Blog

Week-in-Review: Week of 06.25.21

The Bottom Line

● Trading remains choppy but volatility dropped as stocks rallied to new record highs and rebounded nicely from last week’s pullback. Gains were broad based with both U.S. and overseas stocks rising across styles and sectors.
● The yield on the 10‐year U.S. Treasury turned higher this week, following Fed Chair Powell’s dovish Capitol Hill testimony, in contrast to the Fed’s hawkish tone the prior week. As a result, the yield curve returned to steepening.
● Economic data continued to suggest solid expansion with stronger than expected growth in the preliminary June manufacturing and services purchase managers indices which hit a new record high of 62.6.

Stocks rebound from last week’s fall

Stocks posted solid weekly gains and set more fresh record highs along the way. The S&P 500 finished at an all‐time high on Friday, capping its best week since February with a +2.7%advance to rebound from last week’s Federal Reserve‐induced pullback. The giant cap Dow Jones Industrial Average rose +3.4%, the small cap Russell 2000 Index popped +4.3%, and the tech‐heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed +2.4%, after hitting an all‐time high on Thursday. As stocks rallied, Treasuries were choppy after last week’s hawkish monetary policy comments by the Fed, while Fed Chairman Jerome Powell was more dovish this week in his Congressional testimony stating the central bank sees no risk of runaway inflation and will support the economy for as long as it takes to complete its recovery. The yield on the 10‐year note rose +8 basis points (bps) over the week to 1.52%. The Treasury yield curve steepened after last week’s unexpected flattening. On Thursday a group of bipartisan Senators and President Biden agreed on a nearly $1 trillion spending package over five years for core infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, and mass transit. Economic data continues to suggest solid expansion.

Digits & Did You Knows

STOCKS AND INFLATION — In the last 70 years (1951‐2020), inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has been at least +5% in 12 different years, most recently in 1990. The total return for the S&P 500 has been split over those 12 high‐inflation years, rising in 6 and falling in 6. The average total return for the S&P 500 over all 12 years is just+3.2% (source: BTN Research).
FEWER CHOICES — There were 1.16 million existing homes for sale in the U.S. as of 4/30/21, up a bit from the 1.03 million for sale as of 2/28/21, which was the lowest level ever reported for data tracked since 1999 (source: National Association of Realtors, BTN Research).

Click here to see the full review.

Source: Bloomberg. Asset‐class performance is presented by using market returns from an exchange‐traded fund (ETF) proxy that best represents its respective broad asset class. Returns shown are net of fund fees for and do not necessarily represent performance of specific mutual funds and/or exchange‐traded funds recommended by the Prime Capital Investment Advisors. The performance of those funds may be substantially different than the performance of the broad asset classes and to proxy ETFs represented here. U.S. Bonds (iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF); High‐YieldBond(iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF); Intl Bonds (SPDR® Bloomberg Barclays International Corporate Bond ETF); Large Growth (iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF); Large Value (iShares Russell 1000 ValueETF);MidGrowth(iSharesRussell Mid‐CapGrowthETF);MidValue (iSharesRussell Mid‐Cap Value ETF); Small Growth (iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF); Small Value (iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF); Intl Equity (iShares MSCI EAFE ETF); Emg Markets (iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF); and Real Estate (iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF). The return displayed as “Allocation” is a weighted average of the ETF proxies shown as represented by: 30% U.S. Bonds, 5% International Bonds, 5% High Yield Bonds, 10% Large Growth, 10% Large Value, 4% Mid Growth, 4%Mid Value, 2% Small Growth, 2% Small Value, 18% International Stock, 7% Emerging Markets, 3% Real Estate.

Advisory services offered through Prime Capital Investment Advisors, LLC. (“PCIA”), a Registered Investment Adviser. PCIA doing business as Prime Capital Wealth Management (“PCWM”) and Qualified Plan Advisors (“QPA”).

© 2021 Prime Capital Investment Advisors, 6201 College Blvd., 7th Floor, Overland Park, KS 66211.

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Qualified Plan Advisors: June Advocate Newsletter

Lessons from 401(k) Litigation During the Pandemic

In many ways, the world came to a halt when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Retirement plan sponsors and fiduciaries should be aware that this certainly was not the case for plaintiffs’ firms. In the context of retirement plan litigation, in fact, they only picked up the pace.

After we saw roughly 50 class action retirement fee lawsuits filed in each of 2016, 2017, and 2018, that number fell off dramatically to around 20 in 2019. One might have expected that fall-off to continue during the pandemic. To the contrary, though, we saw nearly 100 suits filed in 2020 alone.

As always, we don’t consider fear to be the primary reason to pay attention to retirement plan fee litigation. Those plaintiffs’ complaints present opportunities for other plan sponsors and fiduciaries to understand trends and evolving expectations for reasonableness. Without regard to the ultimate outcome of the many (many) lawsuits initiated over the last several months, we can learn a lot of lessons by digging into the trends and allegations. During tomorrow’s Fiduciary 15 webinar, we’ll dive deeper into lawsuits fitting into three broad categories.

