Markus Andrews

ETF Strategist

ETF Street
ETF Strategist

The S&P 500 index has continued to hit fresh highs.
For investors who have exposure to that large-cap index, that has meant big gains.
Yet experts say it’s best to be diversified in case that momentum stops.

d3sign | Getty

The S&P 500 had a record close on Monday and continued to climb during Tuesday morning trading.
While headlines that the large-cap index has notched a new high have become the norm, some investors may wonder if a pullback is coming.

“The S&P 500 is broken,” said Michael DeMassa, who is a certified financial planner and chartered financial analyst, and the founder of Forza Wealth Management in Sarasota, Florida.
Many investors assume investing in the S&P 500 index — through ETF ticker symbols SPY, VOO or IVV — is synonymous with diversification, DeMassa said.

Yet that sense of safety is an illusion, he said, since the market capitalization-weighted index means companies with bigger allocations may drag down the fund if their performance suffers. Or the index’s heavy concentration in the technology sector may prompt volatility to ripple through the entire index, DeMassa said.
If you can invest in the S&P 500 index for a long time, you will probably do well, said Deva Panambur, a CFP and CFA, and founder of Sarsi LLC in West New York, New Jersey.
But occasionally the index suffers long periods of underperformance, he said. For example, between 2000 and 2008, the S&P 500 was down by more than 30%.

Wall Street forecasts generally see the index continuing to go up for the foreseeable future.
Still, experts say it’s best to choose a broader investment mix in case there is a pullback.

Other funds may offer broader exposure, experts say

For investors who are seeking a simple approach, it may make sense to opt for a total market index fund instead of an S&P 500 index fund, according to Brendan McCann, associate manager research analyst at Morningstar.
Unlike S&P 500 index funds, total market funds also provide exposure to small- and mid-cap stocks in addition to large-cap companies.
Alternatively, investors may opt to broaden the exposure an S&P 500 index fund already provides in their portfolio. One example may be a fund that tracks a total market index that excludes S&P 500 index stocks, or the Vanguard Extended Market ETF, according to McCann.
The trick with that strategy is to buy the funds in the right proportion, McCann said.

More from ETF Strategist:

Here’s a look at other stories offering insight on ETFs for investors.

For investors who don’t want to worry about changing their asset allocations over time, buying a total market index fund may be a better approach, according to McCann. Switching to a total market index fund strategy may be particularly attractive for investors who don’t have to worry about the tax implications of changing funds, such as 401(k) investors, he said.
Other experts have recommended opting for equal-weighted S&P 500 index funds, which hold an equal proportion of each stock. However, the downside with those strategies is that there may be more transaction costs when rebalancing, McCann said.

Watch for overlapping funds that can add risk

When the S&P 500’s returns were down between 2002 and 2009, areas like small cap, value, international and even bonds performed better than that index, Panambur said.
Today, the portfolios he creates for clients have allocations to those areas.
“When I look at the overall allocation, my goal is to make sure it’s more balanced than the S&P 500,” Panambur said.
The set-it-and-forget-it S&P 500 strategy was intended to provide broad market exposure. “That’s no longer the case,” DeMassa said.

As investors seek to diversify, it is important to pay attention to the holdings of each of the funds they own, he said.
If a portfolio has funds tracking both the S&P 500 and Vanguard Growth indexes, for example, the exposure to large-cap technology names will be increased rather than limited, he said. More

IRS leadership changes have sparked concerns among some policy experts and consumer advocates. 
Frank Bisignano, who currently serves as Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, has also been appointed to CEO of the IRS.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent will continue his role as acting IRS Commissioner.

A view of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 16, 2025. 
Annabelle Gordon | Reuters

‘Lack of stability’ amid major tax law changes

When asked on Tuesday about the agency’s leadership decision, former IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel told CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” “I think right now it’s crunch time at the IRS.”
Six individuals have served as IRS Commissioner or acting IRS Commissioner since inauguration day in January, among them President Donald Trump’s nominee Billy Long, who the Senate confirmed in June. Trump removed Long from the role in August and replaced him with Bessent.

There is currently no Deputy Commissioner managing day-to-day operations, said Werfel, who served under the Biden administration from 2023 to 2025. 
“That’s a lot of volatility at the top of a very complex process and organization. And so steps needed to be taken now” to make sure the agency is ready for the opening of tax season in January, Werfel said.
Still, Bessent and Bisignano need to be accessible to IRS staff for decisions as problems arise. Otherwise, “it’s the taxpayers waiting in line that will pay the price,” he said.

