Diversification just had its best run in 16 years. Here’s how financial advisers say investors should react. Ulin #marketwatch interview with Andrew Shilling.
Morningstar data shows broadly diversified portfolios outpaced the traditional 60/40 stock-and-bond strategy by 5 percentage points last year, prompting financial advisers to rethink plain-vanilla blueprints.
Good point: Ulin adds that oversaturating a diversified portfolio can ultimately dilute returns and create unnecessary complexity. “A lot of investors hear the word ‘diversification’ and end up building a Frankenstein portfolio with too many moving parts until they own 17 different positions that all disappoint at the same time. The dirty secret is that many diversifiers are simply expensive beta wrapped in illiquidity.”
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Stocks slide as Big Tech sinks and bond yields surge after a strong May jobs report. The strong jobs report continued to dim expectations that the Fed will cut rates this year- while some reports note a potetial rate hike.
U.S. employers added a surprising 172K jobs in May. It is yet another report showing that employment remains solid, despite rising inflation’s squeeze on businesses.
The bond market had strong reaction to the report. Treasury yields jumped significantly, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury rising to 4.54%.
The market is increasingly pricing in the possibility that the Fed's next move could be a rate hike rather than a rate cut. With inflation still running well above target, energy prices elevated by Middle East tensions, tariff uncertainty, and an economy that continues to create jobs at a healthy pace, the 'higher for longer' narrative remains firmly in place
For investors, diversification remains important. Since 2020, bonds have faced headwinds from inflation and rising rates, while stocks have been driven largely by a handful of mega-cap technology companies. Navigating both sides of a balanced portfolio continues to require patience, selectivity, and discipline.
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The ‘Three A’s’ are keeping the economy afloat during Iran war. Keep an eye on the Affluent consumer, AI investments and asset appreciation. Is it enough to avoid recession?
Inflation with the PCE price index at a three-year high of 3.8% in April is outpacing income growth, eroding household spending power. Outlook may now contain rate hikes not cuts.
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The High-Stakes Hunt for the Next Amazon in the AI Haystack. With AI winners and losers changing places so quickly, it isn’t just about where to invest, but also when.
Good point you might’ve made nothing from Amazon between 1999 and 2010
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The Stock Market Has Never Been So Good When People Have Felt So Bad “. Stocks are partying like it’s 1999. Americans haven’t been this gloomy in 70 years.
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This is ‘the silent killer for retirement portfolios’ - and it’s wreaking havoc on many retirees right now. #marketwatch interview with Andrew Shilling. Inflation has hit a 3-year high. Financial advisers explain how fixed-income seniors can shield their portfolios.
Where should you start? Jon Ulin, CFP at Ulin & Co. Wealth Management, says retirement investors should consider adjusting their long-term plans to reflect a more inflationary and volatile environment. “That distinction matters more than many realize,” Ulin says. When inflation hits 2% - the Feds target rate - “purchasing power gets cut roughly in half over 36 years.
At 4%, it happens in closer to 18 years. That creates a radically different retirement planning equation for someone retiring in their early 60s who may still need their portfolio to last into their 90s.”
Adjusting your plans may mean adjusting your withdrawal rate and portfolio allocation.
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If you survived the past few weeks of stock-market turmoil, should you now rethink your portfolio? Ulin #marketwatch with Charles Passy.
With the recent stock-market surge, investors who survived the roller-coaster ride of the past few weeks may want to use this moment as an opportunity to re-examine their risk tolerance.
“If you’ve been riding out a 70/30 portfolio, it may be time to dial back to 60/40 - not panic into 40/60. Rebalancing should be strategic, not reactive,” said Jon Ulin, who heads Ulin & Co. Wealth Management, a firm based in Boca Raton, Fla. Ulin is referring to the split between stocks and bonds, as in 70% or 60% in stocks and 30% or 40% in bonds. click to read more
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The 60/40 Portfolio Strikes Back: Investing Through War and AI Mania
After being declared “dead” following the brutal 2022 stock and bond selloff fueled by the highest inflation surge in decades, the traditional 60/40 portfolio has quietly delivered one of its strongest stretches in years.
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Artificial intelligence was supposed to reduce prices. Instead AI is boosting inflation. No Soaring AI demand reverses long trend of declining prices for technology
If AI technology ultimately lowers the cost of production the result will be deflationary but currently the AI infrastructure build-out is delivering an inflationary impulse to the economy.
https://t.co/ywlQwNdbSU
Benjamin Buttons Ulin, CMO (Chief Morale Officer) just clocked in at the office and brought a little AI with him.
Clients love when he joins review meetings. Sharp listener. Zero small talk. Strong opinions on treats.
Turns out trust and good advice come in all forms.
#southflorida #bocaraton #CFP #dogsofx
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Diversification Had Its Best Year Since 2009. Here's What Drove It.
In 2025, the broadly diversified test portfolio returned 18.3%, compared with a 13.3% return for a standard 60/40 portfolio consisting of US stocks and US investment-grade bonds only.
Adding real assets to an investment portfolio can be highly effective for reducing risk, provided allocations are sized correctly.