Revenue Sharing Is Still an Issue. It is a bit surprising to see that many plan sponsors – particularly those sponsoring larger plans – continue to rely on expensive investment options to generate revenue sharing that offsets plan expenses. Here is the basic pattern of allegations in those lawsuits:
1. Plan committee used more expensive versions of investment options when a cheaper version was available.
2. This resulted in excessive gross investment expenses.
3. Plan committee members have a fiduciary responsibility to seek cheaper versions (i.e., share class, CIT, and/or separate account) of any investment option made available.
4. They failed to meet that responsibility because they wanted to generate revenue sharing.
5. But they also failed to meet the responsibility to benchmark the recordkeeping expenses.
6. If they had benchmarked the recordkeeping expenses, they’d have discovered that the revenue sharing approach resulted in excessive recordkeeper fees.
7. Thus, even though a portion of the allegedly excessive investment fees were used to offset recordkeeping expenses, the total cost of the plan was unreasonable.

What do we learn from this? Committees should ensure that the plan is indeed using the cheapest or most efficient version of the investment options made available to participants. They also should be aware of the fee arrangement for the recordkeeper and monitor the total fees the recordkeeper receives.

There’s a Growing Target on Target Date Funds. The plaintiffs’ firms have really honed in on target date funds (TDFs). From a pure numbers perspective, this makes a lot of sense. With increasing frequency, plans have been using automatic enrollment and selecting TDFs as the plan’s default investment option. This means that a larger portion of plan assets are invested in TDFs, which in turn presents a more appealing prize for plaintiffs’ firms.

When plan fiduciaries establish TDFs as the default investment, they frequently rely on the Department of Labor’s safe harbor for a “Qualified Default Investment Alternative” or QDIA. That safe harbor treatment can provide a false sense of security, though, because plan fiduciaries end up paying less attention to the TDFs than to a plan’s core funds menu. The accelerating string of TDF lawsuits attack various aspects of plan’s TDFs:
* Expensive share class (with a cheaper share class or CIT version available)
* Proprietary fund usage (without supporting due diligence)
* Poor performance
* Using more expensive active TDFs instead of cheaper passive TDFs
What do we learn from this? Prudent fiduciaries will give more attention to their plan’s TDFs. It is time to ramp up the committee’s understanding of a plan’s particular TDFs, why they were chosen, and whether they remain the most reasonable option for the plan’s participants. If you’re a QPA client, please ask about our firm’s new “Target Date Deep Dive” capabilities, which will help you to take a closer look at your TDFs and to complete a checklist reflecting the DOL’s expectations.

Data Is at Greater Risk Than Ever Before. This probably doesn’t surprise anyone. We live through electronic data. Our retirement plan data is accessed electronically on a frequent basis and data is more frequently moving in electronic form with more remote workers.

The recent lawsuits target a couple of distinct data-related risks: (1) identity and account theft; and (2) recordkeepers using plan data to cross-sell. The DOL has provided a package of tips and best practices intended to help with the cybersecurity risks. That package will help plan fiduciaries and participants to manage those risks. Federal courts have not provided the same help with respect to cross-selling, however, as they’ve generally supported recordkeepers’ ability to use plan data for a variety of business purposes. This means that plan fiduciaries will have to become more diligent.

Closing Thoughts. There is a lot happening on the litigation front – far more than we can address in one short monthly newsletter. Our Fiduciary 15 webinar will provide you with more examples and best practices. Please take 15 minutes to join us and don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any additional questions.

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Week-in-Review: Week ending in 06.18.21

The Bottom Line

  • Equities finished another volatile week solidly lower, with the S&P 500 dropping ‐1.9%. After leading large caps for three consecutive weeks, the small cap Russell 2000 fell sharply, losing ‐4.2% for the week.
  • The yield on the 10‐year U.S. Treasury was little changed, down‐1 basis point, but that masked some big swings in the bond market. Following a surprisingly hawkish tone by the Fed, short yields doubled and long yields fell.
  • Homebuilder confidence remains historically high, but it has been dropping lately and now building permits are falling too. Meanwhile May retail sales were softer than expected and unemployment claims unexpectedly rose.

Stocks battered, yield curve flatter

Global equities finished another volatile week solidly lower, as the U.S. Federal Reserve surprised markets by forecasting earlier‐than‐expected rate hikes and indicated it will discuss tapering asset purchases in coming meetings. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is now forecasting that it will hike rates twice in 2023 after previously predicting no hikes until 2024. Comments from St. Louis Fed President James Bullard—a non‐voting member this year—added to the Fed’s hawkish tenor with his comments Friday morning. The so called “reflation trade”, which favored value stocks and commodities, came under immediate pressure following the FOMC shift. The bond market also saw significant swings this week as the Treasury yield curve flattened noticeably, with the yield on the 2‐year note almost doubling and longer‐term yields, such as the 30‐year bond, falling (the 30‐ year US Treasury yield plunged ‐16 basis points on Thursday alone). The U.S. Dollar Index rallied to levels not seen since April. Economic data didn’t help as May retail sales came in softer than expected, manufacturing growth in New York and Philadelphia slowed, jobless claims snapped a string of weekly declines, and producer inflation ran hot.