Meanwhile, the agency has been racing to implement tax law changes enacted via Trump’s “big beautiful bill,” including some provisions that apply to 2025, which will impact returns filed in 2026.
Recent IRS staffing cuts could harm taxpayer service, according to a September report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The agency has lost 17% to 19% of workers covering “key IRS functions” needed for the filing season, the report found.
“This arrangement doesn’t sound like stability at the IRS,” said Alex Muresianu, senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit tax policy think tank. “To me, this seems like yet another sort of odd, unusual interim arrangement.” 
“That lack of stability at the top is concerning at this time, as the IRS has to worry about the coming filing season and some major tax changes,” he said. 
The Treasury Department did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

An ‘unprecedented’ dual role

Frank Bisignano, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be commissioner of the Social Security Administration, appears at his Senate Finance Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., March 25, 2025.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Bessent’s nomination of Bisignano to lead IRS’ day-to-day operations points to the “incredible” work that has been done under his leadership so far, including technology and process management updates, an SSA agency spokesperson said.
Bisignano, the former CEO of fintech and payments company Fiserv, will still lead SSA and will continue to rely on the strong executive leadership team he has built in the five months since his confirmation, the spokesperson said.
Yet Social Security advocates worry about what the unprecedented move to have one leader at both agencies may mean for the approximately 74 million individuals who rely on the SSA for Social Security or Supplemental Security Income benefits.
“The reason it’s never happened in the history of the country is because there are two separate positions for very good reasons,” said Nancy Altman, president of Social Security Works, an advocacy organization for expanding Social Security.

Both SSA and the IRS hold sensitive information that must be kept separate, she said. For example, SSA employees cannot see how their neighbors manage their taxes, and IRS workers cannot see someone’s medical records and whether they have a disability.
When merging leadership of the agencies, it will be crucial to make sure there is no commingling of that data, Altman said.
There is also the concern that one leader for both agencies may be spread thin, which could slow decision-making and hurt the quality of the agency’s services, Altman said.
The new CEO role at the IRS would not require the Senate to confirm Bisignano, she said.
A nomination has been submitted for Arjun Mody, a former Republican Congressional staffer, to serve as deputy commissioner of SSA. The Senate would have to confirm that nomination.

Another advocacy organization, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, said the administration’s move to tap Bisignano to also lead the IRS is both “unprecedented” and “unwise.”
This year, SSA has already cut staff and implemented new rules, such as new restrictions around direct deposit changes, that affect access to benefits, Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee said in a statement.
“This agency is too important to have a part-time leader,” Richtman said. “Seniors, people with disabilities, and their families deserve a full-time Social Security Commissioner.”
The White House did not respond to a request for comment by press time. More

Legendary investor Peter Lynch joined “The Compound and Friends” podcast to discuss artificial intelligence, his biggest investing lessons and the benefits of investing today.
Lynch averaged a 29.2% return in his 13 years managing the Magellan Fund at Fidelity from 1977 until 1990

Peter Lynch, Fidelity Funds Advisory Board Member.

Legendary investor Peter Lynch built a reputation for routinely beating the market while overseeing Fidelity Magellan Fund in the 1980s. Decades later, he has some advice for the next generation of investors.
The artificial intelligence boom has dominated the market for the past three years, but Lynch, who averaged a 29.2% annual return in his 13 years at the helm of Magellan until 1990, has been happy to watch from the sidelines.

“I have zero AI stocks,” Lynch said on “The Compound and Friends” podcast with investor Josh Brown . “I literally couldn’t pronounce Nvidia until about eight months ago.”
Lynch, who famously claimed that at one time 1 out of every 100 Americans had a stake in Fidelity Magellan, on the podcast addressed his career, the lessons he’s learned along the way and, yes, today’s craze for everything tied to artificial intelligence. Here are five of the biggest takeaways:
Sitting out AI
Megacap tech stocks have skyrocketed since the introduction of ChatGPT in late 2022, leading many on Wall Street to question if the AI trade is reminiscent of the dot-com bubble in the late 1990s. Asked if investors have chased the AI trade too far, Lynch said he had “no idea.”
Lynch said he doesn’t understand technology enough to have an informed opinion on the market’s optimism toward AI.
“I’m the lowest tech guy ever,” he said. “I can’t do anything with computers. I just have yellow pads.”

