firms and the amended Regulation S-P.
Topic: Regulation and ethicssec.gov
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NASAA Releases 2025 Enforcement Report (opens nasaa.org)
State securities regulators' annual tally of enforcement for 2024, with a link to the full report. They ran 8,833 active investigations and brought 1,183 enforcement actions with more than $259 million in fines and restitution, with digital asset, social media and impersonation schemes among the leading threats.
Topic: Regulation and ethicsnasaa.org
From AdvisorIQ
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Editorial
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