Finance

Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr said he plans to step down from his role by next month to avoid a protracted legal battle with the Trump administration.
The announcement, a reversal from Barr’s previous comments on the matter, ends his supervisory role roughly 18 months earlier than planned. It also removes a possible impediment to Donald Trump’s deregulatory agenda.
Trump is limited to picking one of two Republican Fed governors for vice chair of supervision: Michelle Bowman or Christopher Waller.

Federal Reserve Governors Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller pose for a photo, during a break at a conference on monetary policy at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, in Palo Alto, California, U.S. May 6, 2022. Picture taken May 6, 2022.
Ann Saphir | Reuters

The early departure of the Federal Reserve’s top financial regulator allows for a more industry-friendly official to take his place, the latest boon for U.S. banks riding a wave of post-election optimism.
Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr said Monday that he plans to step down from his role by next month to avoid a protracted legal battle with the Trump administration, which had weighed seeking his removal.

The announcement, a reversal from Barr’s previous comments on the matter, ends his supervisory role roughly 18 months earlier than planned. It also removes a possible impediment to Donald Trump’s deregulatory agenda.
Banks and other financial stocks were among the big winners after the election of Trump in November on speculation that softer regulation and increased deal activity, including mergers, were on the way. Weeks after his victory, Trump selected hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as his choice for Treasury secretary.
Trump has yet to name picks for the three major bank regulatory agencies — the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Now, with Barr’s resignation, a more precise image of incoming bank regulation is forming.
Trump is limited to picking one of two Republican Fed governors for vice chair of supervision: Michelle Bowman or Christopher Waller.

Waller declined to comment, while Bowman didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.
Bowman, whose name had already appeared on short lists for possible Trump administration roles and is considered the front-runner, has been a critic of Barr’s attempt to force American banks to hold more capital — a proposal known as the Basel III Endgame.
“The regulatory approach we took failed to consider or deliver a reasonable proposal, one aligned with the original Basel agreement yet suited to the particulars of the U.S. banking system,” Bowman said in a November speech.
Bowman, a former community banker and Kansas bank commissioner, could take on “industry-friendly reforms” around a number of sore spots for banks, according to Alexandra Steinberg Barrage, a former FDIC executive and partner at Troutman Pepper Locke.
That includes what bank executives have called an opaque Fed stress test process, long turnaround times for merger approvals and what bankers have said are sometimes unfair confidential bank exams, Barrage said.

Easier ‘Endgame’?

When it comes to the Basel Endgame, first announced in July 2023 before a toned-down proposal was released last year, it’s now more likely that its ultimate form will be far gentler for the industry, versus versions that would’ve forced large banks to withhold tens of billions of dollars in capital.
Barr led the interagency effort to draft the sweeping Basel Endgame, whose initial version would’ve boosted capital requirements for the world’s largest banks by roughly 19%. Now, Barrage and others see a final version that is far less onerous.
“Barr’s replacement could still work with the other agencies to propose a new B3 Endgame rule, but we think such a proposal would be capital-neutral industry-wide,” Stifel analyst Brian Gardner said Monday in a note. “Bowman voted against the 2023 proposal, and we expect she would lead any B3 re-write in a different direction.”
If lenders ultimately beat back efforts to force them to hold more capital, that would enable them to boost share buybacks, among other possible uses for the money.
Bank stocks traded higher Monday after Barr’s announcement, with the KBW Bank Index rising as much as 2.4% during the session. Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, which have both garnered headlines for regulatory matters last year, were among the day’s biggest gainers, each rising more than 2%.
Notably, Barr is not resigning from his role as one of seven Fed governors, which preserves the current 4-3 advantage of Democrat appointees on the Fed board, according to Klaros Group co-founder Brian Graham.
“Barr’s resignation of the vice chair role, while remaining a governor, is actually very clever,” Graham said. “It preserves the balance of power for board votes for a year or so, and it constrains the choices for his replacement to those currently serving on the board.”

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DLocal, a Latin American payments firm focused on emerging markets, has acquired an authorized payment institution license from the Financial Conduct Authority.
The license, which adds to dLocal’s growing portfolio of authorizations globally, will allow the firm to start onboarding merchants in the U.K. for the first time.
Pedro Arnt, dLocal’s CEO, told CNBC it’s targeting both domestic U.K. businesses as prospective clients, as well as global companies with a presence in the U.K.

