Two leading municipal bond managers, Duane McAllister and Lyle Fitterer, who oversee Baird’s award-winning suite of municipal bond funds, including its 5-star, Silver-rated Baird Core Intermediate Municipal Bond Fund, present a compelling case for muni bonds. WEALTHTRACK Episode 2022, published on November 23, 2023 More Info: https://wealthtrack.com/the-highest-yields-in-nearly-20-years-make-a-compelling-case-for-municipal-bonds/
Nov 25, 2023•29 min•Season 20Ep. 22
Part 2 of 2 Financial thought leader and historian James Grant is marking the 40th anniversary of his influential Grant’s Interest Rate Observer, a twice-monthly, self-described “independent, value-oriented and contrary-minded journal of the financial markets.” Grant shares his insights on a wide range of financial topics, including booms and busts, corporate finance, inflation, and the evolution of central banking. Grant also discusses his prescient analyses of the 2007-2009 credit crisis and o...
Nov 18, 2023•26 min•Season 20Ep. 21
Part 1 of 2 James Grant, Founder and Editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer , joins us to discuss the history of bond market cycles and why the dramatic rise in interest rates that began in March of last year might have ushered in a prolonged bear market in bonds. Grant argues that bond yields have trended in generation-length periods, with each cycle lasting at least 20 years. He believes that the bull market in bonds that began in the early 1980s has now come to an end, and that we are now e...
Nov 17, 2023•26 min•Season 20Ep. 20
Bruce Berkowitz is the founder and CEO of Fairholme Capital Management and a legendary value investor. In this exclusive interview, he talks about his deep value, contrarian approach, his current strategy, and the lessons he's learned over the years. Berkowitz's Fairholme Fund was once a top performer, returning better than 13% annualized returns in its first decade. But it has since lagged the market and become extremely volatile. Today, 82% of the fund is concentrated in one stock: The St. Joe...
Nov 03, 2023•26 min•Season 20Ep. 19
In a world where stocks have been the go-to asset class for income and returns, bonds are making a comeback. That's the view of Mary Ellen Stanek, Co-Chief Investment Officer of Baird Advisors and President of the Baird Funds, who says that the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes have made bonds more attractive to investors. Stanek argues that the rapid rise in interest rates has created opportunities in the fixed-income market, as bond yields have increased to their highest levels in years....
Oct 27, 2023•26 min•Season 20Ep. 18
The political, demographic, and policy headwinds causing China’s economy to slow and possibly unravel with serious repercussions for the world’s economies and markets. WEALTHTRACK Episode 2016, published on October 12, 2023
Oct 12, 2023•30 min•Season 20Ep. 16
Part 2 of 2 Our rare interview with legendary investor Steven Romick, Co-Portfolio Manager of the FPA Crescent Fund which he founded 30 years ago. Morningstar gives the gold-rated fund high marks for its focus on capital preservation and strong stewardship. Since 1993, Crescent has generated equity-like returns with less risk than the overall market. Its nearly 10% annualized returns match the S&P 500 but with significantly less decline during downturns and faster recovery. Earlier this year...
Sep 15, 2023•26 min•Season 20Ep. 2012
Is the 60/40 Portfolio Is Obsolete? The traditional 60/40 portfolio of 60% stocks and 40% bonds has been a staple of investment advice for decades. But in 2022, it failed to deliver the goods, declining about 16%. Mark Cortazzo says that the rapid rise in interest rates has caused a "massive change" in fixed-income returns. This means that traditional safe assets are back, and it's time to reset portfolios. Cortazzo is a Senior Vice President and Financial Advisor with the Wealth Enhancement Gro...
Sep 08, 2023•26 min•Season 20Ep. 11
Discover the state of the municipal bond market post-2022 interest rate surge! Munis had their worst year since 1981, with a -8.5% return. Yields doubled from 1.03% to 2.63%, causing record outflows of $122 billion. Join us with muni bond expert Robert DiMella, Co-Head of MacKay Municipal Managers, as he shares insights on market recovery and tax-free opportunities. What are the opportunities and risks in the tax-free market now? WEALTHTRACK episode 2010 broadcast on September 01, 2023 More Info...
Sep 01, 2023•26 min•Season 20Ep. 10
Part 1 of 2 Discover insights from renowned investor Steven Romick, Co-Portfolio Manager of the FPA Crescent Fund, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Unlike most funds, FPA Crescent has not only survived but thrived for three decades, delivering almost 10% annualized returns with lower volatility than the S&P 500. Its success lies in maintaining equity-like returns with reduced market risk and avoiding permanent capital losses. Morningstar's Gold analyst rating and the 2013 All...