Adding alternative strategies can help to reduce drawdowns rather than maximize returns in bull markets.
+For example, equity market-neutral strategies showed a negative correlation of 0.18 with US stocks in 2025 over the past 3 years.
+Private equity and venture capital share much of the same risk profile as small-cap equities. They act as an alternative investment but introduce liquidity challenges and higher risks.
+Semiliquid private fund structures showed visible stress in 2025. Liquidity risk is real and frequently underpriced by many investors.
+Private credit, real assets, and real estate have lower long-term correlations; infrequent pricing can mask their true volatility.
For clients with an appetite for higher risk, specific assets offer distinct growth avenues. Cryptocurrency like bitcoin has delivered high returns over a longer time period.
https://t.co/tj8FefdMsG
How to inflation-proof your investments #CNN interview with @johntowfighi. Consumer prices in April rose at the highest annual rate in three years, putting inflation back into focus.
Smart investing can build wealth at a rate that outpaces inflation over time. And there are different strategies to make portfolios even more resilient against inflation outside of tradtional stocks and bonds.
Investing in so-called “alternative assets” like commodities and real estate can help diversify portfolios. The goal is adding return streams and economic exposures that may behave differently when inflation or geopolitical risks surprise investors, Ulin said
Putting money into investments with exposure to oil, energy, metals and agriculture, can be a good way to diversify an investment portfolio. ETF's that track commodities are readily available – and no, you don’t have to store oil in your own bathtub.
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Why 3.8% inflation actually feels like an 8% hit to your retirement savings.
Inflation will likely be higher for longer. Your retirement plan isn’t built for that. Official CPI masks double-digit spikes in healthcare, insurance and energy. Meanwhile, an outdated strategy quietly drains your portfolio.
With the war in Iran unresolved and household and government bills both rising, U.S. inflation will likely stay higher for longer than many retirement plans assume. Even if you’re 10, 15 or 30 years from retirement, these forces are already reshaping what your future dollars will buy.
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Are bonds still a good retirement investment? Ulin #marketwatch interview with Beth Pinsker, CFP® - You want income in retirement, but soaring bond yields can be risky.
“We advise caution,” said Ulin. “The bond market has faced significant headwinds over the past five years, with intermediate- and long-term bonds underperforming and failing to deliver the downside protection they historically provided during economic stress."
https://t.co/UOq4cisiYM
Ulin interview #thestreet: Fidelity reveals 3 ETF trading traps to avoid. Wall Street firm says hidden execution mistakes quietly drain money from ETF trades.
The third trap Fidelity identified involves the timing of ETF trades during the trading session, with the opening and closing minutes of the market posing the greatest risk. Volatility tends to spike near the opening and closing bells, which causes the range of publicly quoted bid and ask prices to narrow in depth and widen in spread.
The rise of ETFs has been great for investors, but convenience can also breed complacency, Jon Ulin, managing principal of Ulin & Co. Wealth Management, told CNBC.
Large buy or sell orders placed during these windows can overwhelm the available order-book depth, creating what Fidelity described as adverse price dispersion. That means your trade may execute at prices scattered well above or below your expectation, simply because not enough counterparties are available at your desired level.
A common guideline among ETF trading professionals is to wait 15 to 30 minutes after the market opens before placing any ETF orders, allowing underlying securities time to stabilize. The same caution applies at the end of the session, when market makers begin pulling back on quotes to reduce their overnight exposure,
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As inflation hits a 3-year high, here’s what 13 financial advisers say you must do now to protect your portfolio. #marketwatch inteview with Andrew Shilling.
Consumer prices were up 3.8% in April, according to the latest consumer price index released Tuesday.
While “intermediate and long-term bonds look safe because of yield … they remain sensitive if rates stay elevated,” says Jon Ulin, a CFP and managing principal of Ulin & Co. Wealth Management. He notes that you should “consider shortening duration and upgrading credit quality across both municipal and taxable bonds.” That could mean considering U.S. Treasurys, short-term municipal bonds or short-term investment grade bonds from blue chip companies such as Apple or Alphabet, he says.
https://t.co/DQLF6lVAuT
MYTHBUSTER: Wartime investing- interview with Charles Passy- Now here’s a piece of conventional wisdom about money that’s worth examining.
Of course, the human cost of war goes far beyond markets. But investors sometimes hear this phrase, or a variation of it, during times of global conflict: “When bullets fly, it’s time to buy.”
Jon Ulin, CFP points to a case where those flying bullets didn’t translate to a positive year for markets. Consider 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine: The S&P 500 tumbled nearly 20% that year. But markets were contending with something else entirely: 9.1% inflation and a historic Fed Reserve rate hike cycle. “The war was the headline. Inflation and interest rates were the real story,” Ulin says.
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More than a melt up-Equity markets move on two things: earnings and liquidity. Right now, earnings are more than offsetting lingering liquidity concern.
This is why stocks keep rallying, it’s earnings, not oil prices or interest rates, that are now steering U.S. equities.
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Meet the unsinkable U.S. economy — oil prices are surging, Iran tensions are rising, but it won’t crack- Fallout from Iran war has been limited so far.
https://t.co/j9ltALJHmZ
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