Research Magazine October 2011

The Courage to Invest

By Robert Tyndall

Worst Practices

By Bill Good

Fading Superpowers

By Alexei Bayer

After the Cold War’s end, the paths of the two former enemies should have diverged dramatically. No longer locked in a nuclear rivalry known as Mutually Assured Destruction, or MAD for short, each should have been going its own way: the United States to enjoy the fruits of victory and...

It’s About Timing

By Bill Miller

When I was in training to be a financial advisor the world was a different, safer place. I was taught the adage, “It’s not about timing the market; it’s about time in the market.” Much like being in a cult, this sage piece of advice was burned into my...

How a Freethinking Economist Saved Your Retirement Portfolio

By Gerald Burstyn

Research by economist Richard Thaler, a professor at the University of Chicago, has “nudged” vast numbers of Americans to a higher savings rate.

Where’s Your Compensation Heading?

By Ellen Uzelac

Most financial advisors expect to see a spike in revenue in 2011 but continuing market volatility and a growing unease over Washington have put a chill on any unfettered enthusiasm.

Bold Forecasts but Timid Choices

By Bob Seawright

WHEN I WAS MUCH YOUNGER and new to working in the capital markets, an excellent mentor taught me a market maxim that has served me well. More money has been lost because of four words than at the point of a gun. Those four words are “This time is different.”...

Ramping Up

By Ellen Uzelac

Aa a Certified Financial planner back in 1990, Spenser Segal ran a retirement plan projection for a couple in their mid-50s who thought they had done everything right. They’d saved $500,000. They had no debt. But it wasn’t enough to support the retirement they had dreamed about. The look in...

Energy: Ramping Up

By Ed McCarthy, CFP

Water: Water Stocks Still Sparkle

By Ed McCarthy, CFP

ETF Inflows to Hit $100 Billion

By Ronald Delegge, ETFguide.com

Despite a sluggish U.S. economy and the government’s debt crisis, the brisk pace of investment dollars flowing into ETFs continues.

Are Europe’s Bank Notes Safe?

By Ronald Delegge, ETFguide.com

Firmly established in Wall Street’s rich history are financial products which are sold as “safe” that turn out to carry risk reminiscent of a slot machine gamble.

Do Credit Ratings Matter?

By Ronald Delegge, ETFguide.com

Over the past few years, credit rating agencies have done a lot to diminish their credibility. Not only did they contribute to the Great Meltdown by inaccurately rating debt, but they have allowed the role of credit ratings to become murkier. What do the ratings now mean for financial advisors...

Van Eck Acquires 6 HOLDRS

By Ronald Delegge, ETFguide.com

Van Eck Global’s Market Vectors ETF Trust is planning to exchange shares of soon-to-be-launched Market Vectors ETFs for shares of six Merrill Lynch HOLDRS. The exchange offer is scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Graham ETNs Redeemed

By Ronald Delegge, ETFguide.com

While Benjamin Graham’s deep value strategy for selecting stocks lives on, exchange-traded notes (ETNs) that attempted to mimic him won’t.

BlackRock Adds Target Date ETFs

By Ronald Delegge, ETFguide.com

BlackRock introduced the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Small Cap Index Fund (EEMS), iShares S&P Target Date 2045 (TZW) and iShares S&P Target Date 2050 (TZY).

Emerging Global Builds Lineup

By Ronald Delegge, ETFguide.com

According to the press release, INCO is the first of several India-focused sector funds that Emerging Global Advisors plans to launch this year.

Krawcheck Out in BofA Reorg

By Janet Levaux, AdvisorOne

Bank of America said in early September that wealth-management head Sallie Krawcheck was leaving the company as part of a major reorganization of the bank and its operations.

Ladenburg Thalmann to Buy Securities America

By Janet Levaux, AdvisorOne

Ladenburg Thalmann said that it planned to pay Ameriprise Financial $150 million in cash for Securities America in late August. In addition, the Miami-based broker-dealer says it will pay up to $70 million in 2012 and 2013 in so-called earn-outs, as the firm explained in an SEC report. Plus, Ameriprise...

UBS Cutting Staff, But Recruiting FAs

By Janet Levaux, AdvisorOne

UBS said it planned to cut staff by 3,500, or more than 5 percent of its global workforce, as part of its overall plan to trim about $2.5 billion from its yearly expenses by the end of 2013 “to improve operating efficiency,” the company explained in late August. About 10...

Alternatives All the Rage

By Janet Levaux, AdvisorOne

New research has found that 78 percent of all advisors are using alternative investments within client portfolios, according to Cogent Research, mainly for diversification and with some variation related to channel differences and other factors.

IRA Rollovers & Relationships

By Janet Levaux, AdvisorOne

A report released in early September by Spectrem focuses on a survey of nearly 1,000 investors who had recently made a rollover or had the opportunity to rollover assets, and found nearly one-third chose Fidelity as their IRA provider. Vanguard was a distant second at 11 percent.