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Vanguard: Expect 2020 U.S. Economic Growth To Tail Off

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A roofer works on a house foundation framing in Irving, Texas.

With ongoing trade tensions, geopolitical uncertainty, and unpredictable policymaking becoming the new normal, Vanguard expects U.S. growth to decelerate below trend to around 1% in 2020, with the risk of recession still elevated.

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Is this it? Is this the last step to recession? It seems we have been asking this question for a few years now. But there might be reasons to think that this time is the real one. The question now might be will it be a blip or something far bigger?

By a 227-200 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives today approved a package of amendments to HR 3351, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, that includes a provision to prohibit the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from implementing or enforcing Regulation Best Interest.

According to the study, roughly, 85 million Americans use social media to learn more about financial advisors. Six in 10 of these consumers say they use social media sites to find information on financial services products and services or were looking for reviews on financial professionals.

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Maxine Waters, D- California, chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, issued the following news release:. In May, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, convened a full Committee markup of H.R. 2534 and six other bills. H.R. 2534 is supported by institutional investors, state securities regulators,…

Citi Private Bank today released its Outlook report for 2020, titled,“ Staying Positive in a Negative World.” The twice-yearly publication provides in-depth insights into the global economy and financial markets for the coming year, and highlights important multi-year investment themes for client portfolios. “The year ahead promises to be an eventful year…

–LPL Financial LLC, a leading retail investment advisory firm and independent broker-dealer, today announced the launch of a no-transaction-fee, exchange-traded fund network where advisors can trade ETFs for free in advisory accounts. By partnering with leading ETF providers State Street Global Advisors, Invesco and WisdomTree, LPL advisors have access…

Review your investment portfolio before the end of the year to see what Long Term Capital Gain Dividend distributions have already hit the account and check to see if there will be any others to come before year end. Careful tax planning like this can save your clients a bundle.

The proposal will impose a uniform fiduciary conduct standard on broker-dealers, agents, investment advisors and investment advisor representatives providing financial advice to any clients in Massachusetts. A public hearing will be held on the proposal next month, officials said Monday, with adoption to follow as soon as Feb. 1.

-John Hancock Retirement and John Hancock Investment Management, companies of Manulife Investment Management, today announced the launch of John Hancock Stable Value Guaranteed Income Fund, a principal stable value option within John Hancock's lineup of retirement investments. “John Hancock Stable Value Guaranteed Income Fund provides an option to…

–Hub International Limited, a leading global insurance brokerage, announced today that it has acquired SilverStone Group, one of the largest insurance brokerages in the U.S. and the largest brokerage in Nebraska. With SilverStone, the company creates a new regional hub to be called Hub Great Plains, which will include and cover existing operations in Omaha,…
Who will occupy the White House in 2021? The upcoming election is sure to hinge on the economy, pundits agree.

Two U.S. presidents have been formally impeached by Congress: Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton. In addition, two other U.S. presidents have faced formal impeachment inquiries: Richard Nixon and Donald Trump. So far, no U.S. president has been removed from office through the full impeachment process.

The addition of AFA expands Mercer Advisors' presence in Florida to three offices. The AFA acquisition brings Mercer Advisors' total offices to 46 and increases Mercer Advisors' total AUM to nearly $17.5 billion. Mari Adam and her team's focus on delivering comprehensive financial planning and wealth management to their high net worth clientele fits…
The New York Stock Exchange in Lower Manhattan.

With all three major stock market indices reaching record highs in November, wealthy investors moved assets back into stocks, ignoring the ongoing barrage of political and geopolitical risks facing the U.S., according to the December edition of Spectrem’s High Net Worth Insights Journal.

E* TRADE Financial Corporation today announced results from its most recent wave of StreetWise, the E* TRADE quarterly tracking study of experienced investors. “Gen X are major contributors to the economy, making up about one third of today’ s workforce, so the financial well-being of this population is critical,” said Mike Loewengart, VP of Investment Strategy at E*…

NEW YORK& TOKYO—- American International Group, Inc., The Carlyle Group and T&D Holdings announced today that a newly created Carlyle-managed fund, together with T&D, have partnered to acquire from AIG a 76.6 percent ownership interest in Fortitude Group Holdings, whose group companies operate as Fortitude Re, for approximately $1.8 billion.
Family Thansgiving dinners can be a difficult time to discuss financial issues.

