Page 35 - Investment Advisor - December 2021

complete waste of my time…so please don’t second guess me at her office, LPL ended its affiliation with her, according
or go against what i ask…listen to me and give me what i ask to the firm.
for please.” “Following our process for review of advisor conduct, Ms.
LPL has “seen the video alleging discriminatory comments Cure is no longer a client of the firm,” LPL said in a statement
by Ms. Cure,” the firm said in a statement at the time. “We provided to Investment Advisor.
immediately launched an internal investigation to review the Cure did not respond to a request for comment about LPL’s
matter and a decision is forthcoming this week regarding Ms. decision to end its relationship with her.
Cure’s relationship with the firm. We will not tolerate dis- However, prior to LPL’s decision, Cure emailed a com-
crimination of any kind in our LPL community.” ment to Investment Advisor about the controversy, saying:
Cure was registered with LPL since 2018, according to “The entirety of this situation is based upon a TikTok video
her report on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s published by an unrelated individual without press creden-
BrokerCheck website. tials or affiliations using an unauthenticated photo of an
Indeed, only one day after saying it was investigating that alleged internal office chat without validation or context of
Cure refused to hire Black applicants for an open position any content.”

Portfolio News

he U.S. stock market has demonstrated tremendous resil- Reserve’s favorite inflation indicator. The PCE index advanced
Tience in 2021. Year-to-date through Nov. 16, the S&P 500 4.4% overall, with energy and food prices included). The com-
has gained 25% — far more than most parable rise in the consumer price
strategists were projecting in late index (CPI) was even higher — 4%
2020 — despite the COVID-19 pan- (core) and 5.3% (overall).
demic, rising inflation, sharply slower Those numbers didn’t appear to
second half GDP growth and reduced have hurt financial markets for much
fiscal stimulus. The Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol of the year. But that changed after
riot, dysfunction in Congress and the October CPI report. The report
more violent storms and fires around showed a 6.2% surge in consumer
the country also had little effect, if prices over the past 12 months, push-
any, on the broad stock market. ing the 10-year Treasury yield, which
Moreover, this year’s gains in U.S. had been hovering near 1.5%, above
large-cap stocks follows two previous 1.6% by Nov. 15. The idea that the
years of strong gains — 32% in 2019 rise in inflation was transitory as
and 18% last year. The odds of such the Federal Reserve had maintained
strong showings three years in a row seemed to be fading.
is just one out of 10, based on data going back almost 100 years, The stock market stayed strong, even though GDP growth,
according to Nicholas Colas, co-founder of DataTrek Research. adjusted for inflation, slowed from an annualized rate of 6.3%
As of the market close on Nov. 16 — almost six weeks before and 6.7% in the first and second quarters, respectively, to 2%
year-end — the S&P 500 had soared above the 4,700 year-end in the third quarter. Stocks seemed unfazed by supply-chain
target of the most bullish stock market forecast among Wall problems, the economic impact of the more infectious Delta
Street institutions, Goldman Sachs. The S&P 500 closed at variant and rising consumer prices.
record highs in 65 trading sessions this year.
The rally has persisted despite the surge in inflation and
slowdown in economic growth in the second half of the This year’s headlines also were dominated by the continued
year compared to a year ago. Inflation soared to a 30-year growth in the popularity of ETFs, not only among investors
high of 3.6% in September, as measured by the core Personal and advisors, but also among asset managers who bring
Consumption Expenditures index, which is the Federal ETFs to market.

DECEMBER 2021 INVESTMENT ADVISOR 33