Finance

The fact that 81% of young people set to inherit large wealth are planning to fire dad's financial advisor is not a surprise. The surprise is how few legacy wealth management firms and private banks have any plan to address this whatsoever. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure they have meetings about it and pay consultants to "produce educational content" for the household offspring. But then they also have million-dollar minimums or payout grids disincentivizing FAs from taking sub-$5 million accounts. And that's why they're going to lose and you're going to win. They don't want it badly enough. They're not willing to put time, effort or capital on the line. Here are three actions you can take right now: INVEST in hiring and training younger advisors. Feed them now so they'll be ready for this opportunity when the time comes. It's a leap of faith to put new prospective clients in front of less experienced CFPs. Have faith in your next-gen advisors. Take the risk. SEGMENT your service tiers so that there is a grown-up, beyond-robo solution in place for HENRY (High Earner Not Rich Yet) households that doesn't infantilize them. Treat young adults like they're important to the firm, not a side business or a farm team. Educate them about what you're doing to the point they can repeat it back to you. CREATE so you can get in front of the inheritor generation, winning hearts and minds on the platforms they use. Communicate in an authentic way. Under 40's will not be marketed to by brands, they want to believe in you and your people. Do you believe? If not, they won't either. Read Robert Frank for CNBC https://lnkd.in/ewdUzVTk

Regulators officially approved the Capital One $35B acquisition of Discover Financial Services - clearing the path for a transformative deal expected to close next month. Once finalized, the combined entity will become the largest credit card issuer in the U.S. by total loan volume (~$250B) and hold approximately 22% of the market share. Regulators—including the Federal Reserve Board and OCC concluded the merger would not significantly reduce competition or harm community service obligations. Still, the approval wasn’t without strings: - Capital One must address existing enforcement issues at Discover. -The Fed fined Discover $100M for long-term overcharging of merchant fees. -The FDIC imposed $1.2B in restitution and a $150M civil penalty on Discover. Strategically and most significantly, this merger gives Capital One ownership of Discover’s payment network, offering a new angle of vertical integration —something few U.S. banks can claim in a space dominated by Visa Mastercard and American Express . Bankers—this move reshapes your competitive landscape. What does this mean for your credit card portfolio, #fintech partnerships, or network strategy? #payments #communitybanking #thefed #creditunions

There’s a missed opportunity in the investment world: over 95% of capital remains allocated to non-diverse funds. This leaves diverse-led funds undercapitalized, despite their proven ability to outperform. This disparity isn’t just about fairness — it’s about untapped potential. A report from the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC) highlights systemic barriers: smaller commitments to diverse-managed funds, higher asset requirements and inconsistent support from corporate and union pension funds. These challenges restrict market growth and limit wealth creation in communities that could benefit most. Addressing these disparities is critical to building a more dynamic and equitable financial ecosystem. When diverse leaders manage funds, they bring unique perspectives, broader networks and innovative strategies that drive returns and create lasting economic impact. This mission is personal to me. Throughout my career, I’ve championed initiatives to expand opportunities for underrepresented entrepreneurs and fund managers. By supporting diverse leadership in finance, we not only unlock growth but also help close the #racialwealthgap and foster sustainable change. It’s time to reimagine how we allocate capital — embracing equality as both a value and a strategy. Together, we can fuel innovation, empower communities and strengthen our economy.

The Fed has taken a significant step by officially initiating its cutting cycle, which holds profound implications for the financial world. ⚠️The #FOMC has cut the FFR by 50 Basis Points to a 4.75%-5% Range. ⚠️The latest projection of the Neutral Rate, R*, came in at 2.8% versus the previous estimation of 2.9% A cutting cycle might affect other central banks' stance on monetary policy because the US Dollar could devalue considerably going into 2025, making exports from other countries like Japan more expensive. For the past two weeks, business media has made a huge story out of a 25—or 50-basis point cut, but in my opinion, today's decision on the magnitude of the cut is meaningless. Financial conditions have eased considerably since July, so it should not be a surprise that the US economy might have already started to re-accelerate. The Atlanta Fed GDPNow is flashing a Real Growth Rate of 3% for the US Economy. If that materializes, it would mean that the US #Economy is already running 1% above its potential. Why financial conditions have already started to ease? Here are some examples: ✍️Mortgage Rates decreased from 7% in July to 6.15% today ✍️The 2-Year Yield decreased from 4.75% in July to 3.63% today ✍️The 5-Year Yield decreased from 4.06% in July to 3.47% today ✍️Housing Starts have picked up momentum What market participants have priced out is a resurgence of inflation during 2025. That scenario is entirely possible if the Dollar Index drops below 100. A cheaper dollar will make commodities and import prices more expensive for the US consumer, and a reduction in real income could squeeze even more of the low to middle class into the USA. Considering the decrease in US Treasuries for the past two months, I find US Government Bonds expensive across the yield curve at these levels. I think R* is well above what the Fed estimates because of factors like de-globalization, the reshoring of strategic industries, and increased protectionism. The terminal rate post-pandemic is between 3.5% and 4%, in my opinion, and that is where I think this cutting cycle will end. If I am proven right, bond investors must reprice government bond yields higher. How do we play a potential increase in inflation in a no-landing scenario? I tilted my portfolio as I outline here below: 👉Tilt the portfolio to over-weight energy and miners. 👉Have a marginal exposure to Gold and Silver. 👉Favor TIPs over US Treasuries 👉Increase allocation to US Value Stocks and International Stocks. 👉Lock-In US Investment Grade Credit at the belly of the yield curve where we can still get 4.8% to 5% yields, especially on issues at the Single-A Rating Enjoy the ride! #Finance #InterestRates #Economy #Investing