While 93% of Americans believe it is important to set a plan for their family and their own financial future, 47% of them – nearly half of the entire country – struggle to discuss finances with their loved ones. A new Lincoln Financial Group campaign aims to change that.

College savings plans are a great way to save for education. But not all college savings plans are great. Most state-sponsored 529 college savings plans, which allow you to invest in a tax-advantaged account for future education costs, have improved significantly in recent years, says Madeline Hume, analyst for multi-asset and alternative strategies at…

Consider putting these items on your to-do list with a Dec. 31 due date:. If you need convincing that updating beneficiaries is important, consider the case of David Egelhoff, a Washington state man who died two months after his divorce was final in 1994.. The children sued, and the case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in 2001 that the beneficiary…

Think you'll be better off if Congress outlaws your private health coverage and puts you on a new government-run health plan called “Medicare for All”? Over half of House Democrats and 14 senators, including Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, say you will. Health care experts Ed Haislmaier and Jamie Hall, however, took a hard look at this claim in a new Heritage…
Being an advisor in the age of the consumer means being tuned in to what customers are saying.

As more consumers seek advice on how to pick the right Medicare health plan and incorporate those health care expenses into their retirement plans, the distinction between Medicare advisors and financial advisors will continue to blur.

–A major research study from BNY Mellon Investment Management, one of the largest asset managers in the world with $1.9 trillion in AUM as of September 30, 2019 1, revealed millennials have a greater level of understanding over their older cohorts regarding the role fixed income plays in retirement planning and how the asset class responds to market cycles.

–The Financial Health Network, the nation’ s authority on financial health, in partnership with Flourish, MetLife Foundation, and AARP, today released the U.S. Financial Health Pulse 2019 Trends Report. Now in its second year, this year-over-year analysis of peoples’ financial health found that despite a strong economy, only 29% of people in the U.S. are financially…
Being an advisor in the age of the consumer means being tuned in to what customers are saying.

Working efficiently has become more important. To work efficiently, advisors must set priorities and delegate responsibilities that take away from their core activities.

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 14, 2019/ PRNewswire/– Only 12 percent of women workers are “very” confident that they will be able to fully retire with a comfortable lifestyle, according to 19 Facts About Women’s Retirement Outlook, a new study released today by nonprofit Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies ®. Despite this progress, women continue to be at greater risk…

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, Byung J. Pak, issued the following news release:. Marc Celello, a former state securities enforcement attorney and General Counsel for a Georgia investment company, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud investors out of over $40 million. According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges, and other information…

Changes are to the Social Security Administration pension program are an annual event and 2020 is no different. Some changes are due to formulas, while others are part of the legislative framework underpinning Social Security. Here are six changes on the books for 2020.
Deciphering your client's personality can unlock the door to a great relationship.

Learn about your client’s personality quickly and adapt to the way they want to have information presented to them. Client personalities typically fall into four distinct categories: the driver, the intellect, the feeler and the amiable.

MILWAUKEE, Nov. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — A new release of findings from Northwestern Mutual’s C.A.R.E. (Costs, Accountabilities, Realities, Expectations) Study…

Hank Hurst and Jaret Rice enjoy digesting bland tax data and spitting out tasty returns for their clients. The partners at The Hurst Company, Certified Public Accountants and Advisors have compiled a presentation about the new federal tax laws, what they’ve learned and how they’ve responded. They ran through the presentation last week at their office at the…
Many seniors are worried about running out of money in retirement. Annuities are one option to prevent that from happening.

The Protected Lifetime Income Index study, a recent survey of 3,119 adults by the Alliance for Lifetime Income, shows that a mere 28% of non-retired Americans have made an effort to determine their likely monthly income needs in retirement —perhaps the single most important thing people should be planning for.