Lynch declined to discuss his current portfolio or the stocks he likes at the moment, citing rules from Fidelity.
Why you don’t ‘play the market’
Lynch has long advocated that investors have a deep understanding of the companies they invest in. It’s a core tenet of his book “One Up on Wall Street.”
“I have this expression: ‘Know what you own,”’ Lynch said. “If you don’t understand what you own, you’re toast.”
Lynch said people will spend hours researching flights to ensure they get the best price. But when it comes to investing, he said “they’ll put $10,000 in some crazy stock they heard on the bus.”
He described the phrase “play the market” as “awful” and “dangerous.” Instead, Lynch said people should buy good companies and have an awareness of what they do.
Lynch said that the average variation in a typical New York Stock Exchange security in any given year is 100%, so investors need to know what to do when big moves happen.
Entering after the first inning
While the conventional wisdom is to buy stocks before they take off, Lynch cautioned against scorning all investment ideas just because a security has already rallied.
“Sometimes, you don’t have to be in the first inning,” Lynch said.
As an example, Lynch pointed to McDonald’s, which he was told long ago had already seen rapid domestic growth. The hamburger chain went on to see strong growth when it expanded internationally.
“People said ‘McDonald’s is done,'” Lynch said. “They just simply didn’t think it through.”
Investment advantages today
Today’s investors have “cushions” that didn’t exist before the Great Depression and the New Deal, according to Lynch.
Lynch named unemployment insurance, Social Security benefits and the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission helping everyday people over time. He also highlighted the active role of the Federal Reserve in recent decades.
Investors today benefit from “so many things that are better,” Lynch said, noting more market and economic “buffers” than existed in the past.
Lynch said investors have frequently braced for an economic collapse on the order of the 1930s. But none of the market tests since then, even the Global Financial Crisis in 2008-2009, have had the same downward intensity.
“We had many opportunities to have a ‘big one,'” Lynch said. “We’ve had some probably bad presidents, some bad congresses, we’ve had bad economists, and we’ve made it through.”
Future of work
Lynch reassured workers who wonder if they will lose their jobs to AI.
In the early 1980s,about one million people worked for AT&T alone at a time when the entire labor force stood at about 100 million. Even as the telecom sector has grown, Lynch said the leading companies today employ about 400,000 workers.
Today, the U.S. workforce itself has swelled past 160 million jobs. Americans can probably count on expansion in some sectors to help offset elimination tied to technological advances or automation in others.
Lynch’s comments come as executives at companies ranging from Walmart to Accenture have warned that artificial intelligence will drastically reshape their workforces.
“It’s a great country. We’re creative,” Lynch said. “America creates, China duplicates, and Europe legislates.”
(Follow Josh Brown’s take on the best stocks in the market right now, including his investment outlook and where he sees opportunities next.)
(Learn the best 2026 strategies from inside the NYSE with Josh Brown and others at CNBC PRO Live. Tickets and info here.) More

The Trump administration has restarted student loan forgiveness under a program that’s been partially paused since July.The U.S. Department of Education said this summer it was temporarily not cancelling the debt of student loan borrowers enrolled in the Income-Based Repayment plan while it responded to court orders.
Now IBR forgiveness has resumed, advocates and a trade group for the federal student loan servicers tell CNBC.

US President Donald Trump signs executive orders relating to higher education institutions, alongside US Secretary of Education Linda McMahon (R), in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on April 23, 2025.
Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images

The Trump administration has resumed forgiving student debt for some borrowers enrolled in a program that’s been partially paused since July.
Now, borrowers who’ve been in repayment for decades and are eligible for debt cancellation under the Income-Based Repayment plan, or IBR, are getting notices that they will soon receive the relief.

The U.S. Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment on the loan forgiveness actions. A CNBC reporter’s email to a spokesperson at the agency was met with an automated message, saying, “I will respond to emails once government functions resume.”
But Scott Buchanan, executive director of the Student Loan Servicing Alliance, a trade group for the federal student loan servicers, confirmed to CNBC that IBR discharges have resumed.
Consumer advocates also tell CNBC they have heard from borrowers on IBR who received notices of forgiveness. Persis Yu, deputy executive director and managing counsel at Protect Borrowers, and Betsy Mayotte, president of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, both said they know of borrowers who’ve been approved for the relief.

Loan forgiveness paused since July

Over the summer, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it would temporarily stop forgiving the debt of borrowers enrolled in IBR. According to the plan’s terms, IBR concludes in debt erasure after 20 years or 25 years of payments, depending on the age of a borrower’s loans.
IBR will be one of only a few repayment options left to many federal student loan holders after recent court actions and the passage by Congress of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” That legislation phases out several existing student loan repayment plans.

The pause put many student loan borrowers who’ve been in repayment for decades and were eligible for forgiveness in an especially frustrating bind, said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz. That’s because IBR is the only income-driven repayment plan still available that leads to loan erasure, Kantrowitz said.
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The Education Department told CNBC in July that it had paused loan forgiveness under IBR while it responds to recent court actions involving the Biden administration-era SAVE, or Saving on a Valuable Education, plan.
The department said that the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision in February, which blocked the SAVE plan, had other impacts on student loan repayment. Under the rule involving SAVE, certain periods during which borrowers postponed their payments would count toward their forgiveness timeline. With SAVE blocked now, borrowers no longer get credit during those forbearances.
The department said it had paused the relief while it assessed the correct payment counts for borrowers, and that anyone who made payments after becoming eligible for forgiveness would get a refund when the discharges continued.