Digits & Did You Knows

SLIGHTLY USED — The average age of vehicles on U.S. roads last year was 12.1 years, a record high. The average has been rising steadily for 15 years as car quality has improved, but the pandemic accelerated the trend (source: Dow Jones).

LEAVING TOWN — Between 7/01/19 and 6/30/20, 5 of the 10 largest cities in the U.S. saw their populations decline – New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Jose (source: Census Bureau, BTN Research).

SPENDING — Americans imported $278 billion of foreign goods and services in March 2021 and $274 billion of imports in April 2021, the 2 highest months in U.S. history (source: Bureau of Econ. Analysis, BTN Research).

Click here to see the full review.

Source: Bloomberg. Asset‐class performance is presented by using market returns from an exchange‐traded fund (ETF) proxy that best represents its respective broad asset class. Returns shown are net of fund fees for and do not necessarily represent performance of specific mutual funds and/or exchange‐traded funds recommended by the Prime Capital Investment Advisors. The performance of those funds may be substantially different than the performance of the broad asset classes and to proxy ETFs represented here. U.S. Bonds (iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF); High‐YieldBond(iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF); Intl Bonds (SPDR® Bloomberg Barclays International Corporate Bond ETF); Large Growth (iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF); Large Value (iShares Russell 1000 ValueETF);MidGrowth(iSharesRussell Mid-CapGrowthETF);MidValue (iSharesRussell Mid‐Cap Value ETF); Small Growth (iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF); Small Value (iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF); Intl Equity (iShares MSCI EAFE ETF); Emg Markets (iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF); and Real Estate (iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF). The return displayed as “Allocation” is a weighted average of the ETF proxies shown as represented by: 30% U.S. Bonds, 5% International Bonds, 5% High Yield Bonds, 10% Large Growth, 10% Large Value, 4% Mid Growth, 4% Mid Value, 2% Small Growth, 2% Small Value, 18% International Stock, 7% Emerging Markets, 3% Real Estate.

Advisory services offered through Prime Capital Investment Advisors, LLC. (“PCIA”), a Registered Investment Adviser. PCIA doing business as Prime Capital Wealth Management (“PCWM”) and Qualified Plan Advisors (“QPA”).

© 2021 Prime Capital Investment Advisors, 6201 College Blvd., 7th Floor, Overland Park, KS 66211.

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Has Attracting and Retaining Employees Ever Been More Critical?

It’s hard to believe that at the outset of COVID, employers in the U.S. (from Feb to April 2020) cut over 22.4 million jobs! Now, a year later, economic re-opening paired with the work-from-anywhere business model have put new pressures on what has always been an ongoing business challenge: the need to attract and retain employees.

In my posts, I enjoy using song lyrics to highlight workplace issues and topics. When writing this blog, I recalled a song by the band Cinderella (think 1980s Hair Band, not Disney) “Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone).” This song title pretty well describes the current accelerated shift in business goals for employers from the 2020 survival mode to a focus on thriving in 2021, all the while bracing for the potential disruption of employee turnover.

Pressures on employers to succeed while maintaining and preserving their current workforce capital are now increasingly heightened. For example, 86% of US employers are concerned about losing top accounting and finance performers to other job opportunities within the next year.[i] 91% of employers are concerned about losing their top IT employees.[i]

Employee retention has always been a focus for HR departments, regardless of the size of the employer. What does it cost when you lose an employee? According to the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), every time a business replaces a salaried employee, the cost is 6 to 9 months worth of that salary. In addition to cost, the time and focus need to advertise for a position, interview and screening process, and the onboarding and training period are a significant drain on already limited employer resources.

What should employers be doing in these competitive times to help retain employees? 

Office perks such as “jeans day” are prevalent, however, what employees truly want and need are wellness programs that reduce their stress in and outside of work. For years, employers have been providing employee physical health wellness incentives for employees (gym memberships, routine health checkups, etc.). This is in hopes to reduce costs AND boost productivity. The same prioritization and approach should be attached to improving employees’ financial wellness.

Much has been written about why employers need to pay attention to the financial wellness of their employees. Money is a universal and impactful cause of stress. Acknowledging that it is a problem is key, but then what? Successful employers need action plans outlining the design, implementation and execution of a meaningful financial wellness program for their employee demographics. Vital topics can be addressed to assist employees including budgeting, credit counseling, home ownership, and saving for college, life events or retirement.

