The Buffett Indicator

By Mike Paolucci

Photo credit: ID 336907040 © Yaroslaf | Dreamstime.com What do lizards, Blizzards, and underwear have in common? Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. And do the lizard and the DQ Blizzard (and Berkshire Hathaway holdings, in general) predict a freeze in an exceedingly hot investment market? Possibly. More on that later. The Omaha-based conglomerate counts GEICO, Dairy Queen, and Fruit of…

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Cost of Living Adjustments 2025

By Rich Swanner, CPFA, QKA

The IRS recently released the Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLA) for 2025 related to 401(k) and Health Saving Accounts. This table provides these and other limits that are of interest to many plan sponsors and their participants. If you would like more information please call us at 440-808-1500. Highland Consulting Associates, Inc. was founded in 1993 with the…

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The Elusive 5%: Is It Making a Comeback?

By Kyle McNamara, CFA, CEBS

photo credit: Pixabay For over a decade, we lived in a world of near-zero interest rates, making it incredibly challenging for plan sponsors and corporate asset managers to create low-risk portfolios yielding 5%. But as market dynamics shift, the landscape is changing, bringing new opportunities—and new decisions—to the forefront. The Challenge of the Last Decade…

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Times Are Changing – Should You?

By Ryan Smeltzer

photo credit: Pixabay In recent years, cash has enjoyed a period of higher yields, thanks to recent central banks’ aggressive interest rate hikes aimed at curbing inflation. This has made cash and cash-equivalents—such as savings accounts, money market funds, and short-term government securities—more attractive than they have been in over a decade. However, with rate…

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Clients Ask: What Is a Yield Curve Dis-inversion?

By Mike Paolucci

Photo credit: Pixabay Clients Ask What is a Yield Curve Dis-inversion? Will Fed Rate Cuts Help a Slowing Economy? Or Will Fed Rate Cuts Re-ignite Inflation? Highland Responds After an extended period of inversion, the U.S. yield curve has recently undergone a significant change by dis-inverting. Our Highland clients have wanted to know what this…

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Buckle Up: A Wild Ride Part 2

By Mike Paolucci

Photo credit: Unsplash Unprecedented Movements in the Market: What’s Happening? In early August 2024 stock markets around the world declined precipitously, ending what seemed to be a never-ending low volatility trading environment. From peak to trough, the S&P 500 index declined approximately 10% in a handful of trading days; the volatility index as measured by…

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What’s the Cure for Fed Fatigue: Would You Believe Math?

By Mark Baker, CFA, ASA

photo credit: Unsplash How fixed income investing can alleviate interest rate stress and how you can forecast fixed income returns. Do you suffer from Fed Fatigue? The Federal Reserve Bank has dominated financial headlines lately. Will they, or won’t they? Do they dare drop rates? Will stubborn inflation take rates higher? It’s tiring to predict…

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How Did You Get There?

By Randy Fairfax, CFP

photo credit: Unsplash Ernest Hemingway asked this question through a key character in his book “The Sun Also Rises.” The question was: “How did you go bankrupt?”  The answer: “Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”  The response, “gradually then suddenly,” is a great encouragement and a caution to us. It never ceases to amaze how this…

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Fiscal Dominance: How Pension Plan Sponsors May Have to Adapt

By Mike Paolucci

Photo credit: Pixabay Buckets of federal spending are swamping conventional inflation fighting tools. What plan sponsors should know. If you’ve ever tried bailing water out of a flooding basement with a bucket as your tool (as the water rises ever faster), you know something about fiscal dominance. The concept, or condition, is being talked about…

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