Private Equity Enters 401(k) Plans—How Much Is Too Much for the Average Saver?
For decades, private-equity (PE) returns—with their eye-catching double-digit internal rates of return—were the stuff of institutional portfolios: university endowments, giant pension plans, and ultra-high-net-worth family offices. That wall is now…
NVIDIA’s ‘Blackwell Ultra’ Tease Lifts Semiconductor ETFs—Have AI Cap-Ex Peaks Arrived?
Why the fuss? Because Blackwell Ultra is NVIDIA’s first AI-GPU family expected to tap TSMC’s 3-nanometre class process—a shrink from today’s 4N node—and early back-channel reports say the company has…
Ireland-Domiciled ESG UCITS Face Label Crackdown—€85 Billion Could Be Re-Badged
The Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) has issued a draft guidance note that would lift the bar for funds marketed as “sustainable” under the UCITS regime. The consultation, open until…
First “Buffer ETF” Conversion Inches Closer—Could Traditional 60/40 Funds Lose Their Core Slot?
Balanced mutual funds—those classic “60 percent stocks / 40 percent bonds” workhorses—still command more than US $1.7 trillion in American retirement accounts, yet many advisers say the category feels tired.…
AI Funds Hit $1.3 B in Assets—but Fees Stay Lofty. Are Investors Paying for Hype?
When BlackRock rolled out the iShares Active Artificial Intelligence ETF (ticker BAI) back in February 2024, the offering looked like a boutique sidecar. Assets totaled just $38 million after the…
Mutual-to-ETF Conversions Loom as SEC Nears Green Light—Should You Stick Around for Ticker Day?
Ever since Dimensional Fund Advisors pulled off its high-profile 2021 conversion, fund lawyers have looked for ways to mass-migrate entire mutual-fund line-ups into exchange-traded wrappers. Until now, those plans were…
Glide-Path Shake-Up: Target-Date Giants Extend Equity Exposure for 100-Year Lifespans
When target-date funds (TDFs) debuted in the late 1990s, portfolio designers assumed most retirees would tap accounts for 25 years, give or take. Fast-forward to 2025: new actuarial tables estimate…
Africa Faces Another 10 Percent Crop Hit—Will Chocolate Prices Spike Again?
First it was torrential rain, then scorching heat. Now swollen-shoot disease is back in full force. Preliminary field surveys compiled this month by two major European grinders suggest that West…
Indonesia’s 40 Percent Nickel-Output Cut: The Hidden Cost Embedded in Your 2026 EV
Indonesia spent the past decade courting global capital by promising an endless stream of low-cost nickel ore. Then, in late July, a draft decree leaked from the Energy and Mineral…
Peru’s Copper Corridor Blockade: Could a Local Protest Squeeze 10 Percent of Global Supply?
A winding stretch of highway in Peru’s southern Andes rarely makes international headlines. Yet when local residents barricaded the so-called “mining corridor” in late July, trucks laden with copper concentrate…