Investment Advisor February 2009
Cover Story
The Future Is Now
When facing a disaster, healthy families turn toward each other for emotional support, but also for practical help. Since sisters and brothers know each other...
Features
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Restoration
With most of the "Seven Deadly Sins" committed during the Market Cataclysm of 2008, all that is left for the rest of us is Anger! The...
Beginnings
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Asset Allocation
Behind the Numbers, with Gary Shilling Shilling is still as concerned about excess housing inventories as he was in January when we talked to him about...
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HedgeWorld: A Flawed Model or Modeler?
There has been much self-satisfied tut-tutting lately by many in the investment management and advisory business over what they perceive as the wholly justified fall...
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The Long and the Short of It
As 2008 played out, filled with bad news from the hedge fund industry, the practice of shorting stocks--a popular hedge fund strategy--got dragged through the...
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Teaming Up for Change
The three financial planning organizations--the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), the Financial Planning Association (FPA), and the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards...
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State Sues Reserve Funds for Fraud
The Massachusetts Securities Division on January 13 charged Reserve Management Company with making numerous false and misleading statements to investors in attempts to dissuade them...
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Catching Up With...
In these troubled times, independent broker/dealers have a unique set of issues. With margins thin to begin with and their reps hurting from the market's...
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Group Think
? The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards released January 2 proposed revisions to its Disciplinary Rules and Procedures that it says outline the duties...
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Changes
? Security Global Investors, the asset management arm of Security Benefit Corp. of Topeka, Kansas, announced its integration with Rydex Investments, under which Security Global's...
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Upgrades
Putnam Investments launched a family of four absolute return mutual funds designed to provide returns of 1%, 3%, 5%, or 7% above those of Treasury...
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Stressed Out?
It's no news that advisors are overwhelmed, considering the behavior of the markets and the state of the economy. However, the recent spike in advisors...
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Growth, and Advocacy
Taking a fiduciary approach and putting the client first aren't marketing strategies adopted by the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors in the wake of...
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Future Shock, Under Control
"When this is over, you'll still be running your firm, facing these same challenges." The speaker was Mark Tibergien; the occasion was the December Investment...
Columns
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Taking Advantage of a Down Economy
Difficult economic times can provide an excellent opportunity for affluent clients to make strategic moves that can help reduce taxes and more efficiently transfer assets...
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Wisdom, Not Necessarily Conventional
One of the things that I've come to realize about "conventional wisdom" is that while it's most certainly conventional, it often contains little wisdom. One...
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The Perfect Ponzi
At the time of this writing, the Bernie Madoff story is the most popular topic in America. A quick Google search reveals countless newspaper, magazine,...
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Is Mary What the SEC Needs?
At press time on January 15, the Senate Banking Committee was holding Mary Schapiro's confirmation hearing to be the next head of the Securities and...
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The Uncertainty Principle
I was thinking of starting this column on how to deal with uncertainty with a line like "We live in uncertain times," but it occurred...
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The Fast Track: Advisor, Heal Thyself
One of the most important elements of 2009, I tell the advisors I work with daily, is to contact each of their clients, and revise...
Conclusions
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Out of the Frying Pan, Into...?
While most investors and their advisors are happy to say good riddance to 2008, the collective wisdom among economists and investing executives like Edward Campbell,...
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Losing May Mean a Move to Cash
"The current financial crisis has had a dramatic impact on America's millionaires, reducing their net worth substantially and threatening their ability to maintain both lifestyles...
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Retirement News & Products
Recent research by the Investment Company Institute (ICI) found that despite a 40% drop in the U.S. stock markets last year, the vast majority of...
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Industry Hit by Class Actions
It is no surprise that federal securities class action filings increased in 2008 over the previous year's levels given the upheaval in the financial markets...
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Who's Investing Where?
"Nearly half of U.S. households own equities or bonds, a significant increase during the last two decades, however, ownership of these investment assets has declined...
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B/D Briefs News & Products
Making a final determination on a long anticipated decision on whether equity indexed annuities (EIAs) are insurance products or securities, the SEC voted December 17...
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Presidential Directions
The Oval Office isn't the only place with a new occupant. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is under the command of a new...
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The Skinny on the Protocol
In this column I will address a specific issue that has increasingly become the subject of much discussion in the investment advisory industry: the "Protocol."...
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A New Benchmark for Advisors
The introduction of lifecycle index funds into the ETF marketplace creates a new tool for advisors but also a new hurdle. With many advisors using...
Sidebar Stories
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How They're Coping
Constant Communication "Communicate, communicate, communicate," is the main advice to advisors that Aspiriant CEO Tim Kochis suggests to help advisors through the ups and downs of...
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"Turn left!"--"No, right!"
At a time when the wisest action isn't clear, what do you do when a husband and wife are both sure they know what to...
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Mary Schapiro's Priorities
Here are the top three priorities that, on January 15, Mary Schapiro told the Senate Banking Committee she would focus on if confirmed as the...
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The Social Side of SRI
Adam Strauss, manager of the Appleseed Fund, says that sometimes an investment is driven by the social benefits, although it still has to make sense...
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