Profile picture for user Scott Martin

Scott Martin

Contributor

Executive Editor
The Wealth Advisor

 

A veteran in the business of digital and print journalism, Martin joined The Wealth Advisor in January 2009. His name now appears in most U.S. financial advisors’ inboxes each day as sender of record on the 11 million emails we deploy each month.

 

He writes for an audience of 280,000 wealth and financial advisors including 205,000 registered investment advisors (the largest digital audience of RIAs of any industry publication), managing a staff of 5 editors and 2 researchers to produce daily wealth management news and 8 specialty newsletters focused on top-of-mind industry topics like tax protection, practice management, technology and TAMPs (turnkey asset management programs).

 

He also moderates industry panels and compiles our specialty annual guides on trusts, technology and TAMPs: America's Most Advisor Friendly Trust Companies, America's Best TAMPs and America's Best Trust Technology Buyers Guide.

 

In prior lives he served as lead market writer at CNN, ran Buyside magazine, wrote for Institutional Investor, Research, ALPHA and other publications, and dabbled in hedge fund land.

Bring On The Warsh

When the White House announced that Kevin Warsh had gotten the nod and the nomination to succeed Jay Powell as Fed chair, risk markets took a step back. Evidently the "goldilocks" traders who can't tolerate anything but perfection were disappointed once again.

But those who argued that the problem with Warsh is that he's going to be an accomplice to the politicization of monetary policy missed some crucial data points. If people were really worried about the Fed becoming a rubber stamp for easy money and happy voters, they'd keep dumping the dollar for gold.

U.S. Bombs Iran, Markets Shrug

So there it is. U.S. bombers have hit Iranian nuclear facilities and Tehran is threatening to interrupt oil shipping through the Straits of Hormuz, which would effectively cut off about a third of all petroleum supply.

And if hostilities escalate across the region and beyond, investors who have been dreading these headlines for a generation could be forgiven for thinking the end of the world is at hand. Fear is one of the primal forces on Wall Street. When we lose confidence that the future will resemble the past, the natural impulse is to exit positions and get liquid.

AssetMark: Great Wealth Transfer Notes for Wealth Management and Bank Trusts

The financial landscape is on the brink of a seismic shift as trillions of dollars in wealth are set to transfer from the Baby Boomer generation to their heirs. This phenomenon, known as the Great Wealth Transfer or Great Opportunity Transfer, according to Michael Kim, AssetMark CEO, presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for financial institutions, particularly bank trust departments, to reinforce their value proposition and build relationships with the next generation of wealth holders.