If employers put an employee financial wellness program in place, they will experience less turnover. HR Departments won’t have to endure the music lyrics quoted above nearly as often, as well as the follow up lyric from that song’s chorus “And it ain’t easy to get back …takes so long.”

If you have questions about financial wellness programs for your employees, please contact me at [email protected].

 

[i] Source: Robert Half survey of more than 1,000 CFOs in the U.S.
[i] Source: Robert Half survey of more than 2,800 IT senior managers with hiring responsibilities in the U.S.

Blog

Week-in-Review: Week ending in 06.11.21

The Bottom Line

● U.S. stocks rallied again late in the week, this time enough to set new record highs. The S&P 500 gained + 0.4%, and the small cap Russell 2000 led for the third straight week with a gain of +2.1%.
● On Thursday, the Labor Department reported that consumer inflation jumped +5.0% from last year, the most since August 2008. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, jumped +3.8% ‐‐ the most since 1992.
● Used Vehicle prices are surging, up +4.6% from the previous month, and up +48.2% from a year ago. Prices in all major market segments were significantly higher than a year ago, with pickup trucks leading the price gains.

Stocks start soft, but rise to new highs

U.S. stocks finished mixed in another choppy week of trading following a pattern that has persisted for several weeks in which weakness in the beginning of the week subsides to strength at the end of the week. The S&P 500 posted fresh records on Thursday and Friday. In a counterintuitive market reaction to May Consumer Price Index (CPI) data that was well above expectations, bond yields fell. The yield on the 10‐year U.S. Treasury note dropped ‐10 basis points to 1.45%, its lowest level in a month. Normally one would expect bonds to struggle after such a strong inflation report, but investors must be taking the Fed at its word that they are not close to tapering. One asset that did behave as anticipated given the unexpectedly strong inflation data, was Oil, which ended the week above $70 a barrel for the first time since October 2018, up +95% in the last year. With stocks hitting all‐time highs, the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) fell to 15.65, its lowest level since February 20 of 2020. Stocks were up overseas as well, buoyed by eurozone economic growth that contracted less than expected. Plus the WorldBank provided a boost, increasing their Global GDP growth forecast to 5.6% this year, revised up from 4.1%.

Digits & Did You Knows

DISAPPEARING ACT — If you bought a 5‐year U.S. Treasury note this week in June of 2020 (at a yield of around 0.33% at the time), the rise in Consumer Price Index (CPI) – a prominently used gauge of inflation – in one year already outpaced all five years of the interest payments you will receive (source: Bloomberg).
COME FLY WITH ME — There were over 1.8 million airline travelers per day over the last week in the U.S., the highest amount since March 13, 2020. This time in June of 2020 the U.S. was averaging 400,000 per day and at the COVID‐19 low last April, U.S. airline travelers averaged below 100,000 per day (source: TSA.gov, Compound Capital).

Click here to see the full review.

Source: Bloomberg. Asset‐class performance is presented by using market returns from an exchange‐traded fund (ETF) proxy that best represents its respective broad asset class. Returns shown are net of fund fees for and do not necessarily represent performance of specific mutual funds and/or exchange‐traded funds recommended by the Prime Capital Investment Advisors. The performance of those funds may be substantially different than the performance of the broad asset classes and to proxy ETFs represented here. U.S. Bonds (iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF); High‐YieldBond(iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF); Intl Bonds (SPDR® Bloomberg Barclays International Corporate Bond ETF); Large Growth (iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF); Large Value (iShares Russell 1000 ValueETF);MidGrowth(iSharesRussell Mid‐CapGrowthETF);MidValue (iSharesRussell Mid‐Cap Value ETF); Small Growth (iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF); Small Value (iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF); Intl Equity (iShares MSCI EAFE ETF); Emg Markets (iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF); and Real Estate (iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF). The return displayed as “Allocation” is a weighted average of the ETF proxies shown as represented by: 30% U.S. Bonds, 5% International Bonds, 5% High Yield Bonds, 10% Large Growth, 10% Large Value, 4% Mid Growth, 4%Mid Value, 2% Small Growth, 2% Small Value, 18% International Stock, 7% Emerging Markets, 3% Real Estate.

Advisory services offered through Prime Capital Investment Advisors, LLC. (“PCIA”), a
Registered Investment Adviser. PCIA doing business as Prime Capital Wealth Management
(“PCWM”) and Qualified Plan Advisors (“QPA”).
© 2021 Prime Capital Investment Advisors, 6201 College Blvd., 7th Floor, Overland Park, KS 66211.

Blog

Week-in-Review: Week ending in 06.04.21

The Bottom Line

● U.S. stocks rallied on the week but still couldn’t close above their May 7th all‐time high. The S&P 500 gained + 0.6%, but the small cap Russell 2000 led for the second straight week with an advance of +0.8%.
● On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Nonfarm Payrolls grew by +559,000, but missed expectations for a +675,000 gain. Still, the unemployment rate fell to 5.8% from 6.1%, better than forecasts of 5.9%.
● Gauges of U.S. manufacturing and services growth from ISM and Markit both showed better‐than‐expected growth, with records from the services sector. The OECD forecasts global growth of +5.8% this year.