IBR relief central in recent lawsuit

The paused IBR loan forgiveness became a central issue in the American Federation of Teacher’s legal battle with the Education Department, Yu said. The teacher’s union, which represents some 2 million members, filed its lawsuit against the Trump administration in March, accusing it of depriving student loan borrowers of their rights. Protect Borrowers is serving as AFT’s legal counsel.

Still, the department’s recent actions do not resolve the AFT litigation, Yu said. She said many other borrowers are still waiting for debt cancellation, including tens of thousands of people who believe they’re eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness. PSLF offers debt cancellation to those who’ve spent a decade working for certain not-for-profits or the government.
As of Aug. 31, there’s a 74,510-person backlog of borrowers waiting for their PSLF determination. Some of the borrowers CNBC has spoken with had submitted their requests for loan forgiveness over half a year ago or more. More

In this photo illustration, the Brookfield Infrastructure Partners company logo is seen displayed on a smartphone screen.
Piotr Swat | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Fears about the impact of a government shutdown, a slowing labor market, and elevated stock valuations are weighing on investor sentiment. Given the ongoing uncertainty, investors looking for stable returns can consider adding dividend stocks to their portfolios.
Top Wall Street analysts’ recommendations can help investors pick stocks of dividend-paying companies that have strong fundamentals to support consistent dividend payments.  

Here are three dividend-paying stocks, highlighted by Wall Street’s top pros as tracked by TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based on their past performance.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners

First on this week’s dividend list is Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP), a global infrastructure company that owns and operates diversified, long-life assets in the utilities, transport, midstream, and data sectors. BIP paid a dividend of 43 cents per unit on Sept. 29, reflecting a 6% year-over-year increase. At an annualized dividend of $1.72 per unit, BIP stock offers a dividend yield of 5.2%.
Following the recently held Investor Day event, BMO Capital analyst Devin Dodge reiterated a buy rating on Brookfield Infrastructure stock with a price forecast of $42. The 5-star analyst stated that the presentations by management at the event reflected the robust underlying organic growth trends across BIP’s portfolio, which he expects to become more evident in the upcoming quarters.
Dodge highlighted that the number of high-growth platforms in BIP’s portfolio continues to increase, and there are significant investment opportunities across most of its sectors. In particular, he mentioned the robust digital infrastructure investment opportunity. With hyperscalers’ capital spending estimated to increase by 50% this year, there is a strong growth potential for BIP’s data center platforms over the intermediate term.
The analyst pointed out that BIP’s funds from operations per unit (FFO/unit) growth is nearing an inflection point. He noted that over the past five years, BIP’s FFO/unit has increased at a compound annual growth rate of about 10% despite foreign exchange headwinds and high interest rates. However, Dodge expects these challenges to ease in the near term, which could drive visible FFO growth.  

“As FFO/unit growth shifts higher, we believe there are positive implications for distribution growth and valuation,” said Dodge. Interestingly, TipRanks’ AI Analyst has a “neutral” rating on BIP stock with a price target of $33.
Dodge ranks No. 377 among more than 10,000 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been successful 73% of the time, delivering an average return of 13.2%. See Brookfield Infrastructure Statistics on TipRanks.

Ares Capital

We move to Ares Capital (ARCC), a specialty finance company that provides direct loans and other investments to private middle-market companies. Ares pays a quarterly dividend of 48 cents per share. At an annualized dividend of $1.92 per share, ARCC stock offers a yield of 9.4%.
In an update on business development companies, RBC Capital analyst Kenneth Lee reiterated a buy rating on Ares Capital stock with a price target of $24. Interestingly, TipRanks’ AI Analyst has an “outperform” rating on ARCC stock with a price target of $25.
In the current scenario, Lee prefers ARCC, Blackstone Secured Lending Fund (BXSL), and Sixth Street Specialty Lending (TSLX) stocks. “ARCC has a long track record of successfully managing risks through cycles,” noted Lee.
The 5-star analyst specified that ARCC is a market-leading BDC with scale. He believes that the company’s access to the Ares global credit platform is one of its major competitive advantages. Lee is confident about Ares Capital’s potential to generate above peer-average return on equity.
Lee views Ares Capital’s experienced senior management team as one of its key strengths. He also pointed out that ARCC’s dividends are backed by the company’s core earnings per share generation and potential net realized gains.
Lee ranks No. 59 among more than 10,000 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 72% of the time, delivering an average return of 16.7%. See Ares Capital Ownership Structure on TipRanks.