DLocal is one of Latin America’s most prominent payment players. It specializes in cross-border payments for emerging markets such as Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and its home country, Uruguay.
Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

LONDON — Uruguayan payments firm dLocal has secured a U.K. payment institution license, adding to the company’s growing portfolio of regulatory authorizations as it furthers global expansion.
The emerging markets-focused fintech told CNBC it had acquired an authorized payment institution license from the Financial Conduct Authority, which is Britain’s financial services regulator. That would allow it to start onboarding new U.K. merchants.

DLocal will onboard U.K. merchants through a local entity, dLocal Opco UK, which was previously unable to onboard new clients locally because of restrictions placed on it by the FCA. DLocal said the restrictions were the result of the U.K.’s exit from the EU.
Pedro Arnt, dLocal’s CEO, told CNBC he expects the business to stand out from domestic payment tech rivals, such as Worldpay and Checkout.com, given its focus on emerging markets in places like Latin America, Africa and Asia.
“The differentiating factor for us when we think of our U.K. base of merchants is that the geographies where we serve them, and those are the only geographies we work,” Arnt said in an interview. He added that dLocal is also targeting global merchants that have a U.K. presence.

“The U.K. has become a hub for many global companies — even the American companies, some Asian companies — for their emerging market expansion, primarily in Africa, and in some cases LatAm,” Arnt told CNBC.

UK expansion plans

Established in 2016, dLocal is one of Latin America’s most prominent payment players. It specializes in cross-border payments for emerging markets such as Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and its home country Uruguay.

With a payment license now under its belt, dLocal is looking to boost its U.K. footprint, with plans to increase headcount and grow business.
Arnt said dLocal has already been expanding its U.K. footprint, with a number of its senior executives — like Chief Operating Officer Carlos Menendez and Chief Revenue Officer John O’Brien — based in London. Globally, dLocal currently has over 1,000 employees.
Arnt said a major benefit the U.K. payment license will bring dLocal is recognition as a “licensed partner” that companies in the developed world can trust to handle payments in emerging markets with complex regulatory needs. DLocal now holds over 30 licenses and registrations worldwide.
Still, dLocal will come up against some fierce competition. Britain already has an established fintech ecosystem with numerous well-capitalized players in the world of payments operating there, including PayPal, Stripe, Adyen, Checkout.com, Mollie and Revolut — to name a few.

‘Not for sale’

DLocal went public on the Nasdaq in 2021, notching a $9 billion valuation at the time. It’s seen its market capitalization decline since then. As of Tuesday, the business was worth $3.4 billion. Still, the stock has risen about 40% in the past six months.
Last month, Reuters reported dLocal was in the process of exploring a potential sale. When asked about buyout speculation by CNBC, Arnt said he didn’t want to comment on rumors, but clarified that dLocal isn’t currently for sale.
All in all, Arnt said, being a public company comes with a level of transparency and oversight that he sees as “positive commercially” for it. At times, he added, “rumors will emerge that someone’s interested in the asset — but I wouldn’t assume there’s too much to that.”
“While there would be a fiduciary duty to shareholders to entertain takeovers, Arnt said that for now, “the company is not for sale.” More

Huawei spinoff Honor announced Tuesday it is entering Indonesia and plans to launch its smartphones there by the end of March.
The populous Southeast Asian country has banned Apple’s iPhone 16 over domestic production requirements.
As of November, Oppo, Xiaomi and Transsion — all China-based — held the top three spots in Indonesia by smartphone shipments, according to Canalys.

Pictured here is the Grand Indonesia shopping mall in Jakarta on Friday, Jan. 5, 2024.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

BEIJING — Huawei spinoff Honor announced Tuesday it plans to launch smartphone sales in Indonesia by the end of March, becoming the latest Chinese company to enter a market that has banned Apple’s iPhone 16 over domestic production requirements.
Indonesia requires that for smartphones sold in the country, 40% of their components must be domestically sourced. That rule has prevented Apple from selling its newest phone in the market, where it is reportedly negotiating a $1 billion investment.

