6 anniversary DNC staff votes to unionize Democrats hit pause on Biden's climate, social spending package MORE, AOC, Andrew Yang Andrew Yang American elections are getting less predictable there's a reason for that Poll: Harris, Michelle Obama lead for 2024 if Biden doesn't run At 28 percent approval, say goodbye to Kamala Harris being Plan B to an aging Biden MORE and Donald Trump Donald Trump Fox News tops ratings for coverage on Jan. Outsiders like Ross Perot, Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama Biden eulogizes Reid as a fighter 'for the America we all love' at memorial service Watch live: Funeral service for former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Democrats, Cruz set for showdown over Russian pipeline MORE, Bernie Sanders Bernie Sanders Division reigns over Jan. You generate end-product that seems to make sense: “Democrats need to distance themselves from woke extremism ” “Republicans should emphasize small business recovery and less regulation.” It works. You simply reclassify independent voters as Democratic or Republican fellow-travelers and then feed their views and opinions into the existing algorithms and analytical frameworks. Political science insists that the voters should fit the analysis, not the other way around. Thus, an electorate that is 40 percent independent, 30 percent Democratic and 30 percent Republican magically becomes an electorate that is roughly 50 percent Democratic and 50 percent Republican. They are “ party leaners.” It is standard practice among polling firms to ask people how they identify themselves, and then to ask people who say “independent” which party they lean towards.
Some go so far as to insist that independents are not really independents.
Most political scientists and analysts consider this trend to be unimportant, not worth studying or understanding. In the 30 states that register by party, “no-party-affiliation” voters are on track to be the largest or second largest group of registrants by 2030. This includes 50 percent of younger Americans. In an interview, he said that he hasn’t heard negative feedback regarding the Thomas-Partners deal.īut some advisers can’t help wonder about the competitive implications.The largest and fastest growing segment of the electorate is now independent voters: 40 percent to 45 percent of American voters are registered to vote or identify themselves as independents, a trend that is on the uptick in red, blue and purple states. The letter said that Schwab would be adding Windhaven portfolios and another managed-fund programs as investment options, but that the action didn’t apply to those who worked with an independent adviser.īernie Clark, head of Schwab Advisor Services, later apologized to advisers, saying that the letter was a mistake and against Schwab’s policies. The transaction is expected to be completed before year-end.įor some RIAs, the acquisition brings back bad memories of August 2011 when Schwab sent a marketing piece to companies with retirement plan assets under its custody - including advisers’ clients. The deal also adds to Schwab’s profitable stable of fee-based offerings that have bolstered earnings as traditional business lines tread water, and it positions the company to meet a goal of having a quarter of its retail clients in some type of managed account - close to what the wirehouses have - up from about 16%. The $85 million cash purchase of ThomasPartners, which has $2.3 billion in assets under management, adds a dividend strategy to Schwab’s money management mix, a hole that the firm wants to fill as investors increasingly search for yield. By all accounts, Windhaven has been a success for Schwab, with assets under management tripling to $12.5 billion since the acquisition. The deal parallels the 2010 purchase of Windhaven Investment Management Inc., a tactical manager of exchange-traded-fund model portfolios. “As a money manager, you have to be concerned with this.” “I’m always concerned about a custodian buying asset managers,” said Ken Winans, president of Winans International Corp., which manages about $140 million. took another step in building out its small but fast-growing proprietary separate-account platform.īut by buying the firm, Schwab risks once again ruffling feathers among its army of more than 7,000 registered investment adviser custody customers, some of whom worry about competition from the money managers. With its acquisition of money manager ThomasPartners Inc.