ONE Gas

Finally, let’s look at ONE Gas (OGS), a 100% regulated natural gas utility that provides affordable energy to over 2.3 million customers in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. At a quarterly dividend of 67 cents per share (annualized dividend of $2.68 per share), OGS stock offers a dividend yield of 3.3%.
Recently, Mizuho analyst Gabe Moreen upgraded OGS stock to buy from hold and increased his price forecast to $86 from $77, citing several reasons, such as the benefits from the Texas HB 4384 legislation (enables recovery of certain costs associated with a gas utility’s plant, facilities, or equipment placed in service) and lower interest rates. Meanwhile, TipRanks’ AI Analyst has a “neutral” rating on OGS stock with a price target of $81.
Moreen sees the possibility of HB 4384 generating a full-year benefit of about 18 cents in incremental EPS in fiscal 2026. He added that this benefit is not one-time in nature, and will grow with ONE Gas’ yearly Texas capital spending. It is worth noting that Texas constitutes about 32% of OGS’ rate base. “We believe this will place a floor under OGS’ growth outlook at the higher-end of its 4-6%,” said Moreen.
The top-rated analyst noted that elevated short-term interest rates were one of the reasons that forced OGS to revise its guidance in 2023 and 2024. He expects the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts to benefit the company, as they will ease relative interest expense from prior periods.
Additionally, Moreen highlighted notable growth opportunities for OGS, thanks to the growing natural gas demand from data centers and advanced manufacturers. He believes that all these catalysts, along with a growing customer base and a solid balance sheet, make OGS stock an attractive pick at the current valuation. In fact, Moreen expects OGS to rebound to its historical premium valuation levels, at which the stock traded before the company restated its guidance in 2023 and 2024.
Moreen ranks No. 142 among more than 10,000 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been successful 75% of the time, delivering an average return of 13.3%. See ONE Gas Technical Analysis on TipRanks. More

President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” made tax changes that could impact your year-end charitable giving.
Starting in 2026, there’s a new charitable tax break for non-itemizers, worth up to $1,000 for single filers and $2,000 for married couples filing jointly.
The charitable deduction will also be reduced for some higher earners beginning in 2026.

New Year celebration concept. Front view. Close-up
Anna Efetova | Moment | Getty Images

President Donald Trump’s “big beautiful bill” added trillions of dollars of tax breaks, some of which could impact your deduction for charitable giving.
U.S. individual giving grew to $392.45 billion in 2024, up by about 5%, including inflation, from the previous year, according to Giving USA’s annual report released in June.

But as the calendar winds down, your 2025 year-end giving strategy could look different than that of previous years, financial experts say.
More from Personal Finance:With S&P 500 near record highs, reconsider the set-it-and-forget-it strategyWhat the government shutdown means for Social Security benefitsCNBC’s Financial Advisor 100: Best financial advisors for 2025 ranked
When planning for charitable giving, investors should consider a “multi-year approach,” especially after the latest tax law changes, according to Dianne Mehany, who leads the private tax group of EY’s national tax department in Washington, D.C.
Here is a breakdown of some of the key changes — and how they could impact your year-end donations.

This is a ‘no-brainer’ for smaller gifts

When filing taxes, you claim the greater of your itemized tax breaks or the standard deduction. For 2025, the standard deduction is now $15,750 for single filers and $31,500 for married couples filing jointly.

But 90% of filers don’t itemize, according to the latest IRS data, which prevents most filers from claiming the charitable deduction.
This will soon change thanks to Trump’s legislation. Starting in 2026, there’s a new charitable tax break for non-itemizers, worth up to $1,000 for single filers and $2,000 for married couples filing jointly.

With the change happening in 2026, it could make sense to delay smaller, year-end gifts if you typically don’t itemize deductions, experts say.
“It seems like a no-brainer to just do it in January and capture a little benefit that you wouldn’t otherwise achieve,” certified financial planner Edward Jastrem, chief planning officer at Heritage Financial Services in Westwood, Massachusetts, previously told CNBC.

There’s a ‘double hit’ for top earners

Trump’s legislation could also shrink the charitable deduction for some higher earners in 2026, experts say.
Starting in 2026, there’s an itemized charitable deduction “floor,” which only permits the tax break once it exceeds 0.5% of your adjusted gross income. Plus, the new law caps the benefit for filers in the top 37% income tax bracket, also beginning in 2026.
“You’re essentially reducing your benefit to 35% instead of 37%,” which “feels like a double hit,” when combined with the 0.5% deduction floor, said Mehany from EY.

