The classic 60/40 portfolio has weathered its fair share of storms (and criticisms) in recent times, and 2025 is shaping up to be a year defined by complexity, volatility, and recalibration for asset allocators. As we move through the second quarter, the LPL Research Strategic and Tactical Asset Allocation Committee (STAAC) has made several recent adjustments to our Tactical Asset Allocation (TAA) 60/40 strategy, which aligns with our Growth with Income (GwI) Investment Objective (IO), to reflect the evolving macroeconomic and market landscape. While economic and policy uncertainty remains high, we believe opportunities persist for those willin

The equity market’s recovery over the past month has been extraordinary in terms of both speed and scale. A turnaround of such magnitude is highly unusual, and the sudden shift in investor sentiment is among the fastest I have observed in my 25-year career. While it may be tempting to interpret this powerful rally as a definitive signal that risks have subsided, the reality is that plenty of uncertainty remains.

Reflecting on the steep market drop in early April, it seems much of the reaction stemmed from a policy shock rather than a clear deterioration in economic conditions. Specifically, the April 2 tariff announcement s

On May 12, President Donald Trump signed the “Delivering Most-Favored-Nation Prescription Drug Pricing to American Patients” executive order aimed at making prescription drugs more affordable for Americans. The premise driving the initiative is that drug manufacturers have deeply discounted their products in foreign markets and subsidized profits with elevated prices within the U.S.

Government subsidies for research and development, along with differences in prices between countries, have created a free-rider problem where the global benefits of improved pharmaceuticals are paid for disproportionately by the U.S. This

In a recent equity strategy publication (ask your LPL advisor for the latest Equity Strategy Insights publication if interested), we identified potential sector winners and losers under various tariff scenarios. During the high tariff, high trade uncertainty regime (we called it phase one), we identified consumer staples, real estate, utilities, and gold as potential winners. Well, that phase may be behind us.

For the low tariff, trade clarity regime, or phase two, we identified communication services, consumer discretionary, industrials, and technology as potential winners, with communication services as our preference. Now that