Research Magazine May 2012
Features
Finding the Culprits of the Crisis
Derivatives expert Janet Tavakoli takes a hard look at what — and who — caused the financial crisis.
Features
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Legacy Builder
Picture the ubiquitous “Plan Ahead” poster. You know, the one with the little orphaned “d” because not enough room was left in the allotted space for it to fit in.
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A Strategy for Affording College
Faced with massive budget deficits, state legislators across the country are looking to chop college education funding to fill the gaps.
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Marketing Advisors Like iPhones
Financial advisors are famously clueless about marketing — and that’s too bad. Because it is your brand — your firm’s unique signature — that keeps clients coming back.
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Guy Kawasaki on `Enchantment’
In his book, Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions, bestselling business guru Guy Kawasaki says that if you want to get people on your side, you have to enchant them.
Editor's Note
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Liars, Cheaters and Thieves
Janet Tavakoli is a Chicago-based consultant with experience structuring and trading credit derivatives.
Voices/Columnists
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Your Model Day
Without any doubt, your most valuable resource is your time.
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Christie’s Path
New Jersey’s Gov. Chris Christie is a rising star in Republican national politics.
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Debased Currency
Despite unprecedented creation of money over the past three and a half years, consumer prices remain moderate.
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Cyber Competition
One of the good and bad things about being a product wholesaler is that you get to meet a lot of different financial advisors.
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Milevsky: How Much in Risky Stocks vs. Safe Cash?
From a purely mathematical point of view, the “stocks are safer over long periods of time” argument — before Paul Samuelson took an axe to it — went as follows.
News
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Broker Exits Spur Recruiting Shift
The movement of financial advisors out of the wirehouses has continued in early 2012, experts say, and should put Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley on notice.
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Independence Still Looks Good, Though Few Take the Plunge
A survey of some 2,500 traditional employee advisors found that more than 70% are considering a move to independence, says Diamond Consultants, a recruiting and consulting firm.
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RJ-MK Merger: It’s a Wrap
Raymond James Financial said April 2 that it had completed the acquisition of Morgan Keegan from Regions Financial, paying $1.2 billion in cash.
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Fund Panel Looks at Income Generation
Though many income-generating investments, like Treasuries, municipal bonds, and dividend-yielding stocks, have posted strong relative returns over the past year, interest rates on high-quality bonds are at historic lows, and the valuations on dividend-producing stocks are at historic highs.
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Target-Date Funds Dominate 401(k) Plans
Close to one in four 401(k) investors have their assets allocated solely in target-date funds — a six-fold increase over the past five years, according to new Vanguard research.
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Global Bonds & Diversification
While U.S. investors have achieved diversification in their domestically focused portfolios mainly through international equities, they are increasingly considering global bonds.
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Is the Treasury Run Over?
Since the beginning of the year, it’s been a “Tale of Two Cities” for U.S. stocks and long-term U.S. Treasuries.
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Junk Bond Fund Debuts
State Street Global Advisors introduced the SPDR Barclays Capital Short Term High Yield Bond ETF (SJNK), which owns lower rated corporate debt with durations of less than five years.
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Russell Expands ETF Lineup
Russell Investments introduced the Russell High Dividend Yield ETF (HDIV) and Russell Small Cap High Dividend Yield ETF (DIVS).
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MLP Fund Taps Commodities
Master limited partnerships (MLPs) have been getting more attention because of their attractive yields and impressive performance.
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Seeking Emerging Corporates
WisdomTree Investments introduced a new bond ETF that targets debt issued by companies based in emerging market countries such as Brazil, Russia, and Mexico.
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Picard Hits Homer vs. Mets
How many All-Star free agents could $162 million have bought the New York Mets?
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ETF Providers Slash Fees
In the cutthroat world of ETF investing, the firm with the lowest expenses often gathers the most assets.
Investment Spotlight
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Creating a Future-Ready Natural Gas Industry Now
My top priority for this year as chairman of the American Gas Association (AGA) is ensuring that our customers, regulators and elected officials are confident in our ability to safely deliver our product.
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Steady Streams
An unusual — and stunning — thing happened on the way out of the financial crisis: In 2009, the United States became the world’s largest producer of natural gas.
Sponsor
Showcase
Actionable insights to help you make better global investment decisions.
Event Spotlight
Think Retirement Income
October 10-11, 2013
Hyatt Regency, Boston, MA
The Retirement Income Symposium has a fresh, new look…welcome to the new and improved RIA Think Retirement Conference. We’re offering the same top-notch educational and networking opportunities to all RIAs, while still paying special attention to the challenges, and opportunities, of offering retirement incomes advice.
For more information, visit www.thinkretirementincome.com.
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