Enjoy the current installment of “Weekend Reading For Financial Planners” – this week’s edition kicks off with the news that the latest “Mind the Gap” report from Morningstar finds that investors in U.S. equity mutual funds and ETFs both tended to achieve stronger returns compared to those in other fund categories during the 10 years ending in 2025 and had a narrower return ‘gap’ (representing the difference between the fund’s total return and the actual return received by investors, who might trade in and out of the fund over time). Notably, negative return ‘gaps’ were larger for more volatile categories such as alternatives and sector equity (and for Bitcoin ETFs in particular, where the funds themselves achieved a positive return, but the average dollar invested in them had a negative return). Which suggests that financial advisors could have a valuable role to play not only in recommending an asset allocation for their clients, but also in helping them stay the course with it over time!
Also in industry news this week:
- A report finds that RIAs looking to hire are often willing to be flexible on a range of ‘required’ client attributes listed in job descriptions, including credentials and years of experience
- While advisory firms might maintain high client retention rates, they can still see assets managed decline based on client decumulation and other factors, according to data from Cerulli Associates, highlighting the value of attracting new clients (even for firms not in ‘growth mode’)
