Passive bond funds – particular those that track the popular Barclay’s AGG index – offer the worst risk-return profile ever, according to Jeffrey Gundlach’s DoubleLine Capital.

The legendary fund manager, Bob Rodriguez, doesn’t like either stocks or bonds, but he explains the particular strategy he is pursuing for buying hard assets.

The Absolute Capital Opportunities Fund (CAPOX) uses a flexible approach to value investing. It is sub-advised by a team at Chicago-based Kovitz, led by Mark C. Rosland and Joel D. Hirsh. As of May 31st, 2020 its cumulative return was 29.49% versus 1.03% for the HFRX equity hedge index.

Jeffrey Gundlach, who famously predicted Donald Trump’s victory in 2016, said that the president will defeat the presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden, in November. He also dimmed the expectations of fixed-income investors when he said to avoid short- and long-term bonds.

Since 2009, the U.S. stock market has outperformed the rest of the world by a factor of nearly three. But that “American exceptionalism” may transition to a movement to break up monopolies, according to Jeffrey Gundlach.

Bruce Bond is co-founder and CEO of Innovator Capital Management. Having cofounded PowerShares Capital Management in 2003, he is recognized as one of the pioneers of the ETF industry. I spoke with him about the explosive growth in flows to defined-outcome ETFs.

This is a statement by Robert Huebscher, CEO of Advisor Perspectives, on the killing of George Floyd and related events.

Robo-advisors faced their first big challenge with the bear market in the first quarter of 2020. They lost, and that is an ominous sign for the future of automated advice.

On April 9, Memphis-based Southeastern Asset Management announced that it was re-opening its Longleaf Partners Small-Cap Fund (LLSCX). It had closed the fund to new investors in August 1997. I interviewed two of the fund’s managers, Staley Cates and Ross Glotzbach.

If rates stay low, the returns on stocks will be better than for bonds, according to Leon (“Lee”) Cooperman. “Bonds are the high-risk investment,” he said.

Neil Howe foresaw a global crisis that would upend society. He didn’t know it would be a pandemic, but, throughout his career, he has been predicting a “fourth turning” – an event that would reshape societal norms and usher in a new generation of leaders.

Wall Street will proclaim that any increase in economic activity is a good sign. But, according to Jim Bianco, even a recovery to 90% of pre-crisis levels will be terrible.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the renowned investment firm Tweedy Browne. The firm was originally a broker, and one of its clients was Benjamin Graham. I interviewed six members of Tweedy, Browne’s investment committee.

The conventional wisdom is that U.S. stocks are overvalued and the only uncertainty is the timing of the inevitable correction. But Robert Shiller says his CAPE ratio, when considered alongside low bond yields, is not giving “much of a sell signal” for U.S. stocks.

We are past the worst, according to Matt Ridley, and can begin to think about how we can put the world back together. But we need innovation.

The First Eagle Overseas fund (SGOVX) has an exceptional 27-year history. Since its inception, it has returned 9.15% versus 4.03% for the MSCI EAFE index. It was originally managed by the legendary Jean-Marie Eveillard. I spoke with its current management team about how the fund has performed during the coronavirus crisis and why financial professionals should look to diversify outside the U.S. markets.

According to Niall Ferguson, the lesson from history we should embrace is that, despite the noble work of scientists, we won’t find a vaccine for COVID-19. As in the past, this disease is something we have to manage and live with.

We need to fight the virus before we open the economy, according to Larry Summers.

Albert Edwards’ “ice age,” during which U.S. bonds outperformed stocks, is ending. But before a new regime sets in, U.S. capital markets are heading for a final meltdown that will leave equity investors much poorer.

The last decade has been a painful one for investors who believe in a factor-based approach to investing and have stuck with those factors that have historically performed well, namely the value factor. But a breed of products have avoided the plight. ETFs that were designed to be nimble and allocate across a range of factors have not suffered the same performance deficit.

From its all-time high on February 19, the S&P 500 hit a bottom of 2,237 on March 23. But it will go lower this year, according to Jeffrey Gundlach, and only then will he buy stocks.

Gundlach’s survey of the economic and financial destruction wrought by the coronavirus shows problems abound.

Sonal Desai, PH.D., is executive vice president and chief investment officer of Franklin Templeton Fixed Income, as well a portfolio manager for a number of strategies. In this interview, she discusses the unique investment strategy she has developed, as well as the key risks – specifically the coronavirus – facing investors.

Margaret Farquharson is a senior director with the Nationwide Funds Group and leads its exchange traded fund business, where she has oversight for all aspects of the business including product development, product management, marketing, distribution, and operations.

Bob Browne is the chief investment officer of Northern Trust Asset Management, which has more than $900 billion in assets. He chairs the firm's investment policy committee, which sets investment policy for all Northern Trust groups. In this interview, he discusses his views on the global economy and markets.

