Given the combination of widespread vaccine availability, loosening of business restrictions, ultra-low interest rates, and massive government stimulus, the U.S. economy has fundamentally roared back to pre-pandemic levels and has stoked investor optimism across a variety of asset classes. Global stock markets have surged this year and remain close to all-time highs even as some...Read More

When it comes to the markets, what a difference a year makes. Thankfully, the first quarter of 2021 looked quite different from much of 2020, when the pandemic threw curveball after curveball at investors. In our latest video discussion, JNBA Chairman and CEO Richard Brown sits down with three senior members of the firm’s Investment...Read More

While interest rates remain low, the prospect of higher rates brings with it both challenges and opportunities and raises several questions. Is there still time to refinance your mortgage? Does it make sense to move some cash from savings to a potentially higher yielding opportunity? What could higher inflation mean for investments? In our latest...Read More

With its breathtaking volatility and blitzkrieg media coverage, Bitcoin has quickened the pulse of many investors over the last few months. After nearly doubling over a period of three weeks between December and early January to more than $40,000 per unit, it then proceeded to lose nearly a quarter of its value just as fast,...Read More

While global growth has somewhat subsided since the end of the year, the U.S. economy’s recovery remains on track, and expectations for another large U.S. spending bill have stoked anticipation for a strong rebound, lifting markets close to record levels. Importantly, corporate profit reports are coming in stronger than expected, and a second half economic...Read More

The new year is less than two weeks old, and it’s already brought with it major and unprecedented news – from the Georgia run-off election to the unrest in Washington, D.C. and the ongoing global pandemic. In our first podcast of 2021, recorded on January 11, JNBA Chairman and CEO Richard S. Brown and Director...Read More

From the pandemic to a summer of civil unrest to the contentious election, we’re all keenly aware that 2020 has been a constant barrage of uncertainty and volatility. In our final podcast of the year, JNBA Chairman and CEO Richard Brown and Director of Investment Management David Webb take a look back at how those...Read More

Following a period of nervousness ahead of the presidential election, investors jumped back into stocks with both feet. Initially as the voting results were being tallied, it became clear that a divided government would be far less likely to implement any major tax changes. Investors subsequently received promising news from multiple healthcare firms working on...Read More

The S&P 500 surged over 7% last week in its best week since April, and the rally continued into this week with Monday’s announcement of a promising vaccine from Pfizer. In recent history, markets more or less have done well following elections regardless of who wins. As such, we quickly positioned portfolios a bit more aggressively during...Read More

As expected, this presidential race has come down to the wire and is much tighter than pre-election polling suggested. Due to record voter participation, combined with the strength of mail-in voting due to concerns over social crowding at polling sites, the tabulation of all votes will continue through this week. While more likely will be...Read More