Investment Advisor June 2010
Cover Story
Limitless Horizons
Partnership is a cornerstone concept at Harbor Lights Financial Group. First there's the equal partnership of the three principals--Ken Roberts, Rob Tendler, and Doug Lockwood....
Features
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Watchful
As part of this, our annual exploration of the independent broker/dealer universe, Investment Advisor polled the presidents of the independent B/Ds participating in our annual...
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Independence's Issues
I have had the privilege of assisting many independent broker/dealers (IBDs) and their representatives throughout the country for many years. Like the wirehouses, IBDs and...
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Longevity, Your Clients, and You
When Ben Bernanke steps outside the realm of fiscal and monetary policy, it's sensible to take notice. On April 7 of this year, the Federal...
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Mutual Fund Spotlight: The World Their Oyster
The two men--who are both RIAs with over 28 years of investment experience each and who launched the Encompass Fund in 2006--look to invest exclusively...
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The Markets: Doomed to Repeat?
Some financial experts who know the history of U.S. markets inside and out are nonetheless oblivious to the history of stock markets around the world....
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The Business of Advice: Paying to Fail
Everyone has heard the old adage "you get what you pay for." Applying this maxim to an advisory firm leads to the conclusion that more...
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Road to Independence: Four Keys
In the financial services industry, as in so many other professions, creating a successful enterprise comes down to a few key areas. First, you must...
Beginnings
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Asset Allocation
In his weekly Market Commentary dated May 10, 2010, LPL Financial's chief market strategist indicated that the market pullback that began on April 23 is...
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The Venture Populist: It's Bunk
In the May issue of Investment Advisor, we noted that Senator Chris Dodd's financial services reform bill (being debated on the floor of the Senate...
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The ETF Advisor: Utility ETFs Promise Low Volatility and Steady Dividends
In the aftermath of the stock market's two most gut wrenching years since the Great Depression, it's no secret that investors want stability and current...
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Next Steps for Congressional Action
As Investment Advisor went to press in mid-May, lobbyists and Congressional staffers were optimistic that the Senate would finish a vote on Senator Christopher Dodd's...
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FPA, Coalition for Financial Planning Remain Upbeat
"People on the Hill know what financial planning is now," says Tom Potts, president of the Financial Planning Association (FPA), and while it may "take...
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Long-Term Progress Reported by Financial Planning Coalition
Speaking in San Antonio on April 23 during the FPA Retreat of the Coalition for Financial Planning's progress in having its voice heard in Washington,...
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The Regulators Never Sleep
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced May 10 that the two agencies have formed a joint committee...
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Catching Up With...
You've heard about Greg Friedman perhaps in conjunction with Junxure, the CRM firm he co-founded, or the Your Silver Bullet technology integration initiative, or when...
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Editor's Note: Learn From New Jersey
In thinking of the value that independent advisors like our cover story firm, Harbor Lights Financial, provide to their clients, I think of New Jersey....
Columns
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The Affluentialist: Growing Up Rich and Responsible
In last month's column, we explored potential damages to families and individuals when children of wealthy families grow up unprepared for responsibilities they'll inherit. While...
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The Green Advisor: Urban Sustainable Investing
"They're creating a new environment where the people who are living in the homes are living sustainably," Chat Reynders told me during a recent conversation...
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Formulas for Success: New Challenges for Achieving Critical Mass
These days, when so many advisors feel they dodged a bullet in terms of business survival, it may seem insensitive to bring up the idea...
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Clark at Large: Investing Like the Big Boys
I don't know if he still does this, but years ago, my old boss Don Phillips (now president of research and communications at Morningstar, Inc.)...
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The Fast Track: American Standard
Now that the markets and the economy seem to have turned around, many independent advisory firms are shifting back into hiring mode. Some firms had...
Conclusions
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Retirement Planning: Lifetime Income, Target Date Funds To Center Stage
Lifetime income and target date funds are taking center stage this spring, while a proposed Department of Labor regulation freshening up the term 'fiduciary' is...
