Investment Advisor February 2007
Cover Story
The Solution
The coming "retirement crisis" in America has been the subject of countless newspaper, magazine, and evening television news stories. Experts of all stripes have voiced...
Features
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More Art Than Science
One popular way to diversify equity assets is with international investing; there are plenty of single-country, region, and international funds around, not to mention the...
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Investing With Style
In a series of articles appearing in Investment Advisor (September 2005, January 2006, and February 2006), we criticized the market-cap/value-growth characteristic grid used for categorizing...
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Like Mother, Like Daughter
One of my mother's favorite jokes involved a late-night TV program whose host was interviewing a famous star. When this star mentioned hating her mother,...
Beginnings
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It's a Matter of Trust
Thanks for a great article on Trust Services "The Trust Threat" (Clark at Large) in the January 2007 issue. Let me start by saying that...
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The True Costs of Active Management
Even the most rational investors must admit to temptation when the subject under discussion is actively-managed mutual funds. After all, it's nearly impossible to read...
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Asset Allocation, February 2007
To learn this month's recommended asset allocations of Investment Advisor's panel of distinguished economists and money managers, click here
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Lock-Ups Should Pay Up
There is an increasing number of hedge funds asking for lock-ups, and lock-up periods are getting increasingly longer, but what excess return should you ask...
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Through Thick and Thin
Balanced funds provide investors with diversification within the confines of a single investment vehicle by holding a portfolio of highly uncorrelated asset classes. Such funds...
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Schwab to Bankroll Breakaway Brokers
Keeping up the business momentum evident in the closing months of 2006, Charles Schwab announced January 11 that its affiliated advisors now custody more than...
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February 2007
The American College will celebrate National Financial Awareness Day, on March 6. This year's theme focuses on the importance of disability income protection. The NASD Investor...
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February 2007
Ann Combs, former Assistant Secretary of Labor and head of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) from 2001 to 2006, will join Vanguard this month....
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February 2007
In response to the scandal over favors given to some Fidelity mutual fund equity traders and supervisors by certain broker/dealers from 2002 to 2004, Fidelity...
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A New Leaf
When it comes to advisors who have high Q ratings, Deena Katz is a winner. Through her business and personal partnership with Harold Evensky at...
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Small Caps On Top Again
The small-cap Russell 2000 Index made a comeback in 2006 with a gain of 18.4%, outperforming the large-cap Russell 1000 Index (15.5%) for the seventh...
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Catching up with... Lew Altfest
A major topic of discussion among advisors is how to achieve recognition for financial planners as professionals on a par with accountants and lawyers. Lew...
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The Virtue of Impatience
There are multiple legitimate business models in the independent advisory world, and by listening to you and observing your activities and priorities, it's clear that...
Columns
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No Accounting For This
The newly-created Schwab IMPACT award for best-managed advisory firm, its Best in Business designation, was not given to an advisory firm in the usual sense...
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Small Is Beautiful, Part Deux
As regular readers of this column undoubtedly know by now, Moss Adams is one of my long-time clients. It was a privilege to work this...
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Prenups and Protection
What type of "investment" can grow almost 120 times in just four years? Surprisingly, it is not the type of financial planning tool you want...
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Watch Out
Broker/dealers and RIAs alike should ready themselves for a number of initiatives being worked on by their regulators in the New Year. (See following page...
Conclusions
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Taking Advantage of the Pension Protection Act
The Pension Protection Act (PPA) signed into law last August is among the most important and comprehensive pieces of legislation in several decades, and a...
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Clear Road Ahead
As the Department of Labor and Congress zero in on disclosure of fees associated with qualified retirement plans, the independent broker/dealer Commonwealth Financial Network recently...
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News & Products
The Tax Relief and Health Care Act (H.R. 6111), which passed the House and Senate in early December, is being hailed as a bill that...
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Buying Access to the Big Plans
Transparency, a commitment toward service, and a range of low-fee investment options offered on an open architecture platform. This is the cornerstone of the Schwab model...
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A Matter of Life and Health
Health insurance: we all need it, and though we may sometimes think of the premiums as just one more tax on our income, nobody really...
