“ The housing market is the most important component of wealth in this country, he said.“ Three-quarters of people’ s wealth is in their homes.”
Rick Rieder, chief investment officer of global fixed income, BlackRock
class is killing it, he said.“ Main cabin, not so much.” The interest rate tool doesn’ t really attack this disparity, he said.
But as companies are doing everything to get costs down, younger and poorer workers will suffer, he said, noting that the share of workers in routine occupations has been dropping.
They’ ll also hurt because higher interest rates are stifling small businesses, he said.“ When you look at the market cap of the S & P 500, small cap is not that big a deal, the Russell 2000 is not that big a deal in terms of market cap. But it’ s 24 % of the hiring in the United States.... Small businesses have to finance. And when you keep the interest rates too high, small businesses can’ t hire people.”
Rieder argued that the interest rates as a tool for fighting inflation don’ t work now the way they did in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s because we’ re in a service economy, an“ asset lite” economy.
“ In that period, you had a manufacturing economy... GE, GM, Ford, Exxon [ and ] Mobil did heavily financed capital expenditures,” he said.“ When you moved the interest rate, you modulated
[ capital expenditures ].”
A service economy is much more stable, he said, because what people pay for their computer services and healthcare is stable, so the interest rate tool is not very effective fighting inflation. That’ s one of the reasons he thinks we’ re not due for a recession— at least without an exogenous shock like the Covid-19 pandemic.
In regard to housing, he said getting the mortgage rate down into the high 5 % area would boost home sales and be huge for the economy.( Thirty-year mortgage rates were hovering around 6.25 % in November 2025.)
“ The housing market is the most important component of wealth in this country, he said.“ Three-quarters of people’ s wealth is in their homes,” he said. With higher rates, people can’ t refinance as easily or sell their homes as easily, which means their ability to pursue jobs elsewhere is crimped as well. All these things, Rieder said, weigh on the economy.
Big Picture continued from page 15
NAPFA Leaders Say Critics Misunderstand Plan
NAPFA leaders say the concerns are misplaced. Dattomo says the current strategic framework emerged over the course of a year from members’ input, focus groups and discussions about the future of the profession.
“ Our members are encouraged by it,” Dattomo says.“ The feedback has largely been positive.” She said NAPFA is elevating its advocacy, strengthening its educational programming and redesigning the“ find an advisor” referral tool to make it easier for consumers to locate fee-only planners.
“ We want to make sure geography isn’ t the only way people search,” she says.“ Many firms have gone virtual. We want to reflect that.”
She also says DEI remains part of NAPFA’ s definition of professionalism, though it’ s no longer“ a separate initiative,” she says.“ It’ s part of how we build commu- nity and connection. The initiatives are optional. Members participate if they want to.”
Recent board member Cheryl Holland, founder of Abacus Planning Group in Columbia, S. C., adds that many of the critics’ complaints— from website and client and media referral glitches— will be addressed over the next three years.
Fee-Only Vs. Fiduciary: What Do Consumers Want?
While NAPFA critics say they feel that the organization has lost its focus, Holland questions whether consumers place much weight on fee-only labels anymore. They say that industry consolidation and the rise of full-service planning have changed client expectations.
“ I take two to four calls from prospective clients every week. Not one has asked if I’ m fee-only," Holland says.
Former board member Paula Hogan, who sold her namesake Milwaukee firm to Creative Planning in 2019, asks the same question, and says clients increasingly want“ one-stop shopping” and are less concerned with labels than with one-stop planning.
‘ I Want NAPFA To Succeed’
Despite the critiques, most of the outspoken members say they want NAPFA to not only survive, but thrive.
“ I want NAPFA to succeed,” Bromelkamp said.“ But this politically divisive subject is distracting the group from its core mission. We need to get back to fee-only financial advice and leave politics out of it.”
Whether the group can bridge the communication gap remains an open question.“ I expect if these things aren’ t fixed, people will start to quit,” Jackson says.
In contrast, Pine predicts membership, currently at 4,600, will grow as a result of the new strategic initiatives.“ I think we have responded very clearly to these people. And I don’ t know that there is anything you can say if they have convinced themselves of something that is not true. Fee-only advice is literally woven into the fabric of NAPFA. But we have to elevate the standard that we all adhere to so that fee-only is in addition to and not instead of comprehensive, fiduciary financial planning.”
DECEMBER 2025 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | 33