Page 27 - Investment Advisor December 2022/January 2023

COVER STORY

A look back at the key developments affecting advisors

By Jeff Berman, Dinah Wisenberg Brin, John Manganaro and Melanie Waddell

hat a year! At presstime, the markets were pushing to recover from a tough 2022; the
Dow Jones was down -7.13%, the S&P 500 -16.22%, the Nasdaq -27.62% and the average
W60/40 portfolio -15.80% as of Nov. 11.
“We have to remember that bear market rallies are vicious,” Bob Doll, chief investment officer of
Crossmark Global Investments, said recently. “They’re stronger than bull market rallies. I don’t know
that we’ve slain the bear yet.” Expectations for inflation are cooling, and the markets hope the Federal
Reserve will “take a little pause” after the next expected interest rate hike in December, Doll adds.
Beyond the market mayhem of 2022 — largely tied to the Fed’s battle to tame inflation — this year
has seen a flurry of regulatory updates, tax-related announcements and compliance news, along with a
big jump in Social Security’s cost of living adjustment to 8.7% next year from 1.3% this year.
For instance, compliance with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new Marketing Rule
became mandatory on Nov. 4. To date, the SEC has imposed penalties on 42 firms for not complying
with agency requirements pertaining to the Customer Relationship Summary form, or Form CRS.
Meanwhile, several high-profile criminal cases and litigation matters involving financial advisors
attracted lots of attention on social media and beyond. In addition, there have been developments tied
to the Schwab-TD Ameritrade integration, as well as lots of deals in the rapidly consolidating financial
services industry.

DECEMBER 2022/JANUARY 2023 INVESTMENT ADVISOR 25