Stocks up, but not quite enough…

U.S. stocks were up for the Memorial Day shortened week, with the S&P 500 gaining +0.6%, leaving it just 2.71 points from its May 7th all‐time high. The Russell 2000 small cap index was up +0.8%, while the tech‐heavy Nasdaq Composite gained +0.5%. Friday’s May Employment Report showed a solid acceleration in job growth, but at a pace that was below forecasts. Still the unemployment rate fell to 5.8%from 6.1%, better than expectations of 5.9%. The employment report seemed to cool concerns about the Fed reining in its extremely‐accommodative monetary policy. U.S. Treasuries rose following the employment report, with the yield on 10‐year note falling ‐7 basis points (bps) to 1.55%, down ‐4bps for the week. A Goldilocks economy might be in the making with employment improving, but at a cool enough pace to keep the Fed with its loose monetary policy, but allow economic growth at a hotter pace, like with the May manufacturing and services growth as reported by the ISM and Markit (detailed on the following page). Overseas growth looks good too, as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said that the global economy is set to grow +5.8% this year and +4.4% next year.

Digits & Did You Knows

NOT A BIG NUMBER — At its peak, 3.7 million home mortgages (out of 52.4 million nationwide) had requested and received forbearance protection afforded through the CARES Act that was signed into law by President Trump on 3/27/20. As of March 2021, the forbearance mortgage total had fallen to 2.2 million, or just 4.2% of all mortgages (source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York, BTN Research).
DID YOU NEED IT? — 40.3% of college graduates aged 22 to 27 are working in jobs in which they are “underemployed,” i.e., a job that typically does not require a college degree. Historically, 33.5% of college grads are “underemployed” (source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York, BTN Research).

Click here to see the full review.

Source: Bloomberg. Asset‐class performance is presented by using market returns from an exchange‐traded fund (ETF) proxy that best represents its respective broad asset class. Returns shown are net of fund fees for and do not necessarily represent performance of specific mutual funds and/or exchange‐traded funds recommended by the Prime Capital Investment Advisors. The performance of those funds may be substantially different than the performance of the broad asset classes and to proxy ETFs represented here. U.S. Bonds (iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF); High‐YieldBond(iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF); Intl Bonds (SPDR® Bloomberg Barclays International Corporate Bond ETF); Large Growth (iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF); Large Value (iShares Russell 1000 ValueETF);MidGrowth(iSharesRussell Mid‐CapGrowthETF);MidValue (iSharesRussell Mid‐Cap Value ETF); Small Growth (iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF); Small Value (iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF); Intl Equity (iShares MSCI EAFE ETF); Emg Markets (iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF); and Real Estate (iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF). The return displayed as “Allocation” is a weighted average of the ETF proxies shown as represented by: 30% U.S. Bonds, 5% International Bonds, 5% High Yield Bonds, 10% Large Growth, 10% Large Value, 4% Mid Growth, 4%Mid Value, 2% Small Growth, 2% Small Value, 18% International Stock, 7% Emerging Markets, 3% Real Estate.

Advisory services offered through Prime Capital Investment Advisors, LLC. (“PCIA”), a
Registered Investment Adviser. PCIA doing business as Prime Capital Wealth Management
(“PCWM”) and Qualified Plan Advisors (“QPA”).
© 2021 Prime Capital Investment Advisors, 6201 College Blvd., 7th Floor, Overland Park, KS 66211.

Blog COVID-19 Month in Reveiw

Month in Review: May 2021

Quick Takes

● Heavyweight bout. Much of May was a battle between rising inflation fears and growing optimism from the U.S. economic recovery. Overall, though, the data points to an economy, and corporate earnings picture, that remains in an upswing.
● All’s well that ends well? There were no corrections in May, but trading was choppy. In both the second and third weeks of the month the S&P 500 traded more than ‐4% below the May 7th all‐time high, yet closed May just ‐0.7% off the record. In 11 of May’s 20 trading days, VIX was above 20 but ended at 16.8.
● Everybody’s still a winner. For the second straight month all major asset classes had positive returns, although May’s gains were more modest. Both U.S. and developed international equities are up double digits in 2021, and U.S. real estate is up +18.1%.
● Fixed income was flat. Bonds rose in May, but just barely. The best performers were Treasury‐inflation protected securities (TIPS) and investment‐grade bonds. After a rapid rise in Q1, the 10‐year Treasury yield spent April and May almost entirely in a range between 1.5% and 1.75%, closing May at 1.58%.

Asset Class Performance

May was defined by positive, yet modest, gains for all major asset classes. International developed and emerging market equities led in May. International bonds also finished ahead of U.S. bonds as the U.S. dollar fell further.

