Happy Sunday, and welcome to Benzinga’s financial advisor newsletter.

Today we're discussing the ever-evolving role of an advisor. In today’s fast-changing financial world, it’s no longer just about beating the market — it’s about becoming your client’s ‘chief risk officer’ and helping them protect what matters most.

Plus, a look back at all the top stories and market activity from this past week.

Lastly, if you would like to be featured in our upcoming Advisor Spotlight and showcase your business, click here to send us an email.

Table of Contents

• Industry Chatter

• Weekly Market Recap

• The Week Ahead

INDUSTRY CHATTER

The Advisor’s New Role: 'Chief Risk Officer'

In April, markets briefly entered bear market territory, with the S&P 500 down more than 20% in what was one of the fastest selloffs in U.S history, and putting investor sentiment at its lowest point in years.

Then sentiment flipped, inflation cooled, and the S&P has now gone on to hit record highs. Even this past week, indexes hit intra-day record levels — until Jerome Powell reminded everyone in his FOMC press conference that a December rate cut is not a guarantee, and optimism quickly turned into anxiety on Wall Street.

It’s a perfect snapshot of the investor mindset today: uncertainty is everywhere, and confidence can vanish in a single headline or speech. This isn’t new to advisors as it’s a repeating pattern among clients. When markets rise, clients think you’re a genius and when they fall, your phone lights up. But lately, even calm markets aren’t calming anyone.

Clients aren’t just worried about returns — they’re worried about risks — life risks — that don’t show up on their statements. A cyberattack that empties an account. A healthcare bill that derails a retirement plan or a tax surprise that wipes out a year of gains.

That’s why the role of the advisor continues to evolve. It’s not about just being a great investment manager anymore, but becoming a “chief risk officer” for clients. One that covers more than just volatility, but about helping clients control what they can control and spot and prepare for the unseen forces that can quietly erode wealth.

Risk management has always been part of the job — but now it’s the job. Advisors who embrace that mindset shift will redefine what it means to deliver value as it not just how you perform in bull markets, but how well you protect clients in uncertain ones. Because in the long run, the advisors who manage risk best won’t just preserve wealth — they’ll preserve trust too.

WEEKLY MARKET RECAP

Magnificent 7's Reign Rolls On, Powell Puts Chill On Rate-Cut Hopes

Wall Street's love affair with mega-cap tech shows no signs of cooling. The S&P 500 just wrapped up its sixth straight month of gains, climbing more than 40% since the post-tariff lows in April. But once again, it's the so-called Magnificent Seven doing the heavy lifting.

Nvidia (NVDA), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple (AAPL), Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta (META), and Tesla (TSLA) now boast a combined market value north of $22 trillion. Nvidia alone has crossed an unprecedented $5 trillion valuation, cementing its role as the world's most valuable company.

The chipmaker's CEO Jensen Huang stunned investors at Washington's GTC event on Tuesday by unveiling $500 billion in projected AI datacenter revenue over the next two years.

All five tech titans that reported earnings this week — Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Apple — beat analyst expectations. Yet the market's response was mixed. Amazon and Alphabet surged sharply, Apple and Microsoft were little moved, while Meta plunged 10% after announcing massive AI-related capital spending.

The Cupertino-based tech giant continues to wrestle with weaker Chinese demand but sounded upbeat on iPhone 17 sales heading into the holiday season.

Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell threw a splash of cold water on hopes for another rate cut in December.

Although the Fed delivered a widely expected 25-basis-point reduction on Wednesday, Powell stressed that another cut in December is "far from a foregone conclusion."

Divisions within the Fed are growing, he admitted, and visibility has worsened due to the ongoing government shutdown, which is delaying key data.

"If you are driving in the fog, you slow down," Powell said.

Beyond the trading screens, signs of labor market strain are intensifying. Amazon recently cut 14,000 jobs, prompting some to highlight the rising impact of AI.

General Motors (GM) is temporarily laying off about 5,500 workers across three plants, including Detroit's Factory Zero. GM plans to bring back roughly 2,200 employees in January but will furlough 1,200 indefinitely as it reassesses electric-vehicle output following President Donald Trump's rollback of key EV tax credits.

With no official labor data due next week, investors will closely watch private-sector surveys like ADP's National Employment Report for clues on hiring trends and what they might mean for future Fed policy.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Palantir, AMD, Shopify, Uber, AppLovin, Block, Datadog and Airbnb to report earnings, auto sales, consumer credit and sentiment, Fed speeches, and more

Economic Data

• Monday: S&P Manufacturing PMI, Auto sales, Fed speeches (Daly, Cook)

• Tuesday: No meaningful reports due to government shutdown

• Wednesday: ADP employment, ISM services, S&P services Final PMI

• Thursday: Fed speeches (Barr, Williams, Waller, Paulson and Musalem)

• Friday: Consumer credit and sentiment, Fed speeches (Williams, Jefferson, Logan)

Earnings

• Monday: Palantir (PLTR), ON Semiconductor (ON)

• Tuesday: AMD (AMD), Shopify (SHOP), Uber (UBER), Amgen (AMGN)

• Wednesday: AppLovin (APP), Qualcomm (QCOM), Robinhood (HOOD),

• Thursday: Airbnb (ABNB), Datadog (DDOG), Block (XYZ)

• Friday: Constellation Energy (CEG), Enbridge (ENB), Six Flags (FUN)

Click here for the full calendar of economic data and earnings reports.

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Reminder, if you would like to be featured in our upcoming Advisor Spotlight and showcase your business, click here to send us an email.