The advisor-client relationship is critical to helping retail investors of all income levels accomplish their unique financial goals. In a new podcast series, SIFMA President & CEO Ken Bentsen, Jr. speaks with wealth management industry leaders for an insider's look into the advisor-client relationship, the changing face of wealth management and leadership philosophy. For our first episode, A Team Approach to Enhancing the Client Service Experience, Ken sits down with Evamarie Schoenborn, President & CEO of the Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company, to discuss how the firm's advisory teams create a more intimate and responsive experience for clients, her leadership philosophy and more. Stay tuned for our next episode, where we talk with Carey Shuffman at UBS about A Tailored Approach to Women Investors. New episodes publish every Wednesday this fall; subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Standards for approving corporate and consumer bank loans were lowered at the fastest pace on record in the second quarter, with a net 25% of banks adjusting standards, according to UBS. The trend is expected to continue while default rates stay low.

UBS employees who do not want to get a COVID-19 vaccine will be allowed to work from home, CEO Ralph Hamers said. "We have 25,000 employees alone in the US and thousands more in Singapore and Hong Kong, and every country has a different legal framework around what you can and can't make mandatory," Hamers told the Swiss Economic Forum, adding, "[t]he pandemic has delivered solutions to manage the risk of carrying the virus and passing it to your colleagues, and that is to work from home."