The White House just announced a plan to install rent control AND build more housing. This is like arguing we can cap prices for organic foods AND produce more of them. Unlike the President’s prior housing proposals (which I've defended), this one seems hurried and unserious. Here’s why: 1) President Obama’s top economist, Jason Furman, said it best in the Washington Post: "Rent control has been about as disgraced as any economic policy in the tool kit. The idea we’d be reviving and expanding it will ultimately make our housing supply problems worse, not better." 2) Furthermore, as the Washington Post pointed out: "Experts on both sides of the aisle tend to argue that government limits on rent discourage new development." No serious policy proposal ignores bipartisan expertise. This is NOT one a red vs. blue issue. 3) It specifically targets only "corporate" owners with 50+ units. This means renters in two neighboring, identical properties could have different benefits. Why does one renter deserve a rent cap and the other does not? If the White House honestly believed rent control was a good idea (and I’m skeptical they do), they wouldn't play favorites. In effect, this cap applies to an even a single apartment owner (since many are 50+ units) while exempting most SFR owners (despite rents growing faster in SFR). 4) The White House specifically cites an activist concluding that apartment REITs "reported large profits." Anyone who tracks public companies know apartment REITs are hardly the darling child of Wall Street these days. The "analysis" did not compare REIT profit margins to other sectors nor did it point out that property values are down around 20% from peak – a much sharper correction than other industries. 5) The White House claims its plan "effectively balances the needs of tenants without limiting incentives for more supply." This is peak idealism. Annualized multifamily starts plummeted 51.7% YoY in May, according to the U.S. Census, and that drop can be traced to higher interest rates plus (ironically) flat-to-falling rents for new construction. While the White House did include some positive steps for construction (such as repurposing some federal land for affordable housing), it's not nearly enough to offset macro challenges facing apartment developers. 6) The White House said "more units are under construction than at any time in over 50 years." This is no longer true. Housing construction, according to the U.S. Census, peaked in Oct 2022 at 1.71mm units, and it's trending down fast due to falling apartment starts. 7) The White House exempts new construction, but for investors who fund new housing development, that's an empty promise. Look at New York, where rent control has been revised four different times to "recapture" units previously exempt. #housing #rents #SFR #apartments https://lnkd.in/gk2_FpGT

Private credit fundraising has surged more than 150% over the last decade as new banking regulations paved the way for other #lenders to step in, among other factors. Looking ahead, we believe private credit can be an attractive way for #investors to generate higher #yields and further diversify portfolios. Direct lending strategies, for example, can help mitigate interest rate risk due to their floating-rate nature, and are typically secured by collateral which can provide downside protection in the case of default. Their private nature and quarterly marked-to-market valuations also tend to reduce price volatility which can lead to smoother and better returns. Read more about the opportunities and risks in our intro to private credit report.

When it comes to investing in Africa, certain industries stand out as essential for growth and resilience. Agriculture tops the list—Africa’s vast arable land has immense potential to support sustainable food systems, addressing food security while fueling economic development. Fintech is also critical, as it bridges the financial access gap for many unbanked communities, enabling secure savings, investments, and transactions that drive economic empowerment and entrepreneurship. Edtech is equally vital, providing accessible education solutions that reach remote areas, building the foundation for Africa’s future workforce. Investing in agriculture, fintech, and edtech addresses essential needs: food, financial access, and education. These sectors offer immense opportunities for meaningful impact and lasting growth across the continent.

