The Wealth Advisor

Ask five advisors what direct indexing involves day to day, and the answers tend to diverge fast—even as the marketing pitch stays consistent: tax alpha, customization, differentiation.

Legendary investor Jeremy Grantham believes the SpaceX IPO will be remembered as one of the defining market excesses of this era, arguing that today's enthusiasm rests on assumptions that may prove impossible to justify. Speaking on Morningstar's The Long View podcast, the GMO co-founder called SpaceX "the craziest IPO in the history of man" and predicted that investors will look back decades from now with disbelief at the expectations embedded in its valuation.

When a once-popular mutual fund falls out of favor, investors often assume selling was the prudent move. A decade later, the answer can be far more complicated. Morningstar revisited one of the industry's best-known fund exoduses to examine whether investors who fled ultimately made the right decision.

Financial advisors are growing noticeably less confident about the economic outlook, suggesting the gap between resilient markets and underlying macro expectations is widening. The latest Advisor Sentiment Index found advisors pulling back from the optimism that pushed confidence near record highs earlier this year. Overall sentiment toward the economy fell 12% from May, while confidence in the stock market also declined, though both measures remain above the neutral 100 level.

There's a familiar rhythm to every Goldman Sachs earnings season. Wall Street starts with trading and investment banking because that's where the biggest numbers—and the biggest surprises—usually live. This quarter, though, the more interesting story may have unfolded somewhere quieter. Goldman's asset and wealth management division generated $4.6 billion in second-quarter revenue, up 20% from a year ago, while assets under supervision climbed above $4 trillion for the first time.

Recurring fee businesses are becoming increasingly resilient sources of earnings, while balance-sheet-dependent businesses remain more exposed to the evolving interest-rate environment. Asset and wealth management revenue increased 20% year over year to $4.6 billion, driven primarily by higher assets under supervision and corresponding management fees. The growth illustrates how rising client assets and market appreciation continue to reinforce the economics of fee-based advisory models.

The emergence of financial super-apps in the U.S. represents more than another wave of fintech innovation—it reflects a structural shift in how consumer financial relationships are being assembled. Rather than competing product by product with traditional banks, platforms such as Revolut are attempting to become the primary operating layer through which consumers manage liquidity, payments, savings, foreign exchange, and increasingly, broader financial services.

DeVoe & Company’s latest survey indicates that serial acquirers largely expect valuations to stabilize through the second half of 2026 rather than continue the upward repricing that has defined the post-pandemic consolidation cycle. The implication is not weakening demand—it is the maturation of a market where buyers remain well-capitalized but are becoming increasingly selective about what justifies premium pricing. This distinction matters.

For much of the past decade, the easiest answer to the question, "What's my firm worth?" was, "Probably more than it was last year." Not because every RIA had transformed itself. Not because growth accelerated across the board. The market itself was moving, and it carried valuations with it. More buyers entered the field. Private equity poured in. Every headline seemed to feature another record multiple, another competitive auction, another reminder that quality firms had become scarce assets.

For weeks, the S&P 500 has appeared almost eerily calm. Anyone glancing at the index could be forgiven for thinking the market had settled into a summer lull. Beneath that quiet surface, however, investors have been dismantling one of the defining trades of the AI era. According to Bloomberg Intelligence, roughly $3.2 trillion has rotated out of semiconductor stocks and back into the largest technology platforms.