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Taxable Investors: You are not dating your portfolio managers. You’re marrying them. Therefore, you need excellence AND persistence.

For taxable investors, it is not enough to get excellent long-term after-tax performance from an investment fund. Persistence – the ability to remain good to excellent through time — matters just as much. Why? The journey matters. If the road is too rocky, investors will lose faith and feel compelled to fire a fund manager. That issue […]

November 7, 2023

I Married a Robot: How Artificial Intelligence Will Change Our Lives

EDITOR’S NOTE: In only the last few months, it seems that Artificial Intelligence has moved from a futuristic concept rarely mentioned in mainstream media to a technology that has the potential to radically change the nature of work, leisure, and how we interact with others. Since the introduction of the ChatGPT large language Model (LLM) […]

October 26, 2023

Consumer Cash: While The Amount is Down, It’s Still A Mountain

It is tempting to paint a picture today of consumers struggling or on the edge. And let me be clear, many are. The rising cost of rent, food, gasoline, airplane tickets…heck, essentially everything… has been well-publicized in the financial press and certainly felt in the pocketbook. This could be worrying on its face, given that […]

October 17, 2023

Q3 2023 Market Review: When Good News Was Bad News

Market Recap There is an old saw in the investment business that “the market is not the economy.” This past quarter proved once again it might just be true. While the U.S. economy continued showing strength — good news, right? — This was bad news for stocks and bonds, both. The U.S.’s economic resilience surprised many. In […]

October 10, 2023

Ballentine Partners named a Barron’s Top 100 RIA Firm

We are pleased to announce that we have been named a Barron’s Top 100 RIA Firm! We are excited to join the esteemed group of advisors who meet Barron’s strict quantitative and qualitative criteria. Barron’s Advisor 8th annual ranking of independent advisory companies is based on assets managed by the firms, technology spending, staff […]

September 18, 2023

Q2 2023 Market Review: A Painful Lesson for Market Timers

The surprising resiliency of the US economy in the first half of 2023 has persuaded many investors that the worst may be avoided. Read more from Bruce Simon in our Q2 Market Review.

July 10, 2023

The Next Frontier of Tax-Efficient Investing

Ballentine Partners heavily emphasizes tax-efficiency in selecting from the myriad of available public markets investment vehicles. As a result, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have been a staple in our clients’ taxable portfolios.

June 23, 2023

Sean Edwards and Deb Whitney continue our relationship at The Boston Foundation

We are excited to continue our longstanding relationship with The Boston Foundation. This year, Sean Edwards, CFP®, will be joining the Professional Advisors Network, and Debra A. Whitney, CFP®, CAP®, AEP®, MS, will be joining the Professional Advisors Committee.

June 21, 2023

If the financial headlines you read are scaring you, they’re supposed to. Our advice is to keep scrolling.

No headline is ever going to read: Everything’s Fine. Nothing To Worry About. That’s not how the financial press attracts eyeballs and generates click-throughs. They know that we are drawn to fear. Our advice is try to see through this fear. Often, like today, scary headlines are outshouting a different narrative: that U.S. households’ and corporate balance sheets, while not […]

May 18, 2023

The Debt-Ceiling Saga: Bluster and Blunder

Politicians are playing a dangerous chess game of brinksmanship and bluster. Ultimately, the risk of a blunder will bring an end to their silliness.

May 8, 2023

Ballentine Partners Welcomes Kelly Lora Ewart as Head of Marketing

We are pleased to announce that Kelly Lora Ewart has joined the firm as Head of Marketing. In this newly formed role, Kelly will lead the firm's marketing department and create strategies to enhance the firm's brand and position it for continued success.

April 26, 2023

Q1 2023 Market Review: Back to Black

Despite a range of challenges including rising interest rates, inflation, and banking industry upheaval, financial markets showed their resilience and posted solid gains in the quarter. Read more from Bruce Simon in our Q1 Market review.

April 6, 2023