Venerated Voices™ 3rd Quarter 2023 Rankings

1. Top 10 Venerated Voices™ by Commentary
2. Top 25 Venerated Voices™ by Firm
3. Top 25 Venerated Voices™ by Author
4. Top 25 Venerated Voices™ by Firm – Frequently Posted
5. Top 25 Venerated Voices™ by Author – Frequently Posted

The frequently posted categories require a minimum of three posts per quarter, whereas the first three categories require only one post per quarter. We added the two frequently posted categories to highlight and reward those authors and firms who post regularly.

The most popular topics in Q3 2023 among all commentaries were related to recession risk and economic uncertainty, portfolio construction, student-loan repayments, global markets, and credit.

Leading the Top 25 Venerated Voices™ by Firm category was Guggenheim Investments of New York, followed by Oaktree Capital Management of California. In third place was Hussman Funds of Maryland.

Among individual commentators, the most widely read was Anne Walsh of Guggenheim Investments. In second place was Alex Shingler and Justin Christofel of Blackrock followed by James Montier of GMO in third place.

The most-widely read commentary in the third quarter of 2023, published on August 15, was Credit is the Next Shoe to Drop Anne Walsh of Guggenheim Investments. In her interview with Bloomberg TV, Walsh shared her insights on the economic landscape, focusing on inflation and credit risks. She emphasized that while inflation is expected to decrease, its trajectory won’t be straightforward, with labor market wages playing a pivotal role.

Moreover, Walsh raised a crucial point that the market’s fixation on interest rates may have overshadowed looming credit risks, which she referred to as “the next shoe to drop.” She went on to highlight that companies and investors holding substantial cash reserves are better positioned to navigate economic challenges, but the presence of idiosyncratic, one-off credit risks remains a concern, potentially leading to defaults and delinquencies. In terms of portfolio positioning, Walsh advised that high-grade credit markets offer relative stability and present opportunities in structured credit:

“In the shorter run, I think the market is not anticipating the next shoe to drop and that’s credit. And the concerns with regards to margins and pressures and a recessionary cycle, and I think we have to get through that first before getting to the good stuff at the end of this story.”

Japan Is On The Rise second place, written by Carl Tannenbaum of Northern Trust and published on July 18. Tannenbaum began by characterizing Japan as a former global economic leader that has experienced decades of stagnation and decline. But he said that Japan is “on the rise” as it is showing signs of improvement, including strong economic growth and a significant stock market rebound. Furthermore, he highlighted how the pandemic played a surprising role in this turnaround, as supply chain disruptions and labor shortages led to wage increases and higher prices, effectively countering deflation. Despite ongoing challenges, Tannenbaum suggested that the prevailing sentiment surrounding Japan’s economy is optimistic.

In third place was Why Investors in Retirement May Want to Consider an Income Approach by Alex Shingler and Justin Christofel of BlackRock, published on September 6. The authors highlighted the significance of adopting an income-centric investment approach, particularly in retirement, using two case studies as examples. They demonstrated that investing in equities can be advantageous for an investor during the accumulation phase of their investing cycle but the “sequence of returns risk” can be harmful for those in the decumulation phase, which are typically retirees. To mitigate the risk, the authors recommended transitioning to a diversified income-oriented portfolio in retirement. The commentary concluded by offering BlackRock’s Multi-Asset Income Model Portfolio as a solution, which it claimed provides diversification across income-producing assets and caters to different retiree risk profiles.

Advisor Perspectives’ website more than 150,000 unique visitors per month, virtually all of them financial advisors serving high- and ultra-high net worth individuals. The company, which is part of VettaFi, publishes economic and market commentaries submitted by fund companies, advisors and independent research firms. In Q3 2023, over 650 such commentaries were published and made available through a daily newsletter, Research Perspectives, which the company emails to its subscribers.

Venerated Voices™ rankings were determined by the number of unique readers of each commentary, using data provided electronically by the third-party web analytics service Google Analytics. The data were normalized using the average score per month. Any participant is eligible to receive a quarterly award. Each firm and author is assigned a relative score based on unique pageviews, with a score of 100 equal to average quarterly readership.

Advisor Perspectives was founded in 2007 and is based in Lexington, Massachusetts. In October 2022, it was announced Advisor Perspectives became a part of VettaFi. In addition to Research Perspectives, it publishes a widely read weekly newsletter, Advisor Perspectives, which contains original articles on the markets, the economy and practice management.

Advisor Perspectives will continue providing quarterly updates to its rankings, as well as issuing annual Venerated Voices™ awards.

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