Honor has an office in Indonesia and is working with one local manufacturing partner, Justin Li, the Chinese company’s president of South Pacific operations, told reporters last week. He said a folding phone will be among Honor’s first set of locally sold products — 10 items in the medium to high-end segment.
The company aims to offer around 30 products from phones to tablets in Indonesia by the end of the year. The Southeast Asian country is home to the world’s fourth-largest country by population, just behind the United States.
“Although 80% of the market is dominated by devices priced under $200, as Southeast Asia’s largest and fastest-growing economy, Indonesia presents immense potential for long-term growth,” Canalys analyst Chiew Le Xuan said in an email.

“Indonesia is emerging as a key market in Southeast Asia, driven by rapid economic growth and an expanding middle class,” Chiew said, noting the country accounts for 35% of smartphone shipments in the region and can serve as a strategic regional hub.
As of November, Oppo, Xiaomi and Transsion — all China-based — held the top three spots in Indonesia by smartphone shipments, according to Canalys. Shenzhen-based Oppo in November held its global launch for its flagship Find X8 phone in Indonesia, where the company also has a factory.

Samsung ranked fourth in Indonesia with a 16% share, tied with Vivo, another Chinese brand, the Canalys data showed.
Excluding China and Japan, just under 8% of Apple’s sales come from Asia-Pacific.
Li claimed the decision to enter Indonesia was independent of Apple’s presence in the country, and was confident in Honor’s ability to compete. He said Honor had observed the Indonesian market for years, before doubling down on expansion efforts in the last half year.
While he declined to share a current breakdown of Indonesian to Chinese staff, Li said Honor is still hiring in the country and aims to have a predominately local staff in the future.
Honor plans to open at least 10 of its own stores in Indonesia this year, in addition to selling through a local retailer, Li said.
Outside of China, Honor primarily sells in Europe and parts of Southeast Asia. Its phones are not directly sold in the U.S. The company claimed that in December, more than half of its sales came from outside China for the first time.
Honor, which is planning to go public, was spun off from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei in November 2020 after the parent company was hit by U.S. sanctions. Huawei said it does not hold any shares in Honor or have involvement in business decisions. More

When Donald Trump takes office on January 20th, deportations will be a priority. The president-elect has promised the biggest removals in American history, with workplace raids and the revocation of parole programmes. Stephen Miller, his deputy chief of staff, and Tom Homan, his border tsar, want to use the armed forces to get the job done. Mr Trump has cited “Operation Wetback”, a controversial campaign in the 1950s under President Dwight Eisenhower, which threw out as many as 1.3m people, as an inspiration. More

Target-date funds, known as TDFs, are a one-stop shop for retirement savers.
They are poised to capture about two-thirds of all 401(k) plan contributions by 2027, per one estimate.
They are well-suited for hands-off investors who crave simplicity, but there may be drawbacks for others with more complex finances, advisors said.

Melkinimages | E+ | Getty Images

Target-date funds are a way for 401(k) participants to put their retirement savings on autopilot — and they capture the lion’s share of investor contributions to 401(k) plans.
About 29% of assets in the average 401(k) plan were held in TDFs as of 2023, according to the Plan Sponsor Council of America, a trade group. That share is the largest of any fund category, and is up from 16% in 2014, according to PSCA data.

By 2027, target-date funds will capture roughly 66% of all 401(k) contributions, and about 46% of total 401(k) assets will be in TDFs, according to a 2023 estimate by Cerulli Associates, a market research firm.
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That popularity is largely due to employers’ broad adoption of TDFs as the default investment for workers who are automatically enrolled into their company 401(k) plan.
While the funds carry benefits for many investors, they may have drawbacks for others, financial advisors said.
“Target funds have a place for some investors, but they certainly aren’t and shouldn’t be used for everyone,” said Winnie Sun, managing partner of Sun Group Wealth Partners, based in Irvine, California, and a member of CNBC’s Financial Advisor Council.

How target-date funds work

Financial experts generally recommend investors de-risk their nest eggs as they age — typically by shifting from more aggressive and volatile holdings such as stocks to more stable ones such as bonds and cash.
TDFs do this automatically, based on an investor’s estimated year of retirement.

For example, a 35-year-old investor who expects to retire in 30 years would likely choose a 2055 fund. A 55-year-old may pick a 2035 fund. The funds typically come in five-year increments.
The fund’s asset allocation slowly becomes more conservative in the years leading up to, and sometimes after, that retirement year.

