A look at investing habits of millennials and Gen X-ers (Think Advisor)
A study of 3,889 financial decision makers conducted by Cogent found a big difference between the investing habits of millennials and Gen X-ers with at least $100,000 in assets. While the Gen X-ers typically had a higher net worth, Think Advisors says it was the millennials who had more investable assets. Gen X-ers who participated in the survey, on average, had a net worth of $733,000 and investable assets of $399,000, compared to $650,000 and $420,000, respectively, for millennials. Cogent believes there are two reasons explaining this discrepancy. The study found 38% of millennials surveyed reported receiving an inheritance, compared to only 14% of Gen X respondents. Additionally, more than one-quarter of millennial respondents own their own business, meaning they contribute to an IRA versus a 401(k).
Chinese GDP slowed (Business Insider)
China's gross domestic product slowed to 6.9% from 7.0%, slightly outpacing the 6.8% growth that economists were expecting. According to the National Bureau of statistics, "The Central Party Committee and the State Council took full consideration of domestic and global situations, adopted scientific measures to stabilize economic growth, promote reforms, enhance restructuring, benefit people, and control risks, implemented effective range-based, targeted and discretionary macro regulation, further deepened the reform and opening up, encouraged mass entrepreneurship and innovation, and increased supply of public goods and services." It continued, "As a result, the overall performance of national economy was stable and moving in a positive direction." Industrial production data was also released, slowing to up 5.7% (6.1% previous), below the 6.0% growth that was expected.
Holiday sales might not be as robust as first expected (Reuters)
Reuters reports, RetailNext says US holiday sales will increase 2.8% in 2015 with shoppers expected to spend a little bit more than last year. Additionally, foot traffic is projected to decline 8.1% as more shopping moves online. RetailNext's sales estimate is notably lighter than the National Retail Federation's call for 3.7% growth and at the lower end of the 2.8% to 3.4% growth that consulting firm AlixPartners expects.
A new portfolio invests in women CEOs (Financial Advisor)
Eqis Capital Management has announced it's launching its Women CEO Focus portfolio. According to Financial Advisor, Eqis decided to create the portfolio after its research discovered companies headed by women typically outperform their benchmarks. Barclays, Morgan Stanley and US Trust are other firms that recently announced portfolios focusing on the advancement of women.
HighTower Advisors added a new team (Investment News)
Legacy Wealth Group is bringing its $600 million in assets to HighTower Advisors. According to Investment News, the team of William Van Dresser, Elden LeGaux and Eugene Frankel is the ninth independent group HighTower has added this year."We recently launched the platform to support independent advisers about a year and a half ago," CEO Elliot Weissbluth said. "It's for advisers who run and own their business but don't want to do the back office themselves."