With the charitable deduction reductions for 2026, “there’s some benefit to accelerating [donations] this year,” said certified public accountant Sheneya Wilson, founder and CEO of Fola Financial in New York.
One option to frontload gifts in 2025 could be using a so-called donor-advised fund, which works like a charitable checkbook.
You receive an upfront charitable deduction on transferred assets by “bunching” multiple years of gifts into a single year. Then, you can invest and potentially grow the balance while choosing grants for public charities later. 
Sharon Epperson contributed to reporting for this story. More

Thomas Fuller | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Company: Workiva (WK)
Business: Workiva is a provider of cloud-based reporting solutions that are designed to solve financial and non-financial business challenges at the intersection of data, process and people. The company offers its unified software-as-a-service, or SaaS, platform that brings customers’ financial reporting; environmental, social and governance (ESG); and governance, risk and compliance (GRC) together in a controlled, secure, audit-ready platform. The Workiva platform is multi-tenant cloud software deployed in multiple regions worldwide for assured integrated reporting. The company’s platform is built primarily on Amazon Web Services and is composed of both proprietary and open-source technologies. Its Workiva platform helps customers by connecting and transforming data from hundreds of enterprise resource planning, human capital management, and customer relationship management systems, as well as other third-party cloud and on-premises applications.
Stock Market Value: $4.92 billion ($87.46 per share)

Stock chart icon

Workiva shares year to date

Activist: Irenic Capital Management

Ownership: ~2.0%
Average Cost: n/a
Activist Commentary: Irenic Capital was founded in October 2021 by Adam Katz, a former portfolio manager at Elliott Investment Management, and Andy Dodge, a former investment partner at Indaba Capital Management. Irenic invests in public companies and works collaboratively with firm leadership. Their activism has thus far focused on strategic activism, recommending spinoffs and sales of businesses.
What’s happening
On Sept. 29, Irenic announced that they have taken a roughly 2% position in Workiva and are calling on the company to improve its operating efficiency, review strategic alternatives with fresh board oversight, including a potential sale of the company, and improve corporate governance practices, including collapsing its dual-class share structure. Irenic also called on the company to add two new board members, including Irenic executive Krishna Korupolu, to the board, and noted that they have not ruled out nominating directors if the two sides can’t reach an agreement.
Behind the scenes
Workiva is the leading provider of cloud-based reporting solutions, integrating financial reporting, sustainability management, and governance, risk, and compliance, into a sharable, data-integrated, and audit-ready environment. Over 40% of the company’s revenue is derived from its SEC filing service, which simplifies regulatory filings and other disclosures for public companies. This is a great business that serves some of the world’s largest enterprises, with 95% of the Fortune 100, 89% of the Fortune 500 and 85% of the Fortune 1000 using its platform, supported by an approximately 97% customer retention rate that has enabled consistent mid-teens revenue growth.

