Investment Advisor December 2009
Cover Story
Good Corp., Bad Corp.: Corporate Citizenship and Financial Performance
Conventional wisdom about SRI, which can mean either socially responsible investing or sustainably responsible investing, is that adding an overlay of social screens to investment...
Features
-
Out of the Fire
"If a Category 5 financial storm comes, you better have a plan," warns Steve Chapman, VP and portfolio manager at Weiss Capital Management, a Palm...
-
Eight-Step Program
Ask most people what they like about working with any small business and you'll hear answers such as their "personal approach" or "I'm not just...
Beginnings
-
Asset Allocation
Behind the Numbers, with Sam Stovall In his most recent global equity strategy report S&P's chief investment strategist noted that November began what has often been...
-
Venture Populist: In Search of Superior Returns
Contrary to conventional clich?, there is very little that is "binary" about venture investing outcomes. That is, when it comes to private investing, it is...
-
The ETF Advisor: Basic Materials ETFs
Every day, investors are bombarded with economic data offering clues to future market movements. As the U.S. and global economies begin to emerge from recession,...
-
Schwab Ups the Ante on ETFs
Schwab Investment Management Services announced November 2 that it is launching its own lineup of Schwab-branded ETFs that feature very low expense ratios and which...
-
The Pulse Quickens
Below is the inaugural Top Wealth Managers Quarterly Pulse Rankings from WealthManagerWeb.com. The popular Top Wealth Managers survey and rankings are expanding from an annual...
-
Catching Up With...Gary Gallagher
Gary Gallagher jokes that while he recently was given a new title that's longer than the old one he held at LPL Financial, "that doesn't...
-
GroupThink
The Financial Planning Association (FPA) has announced Martin Kurtz as the group's 2010 president-elect. He succeeds Tom Potts, who assumes the FPA's presidency on January...
-
Changes
Moneta Group, the St. Louis-based independent financial planning and consulting firm, has announced that William Hornbarger has come on board as chief market strategist ? Sara...
-
Upgrades
Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services and National Financial introduced Nov. 11 "Insight & Outlook," a new program that offers FIWS's RIAs, and National Financial's broker/dealers, access...
-
Numerology: LTC Costs Spike
While inflation might be tamed in the overall economy, price cuts have yet to hit long-term care. The 2009 MetLife Market Survey of Nursing Home,...
-
Danger & Opportunity: Staggering Toward Reform
As we enter the final month of 2009, the financial services industry anticipates some type of reform from Washington by year-end, but the consensus is...
-
Danger & Opportunity: REITs on the Rise
It looks as though the REIT market is poised for growth. A recent report by global consulting firm Mercer titled "Recapitalization and Recovery in the...
-
Fiduciary Pushback
The American College, which provides educational exams for the Certified Financial Planner mark and other planner designations, supports an amendment to the Investor Protection Act...
-
Danger & Opportunity: The Empire State's New POA
Effective September 1, 2009 the New York State Power of Attorney Law (found in General Obligation Law, Article 5, Title 15 (Sections 5-1501 to 5-1514)...
-
The Back to Basics Cycle
There's a pas de deux that occurs when I interview someone for the Web or the magazine. In such a conversation, I will proceed to...
Columns
-
The Affluentialist: Preserving Capital for the HNW
For many affluent clients, the drive to preserve capital is stronger than the need for growth, so low-risk hedging strategies with some upside potential become very...
-
The Green Advisor: WalMart Shows the Way
I've been to a number of advisor industry conferences over the last five years--some put on by custodians or broker/dealers and others by professional associations....
-
Formulas for Success: Prudent Man Rule for Practice Purchases
Most of us have a "soapbox" issue that evokes an emotional response and provokes a vociferous argument. For PETA activists, it's protection for animals. For...
-
Clark at Large: An Expert's Expert
When I started reading his marketing pitch, my heart sank. I wanted to like Larry Chambers's new Attraction Marketing program for financial advisors, I really...
-
The Psychology of Advice: A Time Forgiving
The December holiday season is ideally a time of joy, peace, and deep connection with family and friends. Most of us look forward to reviving...
-
The Fast Track: Figures Don't Lie
There sure are a lot of surveys of advisory practices these days; Moss Adams, the FPA, Quantuvus, the myriad Schwab studies, and the FA Insight...
Conclusions
-
Retirement Planning: Income Plans, Merrill Style
Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management announced October 26 a new retirement income program, available to its 15,000 brokers, one of whose components--My Retirement Income--allows clients...
-
Solutions for the New Retirement Reality
In the wake of the market meltdown that devastated many a retiree or near-retiree's portfolio, what is the role of the advisor? In a two-day...
-
Retirement News
In testimony October 28 before the Senate Special Committee on Aging, Phyllis Borzi, assistant secretary of labor for the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits...
-
B/D Briefing: Surprise Broker Sentiment
Days after Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut), the chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, introduced on November 10 a sweeping plan...
-
ING Sells Three B/Ds
On November 3, ING said it had agreed to sell three of its U.S. broker/dealers that comprise the ING Advisors Network to Lightyear Capital LLC,...
-
Broker/Dealer News
To focus resources on its existing qualifying RIAs and attract additional, higher-level advisors, Raymond James Financial Services' Investment Advisors Division (RJFS-IAD) says it is raising...
-
Insurance Update: Kiss of Death?
Everybody seems to agree that life settlements themselves have a valid function. After all, if you've got a sizeable policy but no longer need the...
-
On the Other Hand
Doug Head, executive director of the Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA), flatly denies that STOLI is a problem, and if it is, he says, it's...
-
Expert's Corner: Look Before You Give
The holiday season often brings out the best in us. December is historically the peak month for charitable donations, but in today's economy, charities, like...
-
Walking the Fiduciary Line on Retirement
The definition ERISA uses for fiduciary status is functional, which means that even if brokers or registered representatives do not acknowledge that they are acting...
Sidebar Stories
-
Putting SRI Into Practice: Larry Rosenthal
"I believe that everybody has the opportunity and the right to sit down and get a financial education, so we'll meet with most people," says...
-
Putting SRI Into Practice: Jennifer Lazarus
"I call myself the financial planner to the socially responsible investor," explains this solo practitioner. After two years with another firm she launched her own...
-
Putting SRI Into Practice: Georgette Frazer
"I was in SRI before I even became a financial advisor," says Georgette Frazer. "My bachelor's degree is in ecology and botany and as a...
-
Putting SRI Into Practice: Andy Loving
"I used to organize people to create social change," says Andy Loving of Just Money Advisors who, unlike many advisors, didn't come to socially responsible...
-
Checking It Out
While charities are required by the Philanthropy Protection Act of 1995 to provide a disclosure prior to accepting a donation, very little in the disclosure...
Advisor Tools
Business Evaluator
The Business Evaluator tool is designed to educate advisors on career options. Get recommendations unique to your situation as the Business Evaluator intuitively guides you through exploring a change.
Sponsored by 
