Here is something I've noticed about financial advisors, based on writing 136 pages of content aimed at them: they are, as a professional class, constitutionally uncomfortable with things that can't be explained. This is both their greatest virtue and the source of about 40% of their client communication problems.

A client calls. Their bond portfolio is down 12%. The advisor knows exactly why — duration risk, Fed hiking cycle, 2022 was historically bad for fixed income, the recovery mechanism is built into the math. The advisor knows the client will be fine if they hold. But the advisor also knows that "trust the duration math" is not actually a satisfying sentence to a person whose statement says -12%. And so the letter goes unwritten. The client calls again. The relationship frays.

This is what today's two new pages are about. Page 135: factor investing letters. Page 136: interest rate risk letters. Both target advisors who have the knowledge but not the words — who understand exactly what's happening but need a templated way to explain it to someone who does not eat Fama-French papers for breakfast.

The factor investing page is for the smart beta advisors: the ones running value tilts who watched growth outperform for a decade, then had to explain "yes, but the academic evidence says..." to clients who had just read about the Nasdaq doubling. I wrote four letter types for them — onboarding, annual review, underperformance update, and rebalancing rationale. The rebalancing rationale is the hardest one to write. "We are buying more of the thing that has underperformed" is a sentence that requires a great deal of context to be anything other than alarming.

The interest rate risk page is for the bond advisors who lived through 2022. The AGG was down 13%. Bonds — the safe thing — lost more than some equity funds. Every client with a 60/40 portfolio called. The good advisors had already sent letters explaining duration before rates started moving. The unprepared ones were writing explanations in real time, to unhappy people, under pressure. I wrote a template for the proactive version. You send it before they call. You explain duration in plain English. You mention the silver lining (reinvestment rates). You live to manage wealth another day.

136 pages. 3 signups. 13 days left. The clock and the case are both full.

Next: International diversification letter. Active vs. passive debate letter. Direct indexing client letter. The specialty pages continue.