A one-stop shop for 401(k) savers

Advocates often laud the simplicity of TDFs, known as a one-stop shop for 401(k) savers who may not have the time or knowledge to adequately manage a custom portfolio.
“From where I sit, target-date funds have been nothing short of the biggest positive development for investors since the index fund,” Christine Benz, director of personal finance and retirement planning at Morningstar, wrote in June.
They take important decisions such as asset allocation and investment selection “wholly out of investors’ hands,” Benz wrote.

TDFs amount to inexpensive and reasonable investment advice for people who may not be able to afford hiring an advisor and who may be prone to making “kooky” investment choices, she wrote. TDFs also discourage behavior known to erode investor returns, like buying high and selling low, she added.
“They’re designed to be easier-to-manage investments for those who just prefer simplicity and more convenience,” Sun said.

There may be drawbacks

However, there are some reasons why TDFs may not work for certain investors, especially those with ample savings outside their 401(k) plan or who want to take a more hands-on approach, advisors said.
For one, just because investors expect to retire around the same age doesn’t mean the same asset allocation is appropriate for each of them.
“What if you’re more conservative or instead prefer more growth, aggressive tech investing, or prefer to invest in socially responsible investments?” Sun said.

From where I sit, target-date funds have been nothing short of the biggest positive development for investors since the index fund.

Christine Benz
director of personal finance and retirement planning at Morningstar

Asset managers have different investment philosophies. Certain fund families may be more aggressive or conservative than others, for example.
Employers generally only offer TDFs from one financial company, and the funds that are offered may or may not align with an investor’s risk profile, experts said.
“It is important that a person understands how much risk they are taking in their target-date fund,” said Carolyn McClanahan, a certified financial planner and the founder of Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida.
“For example, you would think a 2030 target-date fund would be conservatively allocated, but most are 60% equities because they assume you’ll be drawing off those funds over a long period of time,” said McClanahan, a member of CNBC’s Advisor Council.

Investors may be able to build a less expensive portfolio on their own by using a mix of index funds, though this approach would take more work on investors’ part, she said.
Additionally, TDFs don’t allow for “tax location” of different assets, McClanahan said.
This aims to boost after-tax investment returns by strategically holding stocks and bonds in certain account types.
For example, assets with potential for high growth are well-suited for Roth accounts, since investment earnings are generally tax-free in retirement, said McClanahan.
Experts also generally recommend holding many bonds and bond funds in tax-deferred or tax-exempt accounts.
Despite shortcomings for certain investors, “do target-date funds help investors who are unaware of the basics of investing find their way to a sane investment mix given their life stage?” Benz wrote. “A thousand times yes.” More

Michael Barr, the Federal Reserve’s top banking regulator, will be stepping down Feb. 28, though he will stay on as governor.
There had been speculation that President-elect Donald Trump might replace Barr after he takes office Jan. 20.
Barr said in a statement that “the risk of a dispute over the position could be a distraction from our mission.”

The Federal Reserve’s top banking regulator will be stepping down next month, paving the way for President-elect Donald Trump to name a replacement and heading off a potential confrontation between the two.
Michael Barr’s resignation from the position, which is formally called the vice chair for supervision, takes effect as of Feb. 28, though he will stay on as a governor on the Fed board. His term as Fed governor lasts until 2026.

There had been speculation that Trump might seek to replace Barr after he takes office Jan. 20, the announcement will ease that transition amid speculation that the new president wants someone who is more bank-friendly to take the role.
Though he did not specifically mention the rumors that Trump would attempt to remove him, Barr said in a statement that “the risk of a dispute over the position could be a distraction from our mission. In the current environment, I’ve determined that I would be more effective in serving the American people from my role as governor.”
“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as the Federal Reserve Board’s vice chair for supervision, and to work with colleagues to help maintain the stability and strength of the U.S. financial system so that it can meet the needs of American families and businesses,” he said.
Bank stocks rallied following the announcement. The SPDR S&P Bank exchange-traded fund that tracks the industry’s leaders gained more than 1%.
CNBC.com has reached out to the Trump transition team for comment.