It's astonishing that $180 billion of the nearly $600 billion on cloud spend globally is entirely unnecessary. For companies to save millions, they need to focus on these 3 principles — visibility, accountability, and automation. 1) Visibility The very characteristics that make the cloud so convenient also make it difficult to track and control how much teams and individuals spend on cloud resources. Most companies still struggle to keep budgets aligned. The good news is that a new generation of tools can provide transparency. For example: resource tagging to automatically track which teams use cloud resources to measure costs and identify excess capacity accurately. 2) Accountability Companies wouldn't dare deploy a payroll budget without an administrator to optimize spend carefully. Yet, when it comes to cloud costs, there's often no one at the helm. Enter the emerging disciplines of FinOps or cloud operations. These dedicated teams can take responsibility of everything from setting cloud budgets and negotiating favorable controls to putting engineering discipline in place to control costs. 3) Automation Even with a dedicated team monitoring cloud use and need, automation is the only way to keep up with the complex and evolving scenarios. Much of today's cloud cost management remains bespoke and manual, In many cases, a monthly report or round-up of cloud waste is the only maintenance done — and highly paid engineers are expected to manually remove abandoned projects and initiatives to free up space. It’s the equivalent of asking someone to delete extra photos from their iPhone each month to free up extra storage. That’s why AI and automation are critical to identify cloud waste and eliminate it. For example: tools like "intelligent auto-stopping" allow users to stop their cloud instances when not in use, much like motion sensors can turn off a light switch at the end of the workday. As cloud management evolves, companies are discovering ways to save millions, if not hundreds of millions — and these 3 principles are key to getting cloud costs under control.

Make a rule to never think twice about investments in yourself: • Books • Sleep • Fitness • Network • Quality food • Mental health • Personal development These investments pay dividends for a long time. You'll never regret making them. Think twice about material purchases instead. Try the 24-Hour Rule: After putting something in your cart, wait 24 hours to complete the order. If you still want it, order it. If not, skip it. This has saved me tons on stupid impulse purchases that would have gathered dust. An example: When I started my first job, I chose to live by myself rather than with three roommates. On the surface, it seemed dumb—about 2x the monthly cost—but gave me space for deep focus and deep relaxation. I think the investment paid for itself in accelerated growth within a year. The bias is to underestimate the value that these investments have. The financial cost is easily quantifiable, so we focus on it. But all of the benefits—focus, physical and mental health, network, etc—are difficult to measure, so we fail to properly account for them. Always invest in yourself. You’ll never regret it. Follow me Sahil Bloom to invest in yourself in the future!

The Month End Close Checklist ✔️ Closing out your books can take a loooong time and there can be a LOT of steps in volved But if you keep a strong check list… you can ensure that you never miss a step Here’s my checklist: ➡️ IMPORT → here is where we import all relevant transctions & details to our accounting software ✔️ Sync transactions from bank to accounting ledger ✔️ Sync transactions from credit card to accounting ledger ✔️ Import remaining transactions via CSV import ✔️ Upload check details ✔️ Collect all bills from vendors ✔️ Collect all invoices from sales team ✔️ Collect employee expense reimbursement claims ✔️ Collect receipts for transactions above $1,000 ➡️ CLASSIFY → now it’s time to classify all transactions with the relevant details ✔️ Classify transactions by category ✔️ Upload receipts for transactions above $1,000 ✔️ Classify transactions by class ✔️ Enter notes & memos on transactions ➡️ RECONCILE → here we confirm that the information we have matches to our other data sources ✔️ Download Bank statements & save to directory ✔️ Download Credit Card statements & save to directory ✔️ Complete bank reconciliations ✔️ Record Bank vs ledger differences ✔️ Import & reconcile activity into workpapers ➡️ CALCULATE & BOOK → now we get to our adjusting journal entries..the heart and soul of a month end close! ✔️ Calculate Prepaid expenses ✔️ Calculate Accrued Expenses ✔️ Calculate Depreciation ✔️ Calculate Intercompany Accounts ✔️ Calculate Accrued Interest ✔️ Calculate Amortization ✔️ Calculate Deferred Revenue ✔️ Calculate Security Deposits ➡️ REVIEW → once we’ve entered in all of the information above, it’s time to zoom out and confirm that all looks good. This is what separates the senior hires from the junior hires • Make it tidy ✔️ Review parent accounts and reclass to child accounts where necessary ✔️ Review new accounts and consolidate into existing accounts where necessary • Identify anomalies ✔️ Review prior month profit & loss against this month ✔️ Review prior month balance sheet against this month ✔️ Review prior month cash flows against this month • Measure performance ✔️ Compare key results to budget ➡️ PRESENT → Congrats! You made it this far. Now it’s time to present your findings ✔️ Import summary into slide deck ✔️ Edit slide deck for pretty design ✔️ Update commentary with meaningful insights ✔️ Prepare calls to action ✔️ Meet with CEO & Management ✔️ Present to Board of Directors ✔️ Present for fundraise That’s my checklist for month end - what’s yours? Let us know in the comments below 👇 PS: Grab a copy of this checklist in excel right here: https://bit.ly/3O6aXiL