News & Insights

401(k) Contribution Limits To Increase 10%; Majority Do Not Take Maximum Advantage
The Internal Revenue Service recently announced (via IRS Notice 2022-55) new employee-sponsored retirement account contribution limit increases effective in 2023. The headline limit adjustment was a 9.76% increase in employee elective deferral from $20,500 in 2022 to...

Uncertainty Makes Bond Duration Trade a Balancing Act
[UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2022] A few months ago a handful of economists were calling the inflation top, and some investors started betting on rate cuts in 2023. Fixed income investors that wagered on a bond rally were rewarded in July for extending duration in their...

Analyzing Implied Liquidity for a Specific ETF
Two weeks ago we wrote about how the liquidity of an ETF cannot simply be measured in the same way we evaluate a stock’s liquidity, even though they have similar trading characteristics. The interrelated factors driving an ETF’s liquidity are: 1) the flexible supply...

Understanding ETF Liquidity
Since ETFs trade like stocks on an exchange, a common misconception is that the liquidity of an ETF can be assessed similarly to how a stock’s liquidity is evaluated. Using common stock liquidity gauges like average daily volume, shares outstanding, order book depth,...

High Yield Bonds – History Shows that Reaching for Yield Can Lead to Disaster
Successful investing in high yield bonds requires great market timing, an appetite for equity-like risk, and a good deal of luck. These three characteristics are the exact opposite of what late-career and in-retirement investors want when they employ bond strategies....

May 2022 FOMC Minutes: Good News, Bad News, and a Lot of Uncertainty Ahead
The minutes from the FOMC’s meeting on May 3rd and 4th paint an optimistic tone, and project the Committee’s confidence that its shift to “neutral” conditions will be enough to prevail in its objective of bringing down inflation back towards the 2% long-term target....

What Fed Policy Means for the Markets
Build CIO, Matt Dines, CFA, was a guest on the Gaining Perspectives podcast, discussing this three takeaways from the Fed rate hike announced in March 2022.

Managing to Geopolitical Risks
Build CIO Matt Dines, CFA was quoted in Pensions & Investments Magazine regarding managing current geopolitical risks to investors. “We advise our clients that the best way to avoid unacceptable downside is to have an investment framework that seeks to avoid...

Negative bond yields spell big trouble for institutional investors
Build CIO Matt Dines, CFA has a new feature in Pensions & Investments Magazine. Click below to read his thoughts on how negative interest rates are not a sustainable asset allocation for today's managers. Read more here:...

Munis off to rocky start to week, with returns in the red
Build CIO Matt Dines, CFA is quoted this week in The Bond Buyer, highlighting cases for and against the coming restrictive monetary policy by the fed. "Rate hikes could slow the rate of price increases for goods and services, giving the American consumer some degree...