Aug 26, 2023•26 min•Season 20Ep. 9
Selecting the best mutual funds to achieve long-term financial goals remains a challenging task for investors. Russel Kinnel, Director of Manager Research for Morningstar, has dedicated nearly three decades to this endeavor. He oversees Morningstar's North American Morningstar analyst ratings committees, responsible for vetting the prestigious Morningstar medalist ratings frequently cited in the financial world. Kinnel's extensive experience analyzing various fund types and prominent fund famili...
Aug 04, 2023•26 min•Season 20Ep. 6
Discover the future of AI investments with Michael Lippert, Head of Technology Research at Baron Capital. He believes AI is now at its transformative inflection point. Join us for an insightful discussion on his recently published report, 'Investing in AI: Opportunities and Risks,' where we explore the potential of AI as a game-changing technology. As the Portfolio Manager of Baron Capital's high-growth stock-oriented Baron Opportunity Fund, he shares his strategies for identifying companies wit...
Jul 28, 2023•26 min•Season 20Ep. 5
Uncover the secrets behind managing the world's largest mutual fund, the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund, in this captivating episode of WEALTHTRACK. Join Gerry O'Reilly, the fund's principal portfolio manager, as he reveals the active management required for this trillion-dollar behemoth. Learn about O'Reilly's inspiring journey from Ireland to the 1988 Seoul Olympics before delving into his impressive track record. Gain insights into the misconceptions surrounding index fund management ...
Jul 21, 2023•26 min•Season 20Ep. 4
Climate change, a topic of daily conversation, has sparked a global industry worth billions and, soon, trillions of dollars. Discover investment opportunities in this field through the expertise of Lucas White, Lead Portfolio Manager of GMO's successful Climate Change Strategy. With the impressive performance of GMO's Climate Change Fund, which beats its benchmark and boasts 12% annualized returns, investors gain exposure to companies combatting climate change and adapting to its effects. White ...
Jul 14, 2023•26 min•Season 20Ep. 3
Small-cap stocks in general have generated subpar returns in the last five years and have underperformed large-cap stocks by a wide margin over the last nine. However, Royce believes that small caps are due for a significant and lasting rebound. He says that history is the best guide to future performance, and that small caps have outperformed large caps over the long term. Chuck Royce is a small-cap pioneer with over 50 years of experience in the investment industry. He is the chairman of Royce...
Jul 07, 2023•26 min•Season 20Ep. 2002
Jeremy Grantham, investment legend and long-time value investor, warns of a bubble of "epic proportions" in the bond, stock, housing, and commodities markets. Grantham, who has accurately predicted market bubbles in the past, believes that the current market is overvalued and due for a correction. He cites three factors that are contributing to the bubble: low interest rates, easy credit, and excessive speculation. Grantham also discusses his views on climate change, bursting market bubbles, and...
Jun 30, 2023•26 min•Season 20Ep. 2001
In a recent essay published in The New York Times, Richard Bookstaber, a renowned risk expert, suggests that we may be on the brink of a new era of crisis. Drawing from his extensive experience in risk management, Bookstaber has a track record of identifying and addressing risks in both private and public institutions. As the Chief Risk Officer of Fabric, a platform focused on risk management for wealth managers and individuals, he has played a crucial role in navigating financial crises and wor...
Jun 16, 2023•26 min•Season 19Ep. 51
Part 2 of 2 American investors have had a love-hate relationship with stocks since their early days of trading under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street in 1792. However, recent setbacks, including a challenging year for equities in 2022 and rising yields on fixed income investments, have led to a cooling of investor sentiment. We welcome back Savita Subramanian, an influential strategist serving as the Head of U.S. Equity and Quantitative Strategy at BofA Global Research. She challenges the prevai...
May 26, 2023•26 min•Season 19Ep. 48
David Rosenberg, a well-known economist, believes that the United States is in a recessionary bear market. He predicts that the S&P 500 will eventually bottom at 3100, and he has positioned his personal portfolio accordingly. Rosenberg's predictions are based on his analysis of the Federal Reserve's tightening cycle, which he believes will lead to a recession. He also points to the recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic as evidence that the economy is weak...
May 19, 2023•26 min•Season 19Ep. 47
The recent aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve caused a crisis in some super-regional banks, but the damage has been contained and has not affected the entire banking industry. However, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell believes that the economic toll of such aggressive tightening could be different this time. Savita Subramanian, Head of U.S. Equity and Quantitative Strategy at BofA Global Research, also shares this opinion and recommends stocks over bonds and cyclical sector...