In a release announcing the decision, the Fed noted that it will not make any major decisions on rules and regulations until a successor is named. The bank has been revising a set of new rules, dubbed the Basel Endgame, that has been broadly unpopular in the industry.
Because the Fed is limited to seven board members, Trump will have to name someone from the current group to the new position.
The position was created following the 2008 financial crisis that saw the implosion of multiple big names on Wall Street. Under Barr’s watch, the industry saw a crisis in early 2023 in which Silicon Valley Bank and a few other names collapsed, forcing the Fed to implement a liquidity facility to keep the issues from spreading.
In recent days, speculation had swelled that Trump might seek to force Barr from office. A Reuters report in late December indicated that Barr was consulting with a law firm over his legal options should the president-elect make a move.

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Chinese robot vacuum cleaner company Roborock on Monday revealed a new model with an artificial intelligence-powered folding arm.
Using AI that the company developed, the Roborock Saros Z70 can detect and remove obstructions such as socks, small towels, tissues and sandals weighing less than 300 grams (10.58 ounces), according to the company.
It’s the latest step toward what Roborock President Quan Gang expects will be the inevitable: that robot vacuum cleaners become as essential as washing machines.

Beijing-based robot vacuum maker Roborock revealed a new model in January 2025 with an artificial intelligence-powered folding arm for removing obstacles.
CNBC | Evelyn Cheng

BEIJING — Chinese robot vacuum cleaner company Roborock revealed a new model on Monday that comes with a folding arm for removing socks and other obstacles — a feature powered by artificial intelligence.
It’s the latest step toward what Roborock President Quan Gang expects will be the inevitable: that robot vacuum cleaners become as essential as washing machines.

That’s something that could happen in as soon as three years, especially with the emergence of AI, Quan told CNBC in a late November interview. “If the era of AI flourishing has really arrived, I’m confident that robot vacuum cleaners will be the first category to apply AI,” he said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC.
Using AI that the company developed, the Roborock Saros Z70 can detect and remove obstructions such as socks, small towels, tissues and sandals weighing less than 300 grams (10.58 ounces), according to the company.
The Saros Z70 is set for release in major global markets in the first half of the year, but Roborock has yet to announce pricing. The product reveal comes ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show that kicks off Tuesday in Las Vegas.

Ever since Massachusetts-based iRobot launched its Roomba floor vacuuming robot in 2002, the circular machines have evolved to include mopping and the ability to automatically return to the charging base. Many companies, including several based in China, now sell robot vacuum cleaners.
Beijing-based Roborock started selling to the U.S. in 2018, Quan said, noting that sales in the country didn’t start to take off until 2023. Roborock also sells its robot vacuums in countries such as Germany, China and South Korea, and makes sure to adhere to local data privacy rules, Quan said.

But robot vacuum penetration rates remain low — just over 10% in developed countries and single digits in developing countries, Quan said. He said that’s both a challenge and a potential for growth, which he expects can get a boost from the integration of artificial intelligence.
The Verge and Wired late last year both named different Roborock models the best robot vacuum available. But the machines aren’t cheap.
“Roborock’s S8 MaxV Ultra ($1,799.99) is an exceptional vacuum cleaner,” The Verge said, noting it is “the best model in the relatively new category of ‘hands-free’ robot vacs, bots that do virtually everything for you: empty their bins, refill their mop tanks, and clean and dry their mop pads.”
“Roborock invented this category with the S7 MaxV Ultra and has been steadily improving it,” The Verge said.
Wired selected Roborock’s Qrevo S, which sells for $800 on Amazon. The review highlighted the Qrevo’s lidar-based navigation and AI feature which enable the machine to distinguish between carpets and tiles for vacuuming or mopping, respectively.
Competition is fierce. CNET said two other companies’ robot vacuums tied for best of 2025, the $900 Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo — which also has a self-emptying dustbin — and the $359 iRobot Roomba Combo J7 Plus.

Supporting an AI research lab

Shares of Shanghai-listed Roborock closed 2.6% higher Friday after reports emerged of the Saros Z70 and its robotic arm. The stock climbed 10.3% in 2024.
Operating revenue rose by 23.2% for the first three quarters of 2024 to 7 billion yuan ($960 million), with profit of 1.47 billion yuan. Roborock does not break out revenue by region.
Quan said that soon after Roborock’s founding in July 2014, the company sensed the importance of artificial intelligence and set up a dedicated lab in Shanghai and a research institute in Shenzhen. Each location houses around 30 researchers, who only need to focus on technology, in contrast to the product development team that must meet deadlines and consider profit, Quan said.
The next challenge is to expand the number of researchers to around 300 people, Quan said, noting it’s been hard to find qualified talent.
The company spent 9.1% of its operating revenue in the first three quarters of 2024 on research and development, according to CNBC calculations of public figures. That’s up from slightly more than 7% in each of the past three years, the data showed.
Roborock on Monday also announced updates to its washing machines, which can dry clothes in the same unit.
— CNBC’s Sonia Heng contributed to this report. More

The S&P 500 stock index gained 23% in 2024. The tech-heavy Nasdaq grew about 29%.
Lofty stock returns and muted bond growth may mean investors need to rebalance their allocations to bring them back to target.
Otherwise, a portfolio may be riskier than intended.