Jan Blakeley Holman is the director of advisor education for Thornburg Investment Management. As a speaker and author, Jan draws on four decades in the business, first as an advisor, then as a financial services industry executive and now as an advisor to advisors. She has unique expertise in working with women clients and often teaches advisors how to speak with women about managing their wealth.

According to James Montier, now is the time to allocate away from U.S. equities and into emerging markets.

Advisor Perspectives has been ranked as the most-read electronic newsletter by financial advisors in 2019, based on the annual media survey conducted by Erdos and Morgan.

Expect a steeper yield curve, according to Jeffrey Gundlach. Investors should be “defensive” with respect to long-term bonds. Gold will go up, inflation will be subdued, there is a 30% to 35% chance of recession and – his “highest conviction” idea – the dollar will weaken. His most surprising prediction was who will be the Democratic nominee.

Great articles don’t always get the readership they deserve. We’ve already posted the 10 most-widely read articles for the past year. Below are another 10 that you might have missed, but I believe merit reading…

As is our custom, we conclude the year by reflecting on the 10 most-read articles over the past 12 months. In decreasing order, based on the number of unique readers, those are…

David Ellison manages the Hennessy Large Cap Financial Fund (HLFNX) and the Small Cap Financial Fund (HSFNX), both of which have outperformed their benchmarks since their inception in 1997. Dave has been recognized by Morningstar as the most tenured mutual fund portfolio manager in the financial services sector. I spoke with Dave on December 12.

MarketCounsel’s Summit, held earlier this week in Miami, lived up to its reputation as the “all-star game” of financial advisor conferences, attracting top-level executives from throughout the investment industry. Here are three highlights from Tuesday’s sessions.

In the U.S., between one quarter and one third of all assets managed are done so with an ESG or SRI mandate. Outside the U.S., that percentage is even higher. The Vitium Global Fund, formerly the Vice Fund, buys what most ESG/SRI investors scorn, stocks in the tobacco, alcoholic beverage, gaming and aerospace/defense industries.

Fear among bond investors is focused on rising rates, but Jeffrey Gundlach says you should worry about something more sinister. In his webcast yesterday, he also offered his updated 2020 presidential election prediction.

U.S. stocks are “fairly valued,” according to Jeremy Siegel. But in our annual interview, he also warns of two major risks to the economy and to investors.

American history teaches that we can rise above our deep political divide, according to Nicholas Burns. The U.S. rose to independence based on the “power of ideas,” he said. Lincoln put the country together after a divide far deeper than what we face today, and FDR led the country to victory in its most difficult war. Those challenges were infinitely more difficult than what we face now, Burns said.

News from the last 48 hours had a significant impact on the chances President Trump will be reelected, according to Greg Valliere. Moreover, although Valliere doesn’t expect the impeachment proceedings to end in Trump’s conviction, there are two scenarios that could change that outcome.

For most of the last 20 years, advisors could safely ignore inflation and the risks it poses to their clients’ fixed-income holdings and earning power. But inflation is too dangerous a risk to disregard. What are the chances of an upward spike in inflation and what would that mean for clients?

Kim Laughton is president of Schwab Charitable, a national donor-advised fund. In this interview, she discusses how advisors can integrate charitable planning into client discussions and use it as a tool to expand and deepen relationships.

Chris Davis is chairman of Davis Advisors, a firm founded by his father that has followed the same value-investing discipline for its 50-year history. In this interview, Chris discusses the exceptional opportunities he is finding among the financial stocks, how financial advisors can add the greatest value and the biggest changes he has seen over his career.

The First Eagle Global Fund (SGENX) reflects the teachings of Benjamin Graham and Warren Buffett. In this interview, the three managers of the fund discuss a number of topics, including why they hold a large position in gold, why the market will favor value investors on a long-term basis and their views of ESG investing in the context of the companies they own.

The U.S. economy is in a “good place” and the baseline outlook is “favorable,” according to Richard Clarida. To further allay fears, he called the much-discussed September 17 action by the Fed in the repo market a “technical, central bank 101 operation, not to be conflated with large-scale QE operations.”

Reflecting on his more than six decades as an asset manager, Dan Fuss says that climate change is now the greatest challenge facing society and the markets.

Brian Smedley is head of macroeconomic and investment research at Guggenheim Partners. In this interview, he explains why his team is forecasting a recession in mid-2020 and how advisors should position portfolios in response.

Lon Erickson, CFA, is a portfolio manager and managing director for Thornburg Investment Management and oversees five of its fixed income mutual funds. Erickson says that rates could be as low as 1.1% in the next year, and he explains why a collaborative, bottom-up construction process will benefit advisors and their clients.

When the yield curve inverted earlier this year, Blackstone’s economic model predicted a recession in the next 20 months. But Byron Wien cautioned against relying on that forecast.

A recession would doom President Trump’s reelection chances, according to Robert Shiller. But he said the chance of that happening before next November is less than 50%.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury security was 1.42% on September 3, and it won’t go any lower this year, according to Jeffrey Gundlach. He said he would “absolutely not” buy 10-year bonds.