May 12, 2023•26 min•Season 19Ep. 46
We have a very interesting guest who has publicly voiced a major policy difference on ESG investing. Terrence Keeley, CEO, and Chief Investment Officer of 1PointSix LLC, left BlackRock, one of the world's largest investment managers, in July 2022 to publish his book, SUSTAINABLE: Moving Beyond ESG to Impact Investing . In his 40-year investment career, Keeley has never advised a client to invest in ESG, and he joins us to explain why ESG investing doesn't work and what does. This is a rare occas...
May 05, 2023•26 min•Season 19Ep. 45
Part 2 of 2 We continue our interview with Ed Yardeni, an experienced economist, strategist, and Fed watcher who has been closely following the Fed throughout his 40-year investment career. Yardeni is the author of “Fed Watching for Fun and Profit: A Primer for Investors” and head of his own global investment strategy firm, Yardeni Research. He believes that anticipating the actions of the Federal Reserve System's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is critical to successful investing. Despite ...
Apr 28, 2023•26 min•Season 19Ep. 44
Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, is considered the best financial executive in the country and recently weighed in on the banking system's recent turmoil. He believes that simply satisfying regulatory requirements is not sufficient in managing risks, which requires constant and vigilant scrutiny as the world evolves. He also points out that most of the risks in the U.S. banking system were hiding in plain sight and that recent changes in regulatory requirements would not have mad...
Apr 28, 2023•26 min•Season 19Ep. 43
Part 1 of 2 After a tough 2022, big tech stocks are back and leading the market rally. According to research firm Strategas, ten stocks, including Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, Meta, Tesla, Amazon, Alphabet, Salesforce, AMD, and Broadcom, have accounted for 90% of the S&P 500's year-to-date gains. This dominance of a handful of stocks has investors facing some interesting choices, including cash, which is back with money market funds offering yields as high as 5%, and gold, which has recently tr...
Apr 14, 2023•26 min•Season 19Ep. 42
Part 2 of 2 Planning for retirement and replacing a work paycheck with savings can be a daunting task, especially with the current challenges of market declines, inflation, rising interest rates, and the threat of recession. Christine Benz, Morningstar's director of personal finance, is passionate about simplifying retirement portfolio planning and has identified six retirement blind spots: retirement date risk sequence-of-return risk low-yield risk inflation risk health care/long-term care risk...
Apr 07, 2023•26 min•Season 19Ep. 41
This week, the Federal Reserve raised its key short-term interest rate for the ninth consecutive time, bringing it to the highest level since September 2007. While Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the dilemma that the Fed officials faced, the banking system's turmoil has been a cause of concern following the recent bank failures. However, Powell assured that the banking system is sound and resilient, and the Federal Reserve is prepared to use all tools as needed to keep it safe and sound. Di...
Mar 24, 2023•26 min•Season 19Ep. 39
In this episode of WEALTHTRACK, leading Wall Street economist Nancy Lazar discusses the resilience of the U.S. economy, despite several canaries in the coal mine examples of financial strain. Lazar shares her insights on why the economy is holding up better than expected and what we can expect moving forward, including the impact of the Federal Reserve's efforts to slow down the recovery. Lazar, a highly-ranked economist since 2001 and has been on Barron's 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Fina...
Mar 17, 2023•26 min•Season 19Ep. 38
First Eagle’s small-cap portfolio manager, Bill Hench, has a long track record of beating the market and the competition by discovering hidden gems among small-cap stocks with short-term problems. WEALTHTRACK episode 1937, published on March 09, 2023
Mar 09, 2023•24 min•Season 19Ep. 37
Award-winning personal finance columnist Jonathan Clements discusses the number one topic among his HumbleDollar newsletter readers and a strategy to ease the burden. WEALTHTRACK episode 1936 published on March 03, 2023 In this second week of the winter fund-raising season for Public Television, we are revisiting a very popular interview from award-winning personal finance reporter and HumbleDollar editor Jonathan Clements. He addresses the new financial realities of higher interest rates and in...
Mar 04, 2023•4 min•Season 19Ep. 36
This is additional commentary from Richard Clarida that didn't make it into the episode. Legendary Fed Chairman Paul Volcker was highly critical of the Fed’s policy of targeting 2% inflation, saying he saw “no theoretical justification” for it and that if successful, it “would mean the price level doubles in little more than a generation.” In this EXTRA exclusive, Former Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida defends the 2% solution.
Feb 17, 2023•5 min•Season 19Ep. 34
