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What are the top three topics to pop up in conversation between your clients and their friends this summer? The election, inflation and interest rates. Today's frothy markets are all significant market memes—stories people are buzzing about that have significant implications for financial decision making.

These days we have a crescendo of referable moments—anytime a market meme pops up in conversation between your client and a friend, family member or colleague, yet you're not in the room.

Let's consider the frothy market. Many of your clients could find themselves in conversation with a friend in the weeks ahead who says:

"This market is way too frothy. We are sitting in cash waiting for the correction. The market has it wrong and the Fed will not be lowering rates."

Did you capture these referable moments or squander them? Increase your chances of capturing them by identifying and articulating your thesis—a timely, pithy sound bite that connects the dots to the advice you provide.

For thesis inspiration, we turned to the July issue of The BEAT's key takeaway of slowing wage growth in the U.S. and Eurozone (see charts on page 5) which in turn should help ease persistent services, inflation, and allow central banks to adjust rates lower. What if your client was to respond to their friend with this thesis: "The soft landing is firming."

Such a response will likely kindle some curiosity and lead your client's friend to ask, "Where did you hear that?"

"The soft landing is firming" illustrates the four best practices of thesis development:

  1. Timely: Responsive to a market meme based on current data-driven insights.
  2. Pithy: It is easy to remember in the hopes clients will repeat it in conversations with friends, family or colleagues.
  3. A soundbite: The play on words of "soft landing" with "firming" provides a unique and intriguing edge.
  4. Connect-the-dots: It aligns with the current insights The BEAT offers advisors.

Bottom Line: Harness the power of a well-articulated thesis to help you capture referable moments when you aren't in the room.

"For thesis inspiration, we turned to the July issue of The BEAT's key takeaway of slowing wage growth in the U.S. and Eurozone, which in turn should help ease persistent services, inflation, and allow central banks to adjust rates lower."
The Author

At the Advisor Institute, our goal is not to shape your opinion or provide investment advice, rather to share this viewpoint as an example of what we believe to be a superb display of thesis articulation.

The views and opinions and/or analysis expressed are those of the author or the investment team as of the date of preparation of this material and are subject to change at any time without notice due to market or economic conditions and may not necessarily come to pass. Furthermore, the views will not be updated or otherwise revised to reflect information that subsequently becomes available or circumstances existing, or changes occurring, after the date of publication. The views expressed do not reflect the opinions of all investment personnel at Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) and its subsidiaries and affiliates (collectively “the Firm”), and may not be reflected in all the strategies and products that the Firm offers.

Forecasts and/or estimates provided herein are subject to change and may not actually come to pass. Information regarding expected market returns and market outlooks is based on the research, analysis and opinions of the authors or the investment team. These conclusions are speculative in nature, may not come to pass and are not intended to predict the future performance of any specific strategy or product the Firm offers. Future results may differ significantly depending on factors such as changes in securities or financial markets or general economic conditions.

This material has been prepared on the basis of publicly available information, internally developed data and other third-party sources believed to be reliable. However, no assurances are provided regarding the reliability of such information and the Firm has not sought to independently verify information taken from public and third-party sources.

This material is a general communication, which is not impartial and all information provided has been prepared solely for informational and educational purposes and does not constitute an offer or a recommendation to buy or sell any particular security or to adopt any specific investment strategy. The information herein has not been based on a consideration of any individual investor circumstances and is not investment advice, nor should it be construed in any way as tax, accounting, legal or regulatory advice. To that end, investors should seek independent legal and financial advice, including advice as to tax consequences, before making any investment decision.

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