Salient to Investors: If you ask your adviser to whom he or she owes their first legal duty of care, and you don’t get an immediate answer “you, as my client” then the chances are that they are not acting as a fiduciary. You can’t be a part-time fiduciary. The first
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Computers are learning to pick investments, rebalance portfolios, adjust risk levels and minimize taxes more quickly, more reliably, at a quarter of the cost and with flashier graphics than financial advisors. Many new “robo-advisers” are relying on flesh-and-blood advisers becuase they find that a human with a
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Amateur investors are giving up on trying to beat the market, while even the most sophisticated investors are rejecting strategies that require advanced math and managers with million-dollar salaries. ICI reports the average expense ratio on an equity mutual fund is down 25% in 10 years. Boston Consulting
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Nobel Laureate Robert Shiller said: People make better decisions with financial advisers. A lack of good financial advice was one of the problems that led to the financial crisis. Many Americans went into unsupportable debt to buy homes, which a good financial adviser would not have let
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Ken Fisher at Fisher Investments said: Ending QE would be the most bullish thing we can do because it is not a stimulus – it flattens the yield curve and slows things down. We are doing well despite QE, not because of it. Historically, a steeper yield
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Fareed Zakaria said: Both the American left and right are concerned about the declining mobility of the American dream. Countries that invest more heavily in children’s health care, nutrition, and education, well-being more generally end up with a much stronger ladder of opportunity and access than America.
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Megan McArdle writes: The Department of Labor is reported to be moving toward making brokers et al “fiduciaries” to their clients, so they would have to offer advice in your best interest, and avoid conflicts of interest such as accepting fees to put you into low-return, high-fee
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Jonathan Weil writes: The reason it’s a good idea to separate securities firms from commercial banks is to protect consumers from brokers selling schlock investments. There are countless tales of banks cross-selling unsuitable investments to unsophisticated customers. Many people trust the advice they get from their local
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Jason Zweig writes: Good advice rarely changes, while markets change constantly. People need good advice, but want advice that sounds good. The advice that sounds the best in the short run is always the most dangerous in the long run. Everyone wants the magical low-risk, high-return investment
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: New York City’s retirement system is the only one of the 11 biggest US public-worker pensions that refuses to manage any assets internally. The typical fees for hedge funds and private-equity and real-estate firms is 2 percent of assets plus 20 percent of profits. Last year, three city pension funds
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