Nevin's Data "Points"

Things are—slowly—getting back to normal. Planes are filling up, commutes are slowing with increased traffic volumes, and in-person meetings are back underway.  And while for many readers things have been back to “normal” for some time, I’ve had the opportunity over the past two months to participate in three separate advisor events that were the first such in-person gatherings since the onset of the pandemic. We’ve learned not only how to navigate things like virtual committee meetings and education sessions, but found that in many cases those platforms could be even more effective in extending our reach to individuals who might not have made it to an in-person session, or who might have been more receptive to those messages in the wake of COVID concerns about health and job security.  While we’re not quite “done” with COVID (and perhaps we never will be), we’ve learned a lot of valuable lessons. The notion that we have to be in a physical office to be produc...

My schedule – and aversion to crowds – means that I rarely see a new movie the first weekend it comes out (a rare exception – Avengers: Infinity War this weekend). While this means that there are times when I’m the only one in the office the following Monday who hasn’t seen the latest blockbuster (and thus can’t offer an opinion), more often than not, it’s also spared me the time, money (and potential aggravation) of rushing out to see a movie that is more likely to be up for a “Razzie” than an Oscar. However, I’ve also found myself in situations where the hype surrounding a new blockbuster is so compelling that it builds up my expectations beyond the reality – leaving me… underwhelmed. Doubtless that was the sense of many in reading the Best Interest Regulation proposal published by the Securities and Exchange Commission last week. Those who had hoped that a uniform fiduciary standard might emerge were surely disappointed, as were those who might have antic...