In 2025, the most-read content on the Alphathena blog didn’t cluster around product announcements.
The content that grabbed the most attention from advisors focused on investing fundamentals like how direct indexing is changing, where tax strategy creates real leverage, and how advisors can design portfolios that look meaningfully different without making their operational burden more difficult.
Taken together, they offer a clear signal of the area that piqued advisor curiosity in 2025 and where the industry is going in 2026.
1. Direct Indexing: Your Go-To Guide
Imagine offering your clients an investment strategy that puts them and their unique personalities in control—customized portfolios of individual stocks tailored to their values, financial goals, and tax strategies. At the same time, you also get to enjoy fuller control over their portfolio and showcase your value as a money manager.
Welcome to the future of personalized investing.
2. Direct Indexing vs. ETFs: Which Investment Strategy Is Right for You?
In this article, we’re tackling the direct indexing vs ETFs debate once and for all.
Direct indexing allows investors to own the individual securities within an index, rather than investing in a pooled fund like an ETF or mutual fund. By doing so, you can replicate the performance of an index while gaining the flexibility to customize your portfolio to suit your personal investment goals. A direct indexing portfolio allows for greater customization and tax efficiency.
3. Why Long/Short Direct Indexing Is the Upgrade Advisors Didn’t Know They Needed
Without a doubt, direct indexing has transformed modern portfolio construction. With the control it gives when managing a portfolio, advisors gain the ability to fully tailor portfolios that reflect client values, optimize taxes, and provide differentiated experiences.
But direct indexing is not a strategy that says to “buy the S&P and call it a day.” There’s a feature quietly reshaping what direct indexing can do, and most advisors don’t even know it’s available.
The approach, known as long/short direct indexing, offers a differentiated way to design portfolios with greater flexibility.
For advisors looking to stand out in a sea of sameness, it might be the kind of upgrade that changes the way a firm offers and talks about its investment management solutions.
4. Long/Short Direct Indexing: Why Smart Investors Are Taking Notice
Recent research has shown that adding margin (borrowing) and short selling provide a portfolio with more opportunities to harvest losses. A recent study published in the Journal of Asset Management by Goldberg, Cai, and Schneider (2024) sheds new light on how investors can use leverage and shorting to dramatically extend the life and effectiveness of tax-loss harvesting strategies.
Their findings are particularly relevant for high-net-worth investors with substantial capital gains to offset, as leveraged and short positions provide additional avenues for capturing tax losses in various market environments.
5. Maximizing Returns Through Tax Alpha: Strategies for Any Market
In the quest for higher returns, investors often prioritize stock selection or market timing. However, increasing research indicates that a more understated strategy – tax-aware investing – could be the key to significantly boosting your portfolio’s performance.
Studies show that tax alpha, achieved through tax-loss harvesting, can enhance performance. Specifically, it can potentially add 1% to 2% in annualized after-tax returns, particularly in volatile markets.
Let’s explore the compelling case for tax alpha, combining industry-leading research with Alphathena’s own findings.
6. Blaze Portfolio Shutdown: Finding Your Next Trading & Rebalancing Solution
The recent news about Blaze Portfolio shutting down at the end of 2025 has left many financial advisors in search of a new trading and rebalancing platform.
If you’re one of them, you’re not alone. Transitions like this can be frustrating—especially when you’ve built workflows around a system that has served you well.
The good news? While change is never easy, it’s also an opportunity to upgrade to a new, modern trading solution.
7. Alphathena and Rossby Financial Announce Strategic Partnership to Expand Direct Indexing Access
Alphathena and Rossby Financial LLC, a tech-forward, open architecture enterprise RIA, announced a strategic partnership that will bring Alphathena’s custom and direct indexing capabilities to Rossby’s network of advisors and their clients.
8. Tax-Loss Harvesting: Navigating Canadian vs. U.S. Rules
Tax-loss harvesting remains one of the most effective strategies for managing taxable investment portfolios. However, the rules governing this strategy differ significantly between Canada and the United States.
While the foundational concept is shared across Canada and the U.S., the tax treatment, income offset rules, and superficial loss/wash sale rules differ in key ways.
9. Rethinking Direct Indexing and Tax Strategies
Managing S&P 500 concentration risk is crucial for diversified investment strategies.
In early 2025, the S&P 500’s concentration reached notable levels with the top 10 holdings accounting for more than 30% of the weight in the S&P 500, prompting investors to reconsider their indexing approaches.
Let’s explore how direct indexing can help manage risk and taxes in this environment.
10. What Direct Indexing Should Be in 2025
What is direct indexing? It’s a question advisors (and consumers) ask often.
The technical definition is a fairly easy one. But the technical definition you might find in Investopedia no longer tells the full story.
A better question to ask today is “What should direct indexing be in 2025?”
Yes, direct indexing still means constructing a portfolio by owning the individual securities of an index rather than buying an ETF or mutual fund that packages them all up for you.
But that answer, while correct, is incomplete. It misses the evolution we’re seeing across the industry. It doesn’t reflect what clients are asking for or what advisors are capable of delivering.
So let’s explore that reframed question.
Not what is direct indexing—but what should it be?
The Wrap-Up
So there you have it—ten popular blogs that resonated with advisors. But what’s the big takeaway from putting this list together?
We see this list of topics as a sign that advisors are looking for clarity in their investing philosophies and approaches to direct indexing. More than ever, advisors see tax strategy as a core driver of client outcomes, not a year-end tactic.
And importantly, direct indexing is playing a key role in how advisors intend to shape portfolio exposure intentionally, rather than settle for prepackaged solutions.
If you’re revisiting these articles—or reading some for the first time—they’re a strong snapshot of where the conversation stands today, and a useful lens for where it’s heading next.