But the problem for Workiva lies not in the quality of its business, but rather its lack of profitability. Despite scaling toward more than $1 billion in revenue by 2026 and over 10 years operating in the public markets, Workiva is yet to generate a profit. As a result, Workiva shares currently trade at a roughly 25% discount to application software rivals like Workday and ServiceNow.
This discount and operational challenges have drawn the attention of Irenic Capital, who has disclosed an approximately 2% position in the company and issued a presentation to the Workiva board calling for governance enhancements, operational changes and a review of strategic alternatives.
Governance is a real issue at Workiva and an obvious reason for the discounted stock price. Workiva is still run like a private company with its three founders controlling the company through the dual share class structure. This has led to a staggered board with little relevant experience and five of seven directors serving since the 2014 IPO.
Irenic would like to see the dual class share structure collapsed and the board de-staggered and reconstituted with qualified directors including Irenic executive Krishna Korupolu. In the world of shareholder activism, this is generally tantamount to asking a country like North Korea to convert to a democracy, but Irenic’s prospects are not hopeless here (more on that later).
Operationally, you get what you would expect from a founder-controlled company — an extremely bloated SG&A. Much of the margin pressure can be attributed to inefficiencies in the company’s operating model, particularly within its sales force, as sales and marketing currently occupy 43% of revenue compared to 31% on average for peers. This has produced an estimated operating margin for calendar year 2025 of 7%, despite having 80% gross profit margins. SaaS companies of this caliber should be able to meet “Rule of 40” targets (operating margins plus revenue growth equal or exceeding 40), a level of efficiency that would be extremely accretive to shareholders, which Irenic believes is achievable by FY 2027.
Workiva currently has an 18% revenue growth rate but spends an inordinate amount of money to get the last couple of percentage points. It should be able to sustain double-digit revenue growth with far less sales force spending, which could in itself meaningfully change the company’s margin profile. Combining this with the company’s extremely strong pricing power suggests room for significant profitability improvements.
Irenic states that if Workiva is unable to execute as a refocused public company with improved corporate governance, the board (preferably revamped) should run a strategic review, pursuing a sale of the company to determine the best risk-adjusted path for shareholders.
Workiva is a market leader in a secularly growing business with a vast blue-chip clientele and no real number two when it comes to its SEC filing service. The quality of Workiva’s business should mean no shortage of private and strategic interest. In fact, in 2022, reports surfaced that PE firms Thoma Bravo and TPG had interest in a potential acquisition. Logical strategic acquirers include similar financial management platforms like Intuit, stock exchange operators (Nasdaq, LSEG, Deutsche Börse), as well as software behemoths such as Salesforce, Oracle and IBM, all of whom could realize meaningful synergies.
Comparable transactions — Smartsheet/Vista Equity (7x revenue), Coupa/Thoma Bravo (8x), AspenTech/Emerson Electric (14x), and AltairEngineering/Siemens (14x) — suggest a 7 to 8 times forward revenue multiple for financial acquirers, which at $1 billion projected revenue for 2026, would imply 40% to 60% upside, with the potential for even higher premiums in a strategic transaction given the potential for significant synergies.
While Irenic’s public presence at Workiva has likely piqued the interest of potential acquirers, the bottom line here is, as an effectively controlled company, nothing can happen without the consent of the controlling parties – the three founders, who through a dual class structure control roughly 44% of the voting power.
While such factors can often stifle an activist campaign, there are a few reasons why this situation may be different. First, this is not a founding family but three different founders that are not necessarily aligned and may have grown apart.
Matthew Rizai resigned as chairman and CEO in June 2018 with a nice severance package. This and the fact that he was replaced by co-founder Martin Vanderploeg as CEO and did not even stay on the board indicates that this might have not been as mutual as the company’s press release stated. Jeffrey Trom reduced his duties at the company in 2022, resigned in 2023 and ended a consulting relationship in 2024. Additionally, all three founders are over 65 years of age and have been slowly selling shares. Of the three founders, only Vanderploeg remains actively involved in the company as the non-executive chairman and he has 10.6% of total voting power versus 24.6% for Rizai and 9.2% for Trom. At the price that Irenic thinks this company could fetch in a sale, it is hard to believe that they would not be able to get the support of Rizai and/or Trom.
Additionally, Irenic has stated that they have not ruled out nominating directors if the two sides can’t reach an agreement and if it does come to that, we would not necessarily assume the three founders are aligned.
Ken Squire is the founder and president of 13D Monitor, an institutional research service on shareholder activism, and the founder and portfolio manager of the 13D Activist Fund, a mutual fund that invests in a portfolio of activist 13D investments. More

Urenco USA operates the only commercial uranium enrichment facility in the U.S.
The enrichment plant in New Mexico will play a crucial role in fueling U.S. efforts to expand nuclear power in the coming decades.
The U.S. faces a looming nuclear fuel supply gap as its bans Russian uranium from the marketplace in response to the war in Ukraine.
Urenco is expanding production to meet the nuclear fleet’s growing fuel needs.

EUNICE, NEW MEXICO — Paul Lorskulsint was a shift manager at a brand new uranium enrichment facility deep in the American Southwest when catastrophe struck Japan in 2011.
A massive tsunami and earthquake had caused a severe accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Thousands of miles away in Eunice, New Mexico, Lorskulsint turned on the television to make sure his team could witness what was happening across the Pacific Ocean.

Lorskulsint knew the disaster in Japan was a watershed moment for the nuclear industry. The plant where he was leading an operations shift had just opened in 2010, after the European uranium enricher Urenco had spent years building the facility in anticipation of growing demand.
Over the ensuing decade, public support for nuclear power diminshed and a dozen reactors closed in the U.S. as the industry struggled to compete against a flood of cheap natural gas and renewable energy. Demand for the low enriched uranium that fuels nuclear plants dwindled.
“The price of what we sold basically went through the floor,” Lorskulsint, who is now the chief nuclear officer at Urenco USA, told CNBC. Urenco’s long-term contracts with utilities insulated the facility during the downturn, he said, but the price drop put further expansion plans on hold.

Paul Lorskulsint, Chief Nuclear Officer, Urenco USA talks about the uranium enrichment process.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC

Headquartered outside London, Urenco is joinly owned by the British and Dutch goverments and two German utilities. Its New Mexico facility is the only commercial enrichment facility left in the U.S. The last U.S.-owned commercial facility in Paducah, Kentucky, closed in 2013 and its owner the United States Enrichment Corporation went bankrupt during the downturn after Fukushima.
Fourteen years later, the situation has reversed once again. Urenco USA is racing to expand its enrichment capacity. The nuclear industry is gaining momentum as electricity demand in the U.S. is projected to surge from artificial intelligence and the push to expand domestic manufacturing. Doubts persist about whether U.S. power supplies will ramp up quick enough to meet the needs. Increasing uranium enrichment will be a key part of the process, despite the history of past disappointments. 

