Research Blog

On May 29, 2019, Strategic Insight hosted a webinar for 529 Day to build awareness, understanding, and prioritization of 529s and ABLE, and discuss trends affecting the marketplace. Increasing…

In 1970, Harvard economist Albert Hirschman published “Exit, Voice, and Loyalty.” The book featured the subtitle “Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States” and discussed the interplay of…

In 2002, the Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail reported that the vitamin C content in the typical orange sold in Canadian supermarkets dropped 57% from 1951-1999. Vitamin A levels fell…

The fourth quarter of 2018 served as a significant period of market loss and investor drawdowns for a wide number of equity and aggressive strategies. December in particular saw…

Investors deposited a record level of gross contributions into 529 college savings plans with $33 billion in 2018, compared to $29 billion in 2017. Building upon this level of…

The 2017 bull market provided an environment in which many investors were comfortable riding the wave through passively managed products rather than active products. Fluctuations in the U.S. stock…

After a decade in the wilderness, short-term funds have come in from the cold. Money market funds have not historically shown the same levels of product innovation as other…

September and October proved to be rough months for alternative mutual funds as well as the broader active mutual fund market. Active alternative mutual funds saw outflows of $5.9…

529s remain the vehicle most strongly associated with college savings, but other structures are playing an increasing role in the market.  According to data from Strategic Insight, 529 college…

During a banner year for asset appreciation, mutual fund and variable annuity (VA) assets managed by unaffiliated subadvisers in 2017 grew by 19% and 11%, respectively. This was the…