Vaccinations & Improving Economy Have Investors Smiling

COVID‐19 trends continue to make material improvements on virtually all fronts. The U.S. has administered over 295 million vaccines, with more than 40% of the population now fully vaccinated. The 7‐day average of new positive cases has declined to the lowest levels since the start of the pandemic and are now down ‐94% from their January highs. The 7‐day average of deaths per day is now under 400, ‐88% from their January highs. The percentage of positive COVID‐19 tests in the U.S. fell below 2% for the first time, a new pandemic low. With all the progress on the vaccination and COVID‐19 case fronts states and businesses began to fully reopen. That has resulted in a U.S. economic recovery unlike any in recent history. Consumers have trillions in extra savings and stimulus funds, banks have amassed capital, business are eager to hire and restock inventories, and new businesses are being established at the fastest pace on record. That all has investors in an optimistic mood. Rather than “Sell in May and Go Away”, investors sent the S&P 500 to new all‐time highs on May 7th while the Cboe VIX volatility index fell to 16.7, near its lowest levels since early 2020. But the remainder of May was a battle between the bulls and bears as the speed of the recovery led to bouts of inflationary scares and shortages of goods, raw materials, and workers. Private sector wages and salaries are up a staggering +19.4%in the past year and are now +5.5% above pre‐COVID levels. Consumer spending was the biggest driver of real GDP growth in Q1, including spending increases for motor vehicles and parts that increased +66.2%, durable goods that rose +48.7%, and food services and accommodations

that jumped +26.6%. Gains like those, even off the extraordinarily low bases from the depths of last year’s COVID lockdowns, are bound to create inflation concerns. U.S. stocks pulled back more than ‐4% from the May 7th all‐time highs in both the second and third weeks of the month, and VIX volatility spiked to about 28 and 26 on each of those declines. But in the end the bulls took the victory as investors pushed aside the inflation fears in favor of recovery optimism. The S&P 500 rose +0.7% to post its fourth consecutive positive month, and sixth of the past seven. The small‐cap Russell 2000 index, which is more leveraged to the economic reopening, posted its eighth straight positive month for the first time since 1995.

Importantly, vaccination rates in Europe have picked up after a relatively slow start. That has helped Eurozone economic sentiment improve for four straight months and hit its highest level since 2018.The COVID crisis in India has also made much needed progress with over 190 million vaccines so far administered–only behind the totals of US and China. As a result, those economies are also rebounding nicely. As seen in the chart above, both developed and emerging international PMIs are rising and are well into expansion levels (above 50). The MSCI EAFE Index gained +3.3% in May, outperforming U.S. stocks for the first time in 2021.

Bottom Line: Global equities rallied for the sixth time in seven months as vaccinations helped accelerate the recovery for most countries. Ongoing fiscal stimulus and improving earnings also boosted investor confidence.

Click here to see the full review.

©2021 Prime Capital Investment Advisors, LLC. The views and information contained herein are (1) for informational purposes only, (2) are not to be taken as a recommendation to buy or sell any investment, and (3) should not be construed or acted upon as individualized investment advice. The information contained herein was obtained from sources we believe to be reliable but is not guaranteed as to its accuracy or completeness. Investing involves risk. Investors should be prepared to bear loss, including total loss of principal. Diversification does not guarantee investment returns and does not eliminate the risk of loss. Past performance is no guarantee of comparable future results.

Source: Bloomberg. Asset‐class performance is presented by using market returns from an exchange‐traded fund (ETF) proxy that best represents its respective broad asset class. Returns shown are net of fund fees for and do not necessarily represent performance of specific mutual funds and/or exchange‐traded funds recommended by the Prime Capital Investment Advisors. The performance of those funds may be substantially different than the performance of the broad asset classes and to proxy ETFs represented here. U.S. Bonds (iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF); High‐YieldBond(iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF); Intl Bonds (SPDR® Bloomberg Barclays International Corporate Bond ETF); Large Growth (iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF); Large Value (iShares Russell 1000 ValueETF);MidGrowth(iSharesRussell Mid‐CapGrowthETF);MidValue (iSharesRussell Mid‐Cap Value ETF); Small Growth (iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF); Small Value (iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF); Intl Equity (iShares MSCI EAFE ETF); Emg Markets (iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF); and Real Estate (iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF). The return displayed as “Allocation” is a weighted average of the ETF proxies shown as represented by: 30% U.S. Bonds, 5% International Bonds, 5% High Yield Bonds, 10% Large Growth, 10% Large Value, 4% Mid Growth, 4%Mid Value, 2% Small Growth, 2% Small Value, 18% International Stock, 7% Emerging Markets, 3% Real Estate.

Advisory services offered through Prime Capital Investment Advisors, LLC. (“PCIA”), a
Registered Investment Adviser. PCIA doing business as Prime Capital Wealth Management
(“PCWM”) and Qualified Plan Advisors (“QPA”).
© 2021 Prime Capital Investment Advisors, 6201 College Blvd., 7th Floor, Overland Park, KS 66211.