D3sign | Moment | Getty Images

Stocks soared in 2024.
Congratulations! After taking a victory lap, it may be time to adjust your portfolio — because those heady returns likely threw your investment allocations out of whack.

The S&P 500, a stock index of the largest public U.S. companies by market capitalization, gained 23% in 2024. Cumulative S&P 500 returns over the past two years (53%) were the best since 1997 and 1998.
Long-term investors generally have a target allocation of stocks to bonds — say, 60% stocks and 40% bonds. But lofty returns for stocks relative to muted ones for bonds may mean your portfolio holdings are out of that alignment, and riskier than you’d like. (U.S. bonds returned 1%, as measured by the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index.)
This makes it a good time for investors to rebalance their portfolios, financial advisors said.

Rebalancing brings a portfolio in line with investors’ long-term goals, ensuring they aren’t over or underweighted “inappropriately” in one particular asset class, said Ted Jenkin, a certified financial planner based in Atlanta and member of CNBC’s Financial Advisor Council.
“Every car should get an alignment check in the beginning of the year and this is nothing different with your investment portfolio,” said Jenkin, co-founder of oXYGen Financial.

How to rebalance your portfolio

Here’s a simple example of how portfolio rebalancing works, according to Lori Schock, director of the Securities and Exchange Commission Office of Investor Education and Advocacy.
Let’s say your initial portfolio has an 80/20 mix of stocks to bonds. After a year of market fluctuations, the allocation has changed to 85% stocks and 15% bonds. To return the mix to 80/20, you can consider selling 5% of your stocks and using the proceeds to buy more bonds, Schock said.
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“Set your targets for each investment — how much you’d need to grow your money to be satisfied, and how heavy each investment should be relative to the rest of your portfolio,” said Callie Cox, chief market strategist at Ritholtz Wealth Management.
“If the allocation gets too big or small, consider buying or selling to get your money back in balance,” she said. “Wall Street portfolio managers do this on a regular schedule. It’s a prudent investing exercise.”

A ‘huge gap in market fortunes’ in 2024

Rebalancing isn’t just about stocks versus bonds. Investors may also be holding other financial assets like cash.
A diversified portfolio also generally includes various categories within asset classes.
An investor’s stock bucket might have large-, mid- and small-cap stocks; value and growth stocks; U.S. and international stocks; and stocks within different sectors like technology, retail and construction, for example.

It’s important for investors to consider whether target weights to certain categories have also gotten out of whack, advisors said.
“There was a huge gap in market fortunes last year,” Cox said. “Tech stocks blew most other sectors out of the water, and the U.S. ran away from global markets.”
The so-called “Magnificent 7” megacap tech stocks — Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla — accounted for more than half of the S&P 500’s total gain in 2024. The Nasdaq, a tech-heavy stock index, swelled almost 29%.

Non-U.S. stocks “continued to underperform,” returning about 5% last year, according to experts in Vanguard’s Investment Advisory Research Center.
“Right now, I think it’s smart to review your tech investments and think about taking some profits,” Cox said. “Tech rules our lives, but it doesn’t always rule our portfolios.”

Don’t forget about taxes

Investors in 401(k) plans may have automatic rebalancing tools at their disposal, which can make the exercise simple if investors know their risk tolerance and investment time frames, Jenkin said.
Additionally, investors may have mutual funds or exchange-traded funds whereby professional money managers do the regular rebalancing for them, such as within target-date funds.
When rebalancing, it’s also important to consider tax implications, advisors said.
Investors with taxable accounts might trigger “unnecessary” short- or long-term capital gains taxes if they sell securities to rebalance, Jenkin said. Retirement investors with 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts generally don’t need to consider such tax consequences, however, he said. More