President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to China this week suggests that the United States risks being sidelined on the global stage under President Donald Trump. Just as the Trump administration formally launched the process of pulling out of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, France and China issued a ” Beijing call” on Wednesday for increased global cooperation…

–A new survey from Wilmington Trust, in collaboration with experts from its parent company M&T Bank, finds that a clear majority of owners of privately held businesses are unprepared to transition or sell their business, even as Baby Boomers retire and hundreds of thousands of businesses come to market over the next decade. The quarterly survey, Wilmington…

Lincoln Financial Group today reported a net loss for the third quarter of 2019 of $161 million, or$ per diluted share available to common stockholders, compared to net income in the third quarter of 2018 of $490 million, or $2.24 per diluted share available to common stockholders. “Appropriate adjustments to our assumptions, including interest rates, as part of…

Less than three months after receiving an IRS Private Letter Ruling that eases the taxation of advisory fees, Great American Life ® released a new endorsement that goes one step further to simplify the payment of advisory fees from an annuity. Plus, clients had to consider how the withdrawal would affect their annuity benefits,” says Tony Compton, Great…

–It won’t come as a surprise that business owners view 401 s as advantageous both for their business and their employees. And with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting 71 percent of all U.S. workers have access to retirement benefits, offering a 401 to employees has become necessary in order to competitively attract and retain talent in today’s strong,…

AMARILLO– If 69- year-old Lynda Sue Costley wants to shower, she has to go to a friend’s house. Her trailer, on a gravelly road outside Amarillo, hasn’t had running water since 2014– when her husband died from cancer. But every month, she receives a letter in the mail saying the federal government is withholding $134 from her Social Security checks– the equivalent of 18…

–LPL Financial Holdings Inc. today announced results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2019, reporting net income of $132 million, or $1.57 per share. We also closed our acquisition of Allen& Company, and are excited that their advisors have joined our team. We invested for organic growth across recruiting and technology, completed the acquisition of…

Americans have been riding a wave of record high levels of personal financial satisfaction for the last two and a half years. However, decreases in job openings against the backdrop of a recent decline in corporate optimism in the U.S. economy have pushed the AICPA’ s Q3 2019 Personal Financial Satisfaction Index down slightly.

How has the definition of family evolved over recent years? That’ s what Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company set out to discover and asked 3,000 Americans via an online survey conducted by PSB Research in June. This press release features multimedia.

Principal Financial Group issued the following news release:. Principal Financial Group (R) today announced further progress in the integration of the Wells Fargo Institutional Retirement& Trust business, by naming technology platforms for its Trust and Custody, Nonqualified and Employee Stock Ownership Plan business segments. Tailored Trust and…

To help navigate these changes, Crowe LLP, a public accounting, consulting and technology firm in the U.S. with offices around the world, has issued “Tax Planning: 2019 Year-End Guide.” According to Gary Fox, managing partner of tax services at Crowe, smart timing of income and expenses can reduce tax liability, and poor timing can unnecessarily increase it. “

Mr. Hammer and Mr. Sanabria are expected to build a global secondary investment capability that focuses on general partner-led and special situation transactions, and partners with private equity, private credit and secondary fund sponsors. Mr. Hammer and Mr. Sanabria expect to harness Manulife’s track record as a collaborative investor and long-time fund…

JPMorgan Chase is expanding its commitment to giving people with criminal backgrounds a second chance by supporting their reentry into the workforce, community and local economies. Public Policy Agenda: Advancing a public policy agenda through the new JPMorgan Chase Policy Center that reduces barriers to employment for people with criminal backgrounds;…
Presidential candidates can promise all they want, but Congress often has more input.

In a letter this week to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kent., Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., lobbied for immediate Senate consideration of the bipartisan Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (Secure) Act. The bill passed the House by a 417-3 vote on May 23.
Who will occupy the White House in 2021? The upcoming election is sure to hinge on the economy, pundits agree.