 

Uncategorized

Week-in-Review: Week ending in 05.28.21

The Bottom Line

● Stocks rallied during the week to close within 1% of their all‐time high. The S&P 500 gained +1%, but small cap Russell 2000 and tech‐heavy Nasdaq led with gains of
+ 2.4% and +2.1% respectively.
● On Friday, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported that the core personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed’s favorite inflation measure, surged +3.1%year over year in April, its fastest rise since 1992.
● Despite the higher than expected rise in inflation, bond yields backed off from last week’s levels, with the yield on the U.S. 10‐year Treasury note falling ‐3 basis points to 1.59% after being as low as 1.55% on Monday.

Stocks nearly back to record highs

U.S. stocks rallied during the week as the S&P 500 gained+1.2% to closed just ‐0.7% from its May 7th all‐time high of 4,232. Growth stocks in the Communications Services and Information Technology sectors along with the cyclical sectors of Industrials and Materials led the way. The choppy trading that marked much of May subsided in the final week as the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) fell to 16.7, down from 20.2 last Friday, and marking its lowest level since April 16. A key inflation indicator, the core personal consumption expenditures price index, rose +3.1% from April of 2020, faster than expectations of +2.9%, and the biggest increase since 1992. Despite the inflation surge, bonds still managed to stay positive for the week. After testing the bottom of its recent trading range at 1.55% on Monday, the yield on the 10‐year U.S. Treasury note ended the week at 1.59%, down 3 basis points from the prior Friday. So called “meme stocks” had a surprise revival during the week, fueled by traders in Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum, with names like AMC Entertainment more than doubling in price. Meanwhile in Washington, President Biden proposed the largest U.S. budget since World War II, with a $6 trillion price tag.

Digits & Did You Knows

HEY BIG SPENDER — 59% of US households made a “large purchase” during the first 4 months of 2021, i.e., January 2021 through and including April 2021, the highest percentage reported in 5 years. “Large purchases” include furniture, home repairs and automobiles (source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York, BTN Research).
ROADTRIP — U.S. drivers are projected to use 9.0 million barrels a day of gasoline during the summer of 2021, up from 7.8 million barrels a day of gasoline used during the 2020 “pandemic‐summer”, but still down from 2019’s 9.6 million barrels a day of gasoline consumed (source: Energy Information Administration, BTN Research).

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Source: Bloomberg. Asset‐class performance is presented by using market returns from an exchange‐traded fund (ETF) proxy that best represents its respective broad asset class. Returns shown are net of fund fees for and do not necessarily represent performance of specific mutual funds and/or exchange‐traded funds recommended by the Prime Capital Investment Advisors. The performance of those funds may be substantially different than the performance of the broad asset classes and to proxy ETFs represented here. U.S. Bonds (iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF); High‐YieldBond(iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF); Intl Bonds (SPDR® Bloomberg Barclays International Corporate Bond ETF); Large Growth (iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF); Large Value (iShares Russell 1000 ValueETF);MidGrowth(iSharesRussell Mid‐CapGrowthETF);MidValue (iSharesRussell Mid‐Cap Value ETF); Small Growth (iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF); Small Value (iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF); Intl Equity (iShares MSCI EAFE ETF); Emg Markets (iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF); and Real Estate (iShares U.S. Real Estate ETF). The return displayed as “Allocation” is a weighted average of the ETF proxies shown as represented by: 30% U.S. Bonds, 5% International Bonds, 5% High Yield Bonds, 10% Large Growth, 10% Large Value, 4% Mid Growth, 4%Mid Value, 2% Small Growth, 2% Small Value, 18% International Stock, 7% Emerging Markets, 3% Real Estate.

Advisory services offered through Prime Capital Investment Advisors, LLC. (“PCIA”), a
Registered Investment Adviser. PCIA doing business as Prime Capital Wealth Management
(“PCWM”) and Qualified Plan Advisors (“QPA”).
© 2021 Prime Capital Investment Advisors, 6201 College Blvd., 7th Floor, Overland Park, KS 66211.

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A Question from Our Board

Here’s a recent conversation that may help shed some light on selecting persons at your organization to serve on your retirement plan oversight committee —It’s actually a hypothetical, but the professionals at Qualified Plan Advisors provide guidance of this nature to clients on a frequent basis.

“Hello, Bill. My HR Director just asked me to explain why our Board Chair cannot serve on the 401(k) committee. I mentioned our prior discussions, along with the conclusion that she would not devote her time to overseeing the retirement plan, which we made last year. But I could use a few reminders about what we discussed.”

