"It’s a delicate balance and a self-reflexive cycle. Household worries lead to business worries, which lead to household worries." Published October 19, 2023

On an inflation-adjusted basis, manufacturing continues to provide a meaningful contribution to the economy. Read CIO Ivan Illan's full article in Forbes...

"As interest rates around the globe have swelled from record lows just three short years ago, companies must be extra vigilant of their cash flows from operations and cash flow from financing.” - Ivan Illan

"When you do this simple conversion, something quasi-magical happens. You are now able to evaluate whether an investment is deserving of your hard-earned money.” - Ivan Illan

"For data-based roles, AI can provide some assistance in data collection.” - Ivan Illan

"The focus of this article is on liquid capital that must be necessarily destroyed in the aftermath of the Fed’s aggressive financial engineering.” - Ivan Illan

"With all the uncertainty regarding the Federal Reserve’s next move to quell inflation, as well as the broader concerns on domestic and international economic conditions, why is the bond market acting as if there’s no risk in sight?”

"Green shoots” in economic parlance could mean that data is showing signs of new growth and that overall conditions are improving. But not all green may be good.”

"It’s one thing to be an active manager but quite another thing to package your active management into a program that’s easily digestible for clients,” Illán says. “Our clients demonstrate their loyalty by sharing our content with others. They become almost like disciples. We never need to ask for referrals—they refer us to family and friends on their own."

“If you’ve heard about the January jobs report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it was likely accompanied with some positive cheer. Payrolls increased by 517,000 to start the year, which was significantly higher than the monthly figures seen since August 2022. But don’t get too excited."

“Ivan Illan, the founder and chief investment officer at Los Angeles-based firm Aligne Wealth Advisors Investment Management, said one little secret in the planning industry is that many advisors devote the bulk of their time to maintaining relationships with current clients and trying to bring in new ones. The actual work of investing is outsourced to services like turnkey asset management programs, third-party firms that provide various asset-management services in return for fees. If the SEC's proposed outsourcing rule requires advisors to be more forthcoming about how they operate, Illan said, so much the better."

“Instead, paying close attention to basic economic data and their shared risks could significantly impact how prepared your finances may be on a forward-looking basis. Two issues that are of heightened concern include a wave of corporate bonds maturing in 2023 and a potentially correlated dramatic shift in business spending.” - Ivan Illán

“Taking advantage of currency devaluation for operational savings need not be a thing reserved for sophisticated multinational corporations who may be more eager to identify a foreign acquisition target rather than a domestic one.” - Ivan Illán

“[During our research], we stumbled across one perspective that is surreal. Global stocks have returned substantially less than a 30-year U.S. Treasury bond since Dec. 31, 1997.” - Ivan Illán

“Though no one can have a perfectly clear vision of what comes next, it is prudent to familiarize yourself with the various and often obscured dynamics today that may impact investment values tomorrow.” - Ivan Illán

Employing intellectual capital on behalf of clients by David Wismer

“Our ability as capital allocators drives our mission. …” - Ivan Illán

“Both proposed taxes are not necessarily bad in the long-term, but the timing to institute them leaves something to be desired based on [these] three critical macroeconomic market dynamics.” - Ivan Illán

"Most investors, regardless of their sophistication or experience, do not realize that most FAs do not even have a particular portfolio performance history that they are able to formally share with the public.” - Ivan Illán

“Inflation has become more virulent and obnoxious than most had imagined.” - Ivan Illán

“LPL’s Hybrid RIA … allows us to communicate substantively with our clients, which is even more important given the shifting dynamic of capital markets.” - Ivan Illán