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Retirement News
Carlo DiFlorio, the new head of the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE), told attendees at the Insured Retirement...
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B/D Briefing: FINRA's Ketchum Sees a Fiduciary Future for B/Ds
As the Senate continued its debate on Senator Chris Dodd's financial services reform bill in mid-May, members of Congress were wading through a series of...
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Grow and Learn
A poll recently conducted by the SEI Advisor Network found that the top priority for advisors in 2010 is to "create new initiatives to increase...
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Insurance Update: Easy Monthly Payments (for Retirement)
At the beginning of February, the Department of Labor and the Treasury Department issued a request for information (RFI) on "Lifetime Income Options for Participants...
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The Technology Coach: Time to Upgrade Your PC's OS?
It has been a long time coming, but Windows 7 is starting to erase the problems that Microsoft experienced with Windows Vista. For most advisors,...
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The High-Performance Coach: The Five Types of Leadership for Advisors
During periods of great change, leadership emerges. Arguably, through the past 22 months, the financial services industry has seen more change than in any previous...
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Soapbox: The Seed Investors' Hedge Fund Opportunity
While the credit crisis has wreaked havoc on the financial industry, it has also opened up new opportunities. With hedge funds in a state of...
Sidebar Stories
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Partners in the Community
Two River Community Bank is 10-year-old financial institution based in central New Jersey with 15 branches in Monmouth and Union counties. William Moss, the bank's...
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A Clear Sign You Haven't Achieved Critical Mass
Profitability is critical to any business because it funds future growth, and productivity of your people is a key driver of profitability. Productivity can be...
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From Senior to Partner
In my book, a senior advisor is really the top of the heap in the advisory profession: they are qualified to make all the decisions...
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Ten Skills Affluent Children Need by Age 18
How to: 1. Save 2. Keep track of money 3. Get paid what you're worth 4. Spend wisely 5. Talk about money 6. Live on a budget 7. Invest 8. Exercise an entrepreneurial...
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A Win-Win
In addition to their social return, compared to traditional fixed-income investments, community loan funds offer competitive returns, says Chat Reynders of Boston-based Reynders McVeigh Capital...
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Are You Compatible?
Microsoft has developed a free tool that helps evaluate whether there are any compatibility issues with your existing computer and Windows 7. The Windows 7...
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Leadership Case Study: Geri Pell
By anyone's measure, Geri Eisenman Pell's career has been a success. She has been a financial advisor since 1986. For the past five years she...
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Leadership Case Study: Jeremy Paul and Bud Sturmak
Five years ago, a few of Jeremy Paul's more forward-thinking clients came to him expressing a desire for more socially responsible investment (SRI) choices within...
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About the Firm
Harbor Lights Financial Group 2424 Route 34 Manasquan, New Jersey 08736 Phone: 732-528-4333 E-mail: info@hlfg.com Web site: www.hlfg.com Number of clients: 650 households AUM: $252 million Compensation: Fees and commission Number of advisors in...
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Ageism: The Next Taboo
We all like to think we're not prone to discriminate against older people. But Dr. Robert Butler, who coined the term "ageism" in 1968, believes...
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A Longevity Activist's Manifesto
In his book The Longevity Revolution: The Benefits and Challenges of Living a Long Life (PublicAffairs; 2008), Dr. Robert Butler has created a wish list...
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The New Language of Generational Awareness
Over the past 100 years or so, as the industrial revolution and increasing longevity have given young people more time to mature and allowed older...
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The Wisdom of Dr. Butler
On Alzheimer's: "It's the most common form of dementia, but there's no evidence that it's more frequent than before. It's simply that more people are...
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When Contrarians Create
For more than a decade after the firm was founded in 1985, Malcolm H. Gissen & Associates provided comprehensive financial planning and investment advisory services...
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Running Your Own Mutual Fund
It takes confidence, connections, and conviction to set up a mutual fund and there's little doubt that Marshall Berol and Malcolm Gissen have all three....
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Baton Rouge Confidential
As part of what I offer every client, and that I believe helps differentiate my practice, I help organize all their important documents on their...
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