“Sarah, I appreciate you calling me about this. Here’s some helpful points:

  • Your Board Chair is certainly free to serve on the committee.
  • The caution is because your Board of Directors, including the Chair, make choices as to how ABC Construction operates. In the event that a lawsuit is brought by the shareholders, unless a decision is clearly unreasonable under the circumstances, the law will not second guess or attach liability for that corporate decision making. This is generally referred to as the Business Judgement Rule, or “BJR.” And the protection applies to your Board’s fiduciary duties to shareholders and even when a decision may turn out to be a mistake, in hindsight, from that perspective of the shareholders.
  • The liability for serving on the 401(k) oversight committee is different. If your Chair serves on this committee, she will have a fiduciary duty to adhere to the legal requirements applied by ERISA. The fiduciary standard is rigorous and has been called the highest known to law by the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

And here’s the other thing. When she serves on the committee, she must take off her “business hat” and put on her “fiduciary hat,” making decisions that are exclusively in the best interest of the plan’s participants and their beneficiaries, not the business. Many of our executives struggle with the notion of putting on that fiduciary hat, taking the risk that their knowledge of the business would be scrutinized as somehow influencing their decision making on the committee. And that’s disregarding the risk of potential personal liability that ERISA imposes, as you and I have discussed many times.”

“Thanks, Bill. That helps. And I remember the insurance conversation from last year, when you worked through the D&O coverage discussion to confirm that it doesn’t apply to claims for breach of fiduciary duty under ERISA. Our subsequent decision to add the fiduciary liability coverage helped everyone on the committee feel much more comfortable.”

“You’re welcome, Sarah, I’m happy to talk more with the Director, committee members, or you. And if we need to get one of our ERISA attorneys on the phone, I will make that happen.”

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Reimagining Financial Wellness in a New Normal

Much of the talk about financial security tends to focus on long-term investing and accumulating sufficient wealth to retire comfortably. But the pandemic has shown us that when a current financial crisis must be navigated, simply having a well-funded retirement account can offer little consolation. 

If an individual has been laid off or seen their hours reduced at work due to the far-reaching economic effects of COVID-19, they may suffer immediate and severe anxiety no matter the size of their retirement nest egg. Additionally, the pandemic uncovered that many Americans lack a basic understanding of their expenses and corresponding cash-flow needs.

The clear message to employers? If employees are to achieve true financial wellness, they must have more than just a solid long-term plan. Adequate savings to draw from in an emergency are just as important, as well as the knowledge and confidence to handle adverse economic issues as they arise.

The importance of financial wellness programs for the employer & employee 

Financial wellness is critical because, without it, employees can become preoccupied with money burdens. The greatest source of stress across the country is financial, significantly outpacing any other category. The logical extension of that is if employees feel financially stressed and preoccupied with money concerns, they’re going to be less focused on work and therefore less productive and efficient. As a result, the productivity of the organization is driven down and profitability suffers.

On the flip side, financially fit employees are more relaxed, comfortable, and confident. They’re mentally and physically healthier, which means they show up for work more often, are better motivated and contribute to a greater extent, benefiting their employer from a bottom-line perspective.

As I stated earlier, when promoting a financial wellness program, offering a 401(k) plan alone is not enough. Yes, it’s a great first step since it can greatly benefit employees when they eventually retire, but it doesn’t go far enough because it only addresses the long-term planning aspects of a person’s overall financial picture. It does not address the short- and intermediate-term planning that should also be emphasized. A financial wellness program should cover all aspects of an individual’s financial goals.

What should the curriculum look like?

Traditionally, much of the education offered by employers about their 401(k) plans could be considered modular, with topics addressed independently and little attention paid to their interrelation. A legitimate financial wellness program is more likely to be a comprehensive curriculum, where employees learn how the company retirement plan works, but also how it fits into their overall financial picture and how to achieve financial goals that come up before retirement. 

Regardless of the format or content of the program, employers should ensure they include a strong emphasis on budgeting. This would entail employees taking a hard look at their income and expenses, and being taught how to better handle money, including ways to save that instill more comfort and confidence.

Employees would also benefit from education about investment options beyond the company 401(k) plan, such as the use of a 529 plan to save toward college education for their children. Employers should consider delving into family protection, including short- and long-term disability coverage and whether a life insurance policy might make sense.

For older employees who are closer to retirement, education around Social Security is key. This could include details about the ages of eligibility to receive partial and full Social Security benefits, as well as how much reliance should be placed on these funds. When you pull all of that education together, it becomes a much more comprehensive assessment of an employee’s financial picture than merely a number that rests in a 401(k) or 403(b) account.

Financial wellness is here to stay

A much more widespread and genuine motivation has now emerged among employers. Many truly want to foster and facilitate financial wellness rather than just implement a program that can be touted in an employee handbook or recruitment brochure. The bottom line is that companies are directly and adversely impacted when their employees aren’t financially well. The drastic impact of the pandemic has ensured that the level of employer commitment to financial wellness will increase significantly.

 

Advisory services offered through Prime Capital Investment Advisors, LLC. (“PCIA”), a Registered Investment Adviser. PCIA: 6201 College Blvd., 7th Floor, Overland Park, KS 66211. PCIA doing business as Qualified Plan Advisors (“QPA”).

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