A new Eaton Partners’ survey finds that an overwhelming majority of investors (69%) say they are concerned about the anti-private equity rhetoric by some U.S. presidential candidates, even though most respondents admit any potential action remains unclear. Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have railed against Wall Street.

Low jobless rates and rising incomes are helping to fatten state coffers across the U.S. Revenue from sales, personal and corporate taxes is on the rise– the best growth since before the Great Recession. The trade war with China is battering the agriculture industry in the Midwest and the prairie states and crimping activity at Southern ports.

Retirement may sound far away or unachievable to many Americans, but new research from Lincoln Financial Group shows that consumers who take the time to envision their ideal retirement not only know they need to save more, but are actually saving at a higher rate than those who have no idea what their ideal retirement looks like. “Planning for retirement is more…

—Bank of America’s third quarter profits fell 19% from a year ago as the bank wrote down the value of its long-time joint venture payment processor First Data. The bank, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, reported a profit of $5.8 billion, or 56 cents a share, down from $7.2 billion, or 66 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. Bank of America had to write off the…

Your employer-sponsored account is one of the best places to save for your retirement. The No. 1 reason I encour- age most investors to participate in their 401 is that many employ- ers provide participants an employee match up to a certain percentage of salary. Additionally, contribution limits are very generous at $19,000 for 2019, with an additional $6,000 for…

Oct. 15– After several victims of his $1.3 billion Ponzi scheme described him as a financial predator, Robert H. Shapiro was sentenced to a maximum 25 years in prison on Tuesday for committing investment fraud and tax evasion. Shapiro, the former CEO of the Woodbridge Group of Companies, masterminded a nationwide real estate investment scheme from his two bases in…

The bank, based in San Francisco, said Tuesday that its earnings fell to 92 cents per share from $1.13 per share a year ago. The results missed the average Wall Street estimate of $1.15 per share, based on a survey of seven analysts by Zacks Investment Research. Last year, the Federal Reserve capped the size of Wells Fargo’ s assets.

A Philly high school teacher is introducing teenagers to the world of stocks, bonds, the dangers of credit cards, and the thrill of investing over the long-term to become a millionaire– at Olney Charter High School in the Olney section of the city. LaSalle initially entered a teacher grant competition and won $15,000 from the Philadelphia Academy of School…
The movement to combat crude workplace behavior might finally be coming to financial services.

The state of Michigan’s retirement systems have ended a contract with an investment company that managed more than $600 million in pension funds after the CEO made “completely unacceptable” comments at a conference. The decision came two days after Fisher Investments’ founder and CEO Ken Fisher spoke at the Tiburon CEO Summit in San Francisco.

–Avant Global, LLC a leading relationship-driven venture capital investment, business advisory and private equity fund management firm, has announced a partnership with White Field Capital Partners to launch a $200 Million private equity growth fund. White Field Capital Partners and Avant Global have committed an initial investment of $2 million into the…

Oct. 11– Former Charlotte financial adviser Jim Heafner and Taylor Capital Management have been ordered to pay $1.03 million by a regulatory agency after five Charlotte- area retirees say they invested with Heafner and lost more than $500,000. Clients had accused him of selling unregistered financial instruments issued by 1 Global, the Observer reported in…
The movement to combat crude workplace behavior might finally be coming to financial services.

During a fireside chat, Fisher, founder and chairman of Fisher Investments, made what some attendees called “absolutely horrifying” comments during his session with summit attendees. Some say the growing diversity in financial services is the reason such talk is being rejected; others say there is much work to do.

Ken Fisher reportedly made several offensive remarks during a “fireside chat” at the Tiburon Advisors’ CEO Summit, which has traditionally been a place for industry execs to speak candidly and off the record about their respected fields. The Tiburon managing partner says Fisher will never be invited back.

Lincoln Financial Group announced it has introduced two new products for registered investment advisors: a commission-free, single premium immediate annuity, Lincoln Insured Income SM Advisory and a commission-free deferred income annuity, Lincoln Deferred Income Solutions SM Advisory. These new solutions will help fee-only advisors provide options…