Robertson Stephens Weekly Commentary – August 18, 2025

An invite to the annual Federal Reserve Jackson Hole Symposium — officially, “The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s Economic Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming”— has been highly prized almost from the event’s founding in 1982. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will speak at 10 a.m. on Friday, August 22. His speech is titled “Economic Outlook and Framework Review.” So he will likely discuss the current controversies about the economy, the labor market, inflation, and how the Fed should respond to them. Will he turn more dovish in reaction to July’s weak jobs report? Or will he remain hawkish by reiterating that the Fed is in no rush to cut the federal funds rate because inflation remains about a percentage point above the Fed’s 2.0% y/y inflation target? On the wealth planning front, we discuss how the SECURE Act has reshaped the distribution of IRAs inherited after 2020.