Research Blog

529 college investment plans remain the vehicle most strongly associated with college financial planning, and for good reasons. Investors stand to gain from using local tax breaks alongside 529s…

Think active and passive investments can’t coexist successfully side by side? That Vanguard, America’s largest index fund provider, is also the country’s third largest active fund manager suggests otherwise….

Persistent global uncertainty and heightened concerns about an oncoming recession have left many investors on the defensive, with certain lower-risk strategies experiencing record sales. Equity funds have seen net…

Active funds haven’t gotten much love in recent years—flows went negative in 2015 and stayed that way in the ensuing years—and the lack of affection has cut across funds…

Summer is a time for heat, hurricanes, and our “Summer Reading Guide,” which takes the form of a seasonal stroll through the research and data that have shaped the…

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…