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Caught in the Undertow
Do your clients own a beachfront retreat in Hilton Head? A second home with a private dock in Boca Raton? A primary residence filled with...
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When Should You Register?
Should an investment advisor with $30 million of "assets under management" register with the SEC? It depends on whether the advisor has "qualifying" assets under...
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It's That Time Again
With filing season upon us, the Tax Talk Today Webcast series has dedicated its recent programs to those issues near and dear to the heart...
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To Succeed, Keep It Simple
As financial advisors we are responsible for helping our clients build wealth in the most effective way possible. After all, that's what they pay us...
Sidebar Stories
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A Catalyst of Change
Perhaps the catchword for independent broker/dealer business for 2007 is change. As John Simmers becomes chairman of the Financial Services Institute (FSI), unprecedented change is...
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Behind the Numbers, with Sam Stovall
"Our investment policy committee has a benchmark for the average balance investor of 60% of their money exposed to equities and 40% exposed to fixed...
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Driving to the Coast
- In 2000, of the 281 million people that lived in the U.S., more than 148 million people lived in coastal counties. - Coastal counties contain...
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Planning the "Prenup"
Where a prenup is clearly the planning tool of choice, the following approaches may help to smooth negotiations and ensure the establishment of a valid,...
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Separate Accounts Capture More Assets
PMFM has caught onto a trend, or is perhaps helping cause the trend, with its emphasis on the use of separate accounts for its clients...
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A Look Ahead, and Advice on Today
"We're under capacity by 60,000 planners," predicts Percy Bolton of Percy Bolton Associates in Pasadena, California, partly due to the creation of the "fiduciary advisor"...
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CPA Shortage Looms
If you're worried that the profession faces "a talent shortage crisis," as Mark Tibergien said at the Investment Advisor--Moss Adams Advisor Summit last year, just...
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The Near Future in Retirement Planning
Besides Department of Labor (DOL) fee-disclosure rules requiring mutual fund companies and retirement plan providers to disclose the amount they are charging and to whom,...
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An Anniversary, Texas Style
The financial planning program has a long history at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, where Deena Katz plies her trade these days. It was one...
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About the manager, Brent Lynn
Based in Denver, Brent Lynn manages about $9.5 billion as executive VP and portfolio manager of the Janus Overseas Fund and portfolio manager of other...
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How to Find Style-Consistent Managers
Absent a comprehensive, reliable way to categorize mutual fund managers by style, how can an advisor go about constructing a portfolio of style-consistent fund managers?...
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Defining Style
An investment style is the way a manager goes about analyzing, buying, and selling stocks. Elements are the specific aspects of the stock and/or company...
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IRA Assets at $3.7 Trillion
Individual retirement account assets saw their third consecutive year of growth in 2005, reaching a record high of $3.67 trillion, according to a new report...
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"Mommie Dearest..."
Sometimes a client's sense of self has been badly damaged by her mother, and for one reason or another (the mother's death, for example) the...
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Beginning This Month
Tax Talk Today will begin providing to Investment Advisor readers quarterly highlights of the tax planning content of its popular, authoritative Webcasts. Brought to viewers...
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Failure to Communicate
When a mother visits a grown-up daughter in the daughter's home, can the mother surrender her need to be in charge? Does she criticize the...
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Who's Who in the 110th
With the democrats in control of Congress comes new committee assignments. For instance, the Senate Finance Committee is now headed by Max Baucus. The Montana...
Web Extras
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CPA Talent Crunch
Think there's a shortage of young investment advisors and financial planners? Just be glad you're not a CPA. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,...
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A Matter of Style
By Craig Callahan, founder and president of Icon Advisers in Denver, and C. Thomas Howard, professor of finance at the Daniels College of Business, also...
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Gender Differences in Investor Behavior
Download a copy of the study here: NASDInvestorSurvey.pdf.
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In the Running--February 2007
When we look for a mutual fund to profile for the Mutual Fund Spotlight feature in Investment Advisor, we often see other funds in the...
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HSA Changes
Download a document outlining proposed changes the health savings accounts (HSA) under H.R. 6111 here.
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How Businesses Can Get Theirs
In the February 2007 Tax Advisor column in Investment Advisor from Tax Talk Today's Les Witmer, the process was described for how individuals can file...
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