Also, U.S. enriched uranium supplies are at risk. The U.S. still imported 20% of its enriched uranium from Russia in 2024, a legacy of the now shattered hope for friendship between the two countries after the collapse of the Soviet Union and end of the Cold War.
The U.S. will completely ban the import Russian uranium by 2028 in repsonse to Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, leaving a gapping supply deficit just when Washington, the utilities and the tech sector are developing the most ambitious plans in decades to build new reactors.
Nuclear plants like Palisades in Michigan, Crane Clean Energy Center in Pennsylvania and Duane Arnold in Iowa are planning to restart operations this decade after closing years ago. The tech sector is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to bring advanced reactors online in the 2030s to help power their computer warehouses that train and run AI applications.
“It is a pivotal moment, the next five to 10 years for the nuclear industry,” Lorskulsint said. “We’re going to have to have to deliver on time, on schedule and continue to maintain that momentum, which is a significant challenge.”

Employees at Urenco USA receive a cylinder of feed material for enrichment process.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC

Expansion plans

In deeply divided Washington, support for nuclear power is one of the few issues that can still muster some bipartisan support. President Donald Trump wants to quadruple nuclear power by 2050, a significant increase over President Joe Biden’s previous goal to triple it by that date.
The U.S. has only built one new nuclear plant from scratch in the past 30 years, raising doubts about whether such ambitious plans can be realized. But any effort big or small to expand nuclear power in the U.S. will run through Urenco’s facility in New Mexico.
The plant currently has capacity to supply about a third of U.S. demand with $5 billion invested in the facility to date. Urenco is expanding its capacity in New Mexico by 15% through 2027 as utilties replace Russian fuel. It has installed two new centrifuge cascades for enrichment this year. But Urenco’s expansion alone won’t fill the Russian supply gap, Lorskulsint said.
“Our competitors will have to expand in order to make sure that as a whole the industry is still supplied,” he said. “We’re building quickly as we can to make sure that the the industry is not short handed.”
As Russian fuel is banned from the U.S., the Trump administration is pushing for 10 new large reactors to start construction this decade. Alphabet is investing in about 2 gigawatts of new nuclear, Amazon has committed to more than 5 gigawatts, and Meta wants to bring up to 4 gigawatts online.

Urenco USA Facilities in Eunice, New Mexico.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC

The industry is worried about the supply gap, Lorskulsint said, but filling it “is not an insurmountable task.”
Urenco USA is a candidate to receive a contract from the Department of Energy to produce more low-enriched uranium, part of U.S. efforts to standup a domestic nuclear supply chain. The contract would allow the New Mexico facility to expand further with the construction of a fourth production building.
Urenco’s competitors are also seeking support from the Energy Department to build out U.S. enrichment capacity. France’s Orano is planning to build a facility in Oak Ridge, Tennesse, with operations potentially starting in the 2030s.
Publicly traded Centrus has a facility in Piketon, Ohio, where it plans to produce low-enriched uranium, but it hasn’t yet started commercial operations. Centrus is the successor company to the United States Enrichment Corporation that went bankrupt in 2013.
Centrus stock has gained more than 400% this year as investors bet on a growing demand for enriched uranium due to U.S. plans to expand nuclear power.

Paul Lorskulsint, Chief Nuclear Officer, Urenco USA talks about the uranium enrichment process next to centrifuge cascade.
Adam Jeffery | CNBC

Supply chain bottlenecks

But enrichment is just one stage in a long supply chain that will be stretched by growing demand. Uranium delivered to the U.S is often mined in Canada and it is then converted into intermediate state called uranium hexafluoride that is the feedstock for enrichment.
The feedstock is spun in Urenco’s centrifuges to increase the presence of the isotope Uranium-235 to 5%, the level needed for most nuclear plants. The enriched uranium is then shipped to fuel fabricators that manufacture the pellets that go into reactors in power plants.
U.S. nuclear plants are facing cumulative supply gap of 184 million pounds of uranium through 2034, according to the Energy Information Administration.The biggest bottleneck right now for Urenco is the conversion of uranium into the feedstock for enrichment, Lorskulsint said. There are only three facilities in the Western world located in Canada, France and Illinois that convert uranium into feedstock.
“Every portion of the supply chain is going to have to expand, it’s not just about enrichment,” Lorskulsint said. “We need more of everything but conversion right now is the bottleneck.”
The nuclear supply chain may not be the biggest challenge in the end, the executive said. The ageing U.S. electric grid could prove to be the real constraint on building new nuclear due how long it takes to complete upgrades, he said. While this could slow Urenco down, it won’t stop the expansion, he said.
“We came here when the market demanded it,” Lorskulsint said of Urenco’s investment in the U.S. “We were here when the market didn’t demand it. And we are now expanding to make sure that we can still support as much as the market needs from us.” More