TUE AM News: Talking Trade with Jason Turner, Great Lakes Advisors; Northwestern Mutual announces $150M more for fintech investing

April 28, 2026

— In the latest episode of “Talking Trade,” Great Lakes Advisors Chief Investment Strategist Jason Turner says trade disruptions in the Middle East are creating opportunities for exporters elsewhere.

Turner notes the conflict with Iran has largely impacted commodities being transported through the Strait of Hormuz out of the region, but other markets are adapting to meet global demand.

“Those minerals, those goods that are coming from the gulf … they are produced other places,” he said. “And you’ve got countries in Europe, countries in the far east that had been large trading partners of some of those Middle Eastern nations … looking to other places, looking to the United States, looking to Australia, looking to other areas in South America, for example.”

And while commodities coming out through the strait are facing blockades, finished goods that would normally enter the region through the key shipping lane are also being disrupted, explained Turner, who will keynote the May 19 Wisconsin World Trade Day event in Pewaukee.

The discussion explores how exporters can navigate the current landscape, including strategies such as contingency planning and running potential scenarios.

“I definitely think flexibility is key … What happens if tariffs were to go up, and have a 25% tariff slapped on anything going between us here?” he said. “Where can I pivot, where can I obtain inputs from, where can I export to?”

He also said it’s “a great time to be thinking about developing new markets” as an exporter, arguing those that are more entrenched will take a larger hit from the conflict.

“There’s those that are also going to take advantage, and become the new supplier for something. Those doors are starting to open up,” Turner said. “The longer the current conflict persists, and the higher the degree of uncertainty around tariffs, the more those other nations are going to look for new markets and new providers.”

Meanwhile, Turner weighs in on stock market trends amid the uncertain environment, corporate income growth, the path ahead for tariff refunds and more.

Talking Trade is hosted by E.M Wasylik Associates Managing Director Ken Wasylik and M.E. Dey & Co. President and Managing Director Sandi Siegel.

Watch the full episode here.

“Talking Trade” is now available in audio form on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Subscribe and find more episodes here.

— Northwestern Mutual is putting $150 million into investments in the financial services industry, bringing the Milwaukee company’s venture capital total to $350 million.

This funding for Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures is meant for emerging and “growth-stage” businesses applying technology to financial services and insurance, according to yesterday’s announcement.

Michael Sias, the company’s vice president of corporate development and venture, says the new funding will “expand our ability to partner with high-growth companies” and deliver new innovations.

The Future Ventures effort began with a $50 million fund in 2017, and has since invested in at least 50 companies. A later $150 million expansion was added in 2019.

See more in the release.

— UW-Madison Prof. Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau will lead the new College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence as its founding dean, the university announced.

The AI college will launch July 1 after it was approved late last year by the Board of Regents, marking the first new academic division for UW-Madison in more than 40 years.

The university says it will hire 50 faculty members for the new college, which is also backed by $100 million in donations from a group of corporate partners, alumni and others called the Catalyst Collective. Yesterday’s announcement also notes the college will get more than $50 million in annual institutional investment.

Arpaci-Dusseau, a professor of computer sciences, is currently the director of the School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences and special advisor to the provost for computing. He’s spearheaded the effort to create the new AI college for several years.

In a statement on his appointment, Arpaci-Dusseau says he’s “honored to lead the college at such an important moment” as AI is impacting society.

“In moments of major change, universities have a responsibility to engage, not stand on the sidelines,” he said. “Universities have long helped develop technologies, and that work must continue. But we also have a responsibility to ask hard questions about their impacts, guide innovation thoughtfully and prepare students to thrive in a changing world.”

See the release and see more on the push for the new AI college in an earlier story.

— GOP Wisconsin congressmen have introduced federal legislation to address concerns over southeastern Wisconsin’s designation as an “ozone nonattainment area,” which comes with more strict regulations.

Business groups in Milwaukee and others have argued this designation for the region is unfair, noting it’s largely caused by pollution originating from Chicago and other areas outside of Wisconsin.

Today’s release from U.S. Reps. Bryan Steil, Scott Fitzgerald, Glenn Grothman and Tom Tiffany says just 10% of the ozone emissions being monitored are coming from in-state sources, based on state and regional assessments.

Under the current designation, businesses in the region face a higher bar for permitting and regulatory standards, in addition to emissions testing mandates.

The Fair Air Standards Act would establish a process for states to petition to federal regulators to be redesignated as an ozone attainment area, if their non-attainment status is driven by pollution coming from outside their boundaries. Authors say it wouldn’t otherwise affect the state’s compliance with air quality or environmental standards.

Steil says the change would reduce burdens for “families, employers, and workers across Southeast Wisconsin” while holding polluters elsewhere accountable.

“Families in Wisconsin shouldn’t be paying for pollution originating from outside the state, in places like Chicago,” he said in a statement on the bill.

See the release and see more in an earlier story on this topic.

— U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin is touting bipartisan federal legislation that she says would “close loopholes” in the Build America, Buy America Act.

This federal law, included in Republicans’ sweeping Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, requires iron, steel, manufactured products and construction materials used in qualifying federal infrastructure projects to be produced domestically.

But Baldwin argues many departments and agencies have “partially or fully avoided” implementing the requirements for some projects, resulting in U.S. taxpayer dollars being used to buy foreign products.

She and GOP U.S. Sen. Jim Banks of Indiana are introducing a bill that would require the heads of federal agencies to submit annual reports to the Made in America Office and Congress detailing implementation of the act, among other requirements.

“I am proud to work with my Republican colleague to create some real transparency and accountability to ensure that Buy America laws are followed and American workers and American companies get the business they deserve,” Baldwin said in a statement.

See the release and the bill text.

— The state’s youth apprenticeship program set a new record for participation in the 2025-26 school year with 12,141 high school students, marking a 7% increase over the year.

This continues a five-year trend of record-setting enrollment in the program, state officials announced yesterday. The program also partnered with a record 8,105 employers.

Of the career pathways with the highest participation, health science was No. 1 with 2,189 enrollees, followed by marketing with 1,571, manufacturing with 1,568, architecture and construction with 1,547 and hospitality and tourism with 1,402.

Meanwhile, more participants are choosing to become registered apprentices, growing from 8.7% of youth apprenticeship enrollees in state fiscal year 2021 to 15% in state fiscal year 2026.

See the release.

— The Zablocki VA Health Care System served 104,898 veterans last year — an increase of 2,914 from 2024 — providing more surgeries and telehealth even as research projects declined.

That’s according to the latest annual report from the Milwaukee VA Medical Center, which also includes details for its sites in Green Bay, Appleton, Cleveland, Oconomowoc and Union Grove in addition to Milwaukee.

While the Milwaukee site served 62,900 veterans in 2025, Green Bay served 20,953 and Appleton served 11,782, much of the annual increase came from the Oconomowoc location. While it makes up the smallest share of the patients seen last year, it rose from 815 veterans in 2024 to 2,117 in 2025.

The number of surgical procedures performed across the eastern Wisconsin health system rose from 3,813 to 4,076, the number of telehealth patients increased from 15,075 to 17,706, and the number of hospital visits rose by 34,281 to 878,160 in 2025.

But at the same time, other activities declined over the year. The number of research projects dropped from 199 in 2024 to 141 last year, as total research funding fell from more than $9.2 million to $8.5 million.

Meanwhile, the health system’s workforce dropped over the year from 4,540 to 4,115, and the number of homeless veterans housed fell from 677 to 394. The number of beds across the health system also dipped from 431 to 401.

See more in the report, and see the release.

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UW-Madison announces $100 million gift, dean for new AI college

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