The stock market has tumbled. Financial headlines and talking heads on TV warn of dire developments ahead. And sure enough, a few of our clients called, thinking about selling all their mutual funds and moving to cash. Is this smart? Well, it may be if a) it lets you sleep at night, or b) you [...]
Do you know the names Bruce Berkowitz, Kenneth Heebner or Bill Miller? Unless you’re a mutual fund geek, you don’t. But to people like me who live in that world, those gentlemen are stars in the fund manager universe. Each has been singled out, over the years, for posting some pretty spectacular performance numbers. Which [...]
The Wall Street Journal recently ran a story on tennis great Roger Federer. It included insight into his phenomenal success on the tennis court, and interestingly, much of what Roger said in the sidebar story echoes the investment philosophy I try to instill in our clients. It starts off by saying: He hardly ever gets [...]
Some of our peers in the financial industry have found a way to advertise that they “beat the market” without actually doing so. On 6/4/11, Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Zweig wrote an eye-opening piece about this topic. Basically, he explained how some investment advisors make their track record look good by comparing their results [...]
In general, financial journalists at the major newspapers do a decent job. In general. But every once in a while they come to a misguided conclusion. Ron Lieber, in his New York Times column of 5/13/11, made a case that index funds should be on the menu of all 401(k) plans. Most plans do not [...]
The April 18, 2011 issue of Barron’s has a story about America’s Top 100 Financial Advisors. How are those elite few chosen? The article tells us, “Our ranking is based on each advisor’s assets under management, revenue generated for his or her firm, and the quality of the practice.” Wait. Did I read that right? [...]
Can the economic collapse of 2008-09 be blamed on small print? I think the evidence supports that idea. In October 2008, as the Great Recession was in full bloom, CBS’s 60 Minutes went searching for the causes of the calamity. They reported, among other things, that deep within the swirling mortgage mess were credit default [...]
(This was originally posted 3/18/11; a software glitch requires that this be re-posted.) The heart-wrenching and volatile situation in Japan has rattled the world’s stock markets. Daily headlines right now seem to exert greater influence on stock prices than the underlying fundamentals. Wild swings have become the norm, at least in the short term. In [...]
Not long ago a client forwarded me a solicitation email which contained dire predictions about the financial world. He was truly concerned, writing, “It is very uncomfortable to read stuff like this.” I wrote back, “Then why do you read crap like that?” First, this client and I have a long and friendly relationship, so [...]
In my blog post of 12/8/10, “Fiduciary: Answering to a Higher Standard,” I pointed out how Registered Investment Advisors must adhere to tougher rules than stock brokers and some other financial professionals. Recently, my concerns were reinforced. On 1/24/11, the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors wrote: “NAIFA’s fundamental concern is that the potential [...]
