The 26th annual Schwab Impact conference at the San Diego Convention Center ended last week, highlighting new strategies and big investment themes for the year ahead.
Given the convergence of some of the brightest minds in the financial industry, advisors and investors have plenty to walk away with.
Election and corporate profits were some of the first hot button topics discussed in the early days of the Schwab conference, writes James J. Green for Think Advisor.
Schwab’s chief investment strategist, Liz Ann Sonders, also pointed out that history has shown that the stock market wins when the incumbent party wins.
Looking further out, Sonders also expected the risk of recession to remain low, with the economy plugging along and inflation rising.
However, another major theme was a more muted stock market outlook for 2017, with earnings growth likely to be in the single digits, according to Jeffrey Kleintop, chief global investment strategist at Charles Schwab, reports Aparna Nabayanan for Investor’s Business Daily.
As more people utilize technology to improve their quality of life, money managers were also advised to strengthen their data security practices or shield against cybersecurity threats, reports Darla Mercado for CNBC.
Regulatory changes and hurdles were also a big focus point. For instance, brokerages believe there is a need for a common bookseller for brokers and investment advisors, which could revive the discussion around FINRA oversight of RIAs, reports Diana Britton for Wealth Management.
The upcoming Depart of Labor fiduciary rule changes has also been a contentious topic. Advisors can expect greater scrutiny from regulators for the costs of investments they recommend to clients, writes Dan Jamieson for Financial Advisors magazine.