Investing and personal finance: markets, ESG and socially responsible funds, banking, financial advice.
77 articles · page 4 of 4
As the current presidential campaign season develops, economic and financial concerns about the income gap, wage stagnation and retirement financial security have become paramount issues. But as history has shown, political power is intertwined with economic power. This is true more today in the U.S. more than ever before. The obvious answer to directing the…
Financial services providers who are disenchanted with their broker-dealers or who simply want to re-invent themselves as decidedly pro-investor advisors have a great opportunity today to re-make themselves into Progressive Financial Advisors. Progressive Financial Advisors (PFA) would be a distinct genre of financial professionals and would provide much more than those adopting the fiduciary standard. They would be…
The marijuana industry is projected to produce $35 billion in revenues by 2020, according to Greenwave Advisors. So with this powerful revenue engine behind it, shouldn’t this transformational emerging marijuana industry structure itself differently than other traditional for-profit businesses? This is an important question since the evolution of the marijuana industry has some unique traits…
Students of history know that the most powerful idea is one whose time has come. And that is why some of the nation’s largest food trade associations have entirely missed the boat on an emerging trend which has huge profitability written all over it. The vast opportunity, the equivalent of the “Go West Young Man”
Social responsible investing (SRI) is defined as the investment process in which “investors weigh the social and financial returns they expect from an investment in different ways. They will often accept lower financial returns in order to generate greater social impact.” Another more upbeat definition is: “SRI is an alternative investment philosophy and strategy seeks to encourage…
Russell Investments is on the block for a reported $2.8 billion asking price and is set to be acquired by the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Russell was purchased by Northwestern Mutual for $1.2 billion in 1999 and made an infusion of about $764 million when Russell’s money market fund dipped below the $1 mark in…
A recent article noted that two powerful financial services lobbying groups are warning that if the SEC pushes for adopting a universal fiduciary standard will be very expensive for financial firms. But since individual investors have few advocates in Washington, no one has bothered to ask how much money the existing, non-fiduciary system costs millions…
With over $2.8 trillion in assets at the end of 2088, target-date funds (TDFs) continue to be the default provision favorite for millions of future retirees as part of the Pension Protection Act of 2006. But despite their wild popularity, TDFs have yet to overcome what many consider some fundamental design flaws that make them…
At one time, Europe was considered the trendsetter in fashion, design and political thought. Now, a new study by Greenwich Research shows that Europe is leading the way in fee reductions and introducing new investment products centered around ETFs and specialized funds. The reason for the re-positioning is due to Europe’s new economic realities. The…
Average Annual Total Returns (as of 10-31-2011) YTD Returns at NAV 1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years 15 Years Standard & Poor’s 500 Composite Index N/A 8.07% 11.41% 0.25% 3.69% 5.77% DJIA N/A 10.34% 11.80% 2.53% 5.39% 7.04% NASDAQ N/A 7.06% 15.97% 2.55% 4.73% 5.39%…
From about 1991 to 2001, Japan suffered what is called its “Lost Decade,” as a result of steep declines in housing prices and the stock market. During this period, commercial real estate prices fell by about 87%, accompanied by economic stagnation and deflation. This period saw the stock market decline by 60% between late-1989 and…
It looks like the New World Economic Order has gone mainstream. That seems to be the case when Merrill Lynch Wealth Management offers its opinion about the re-alignment of the global economy, the idea of buy-and- hold investing, the role of commodities in a portfolio, risk management and the declining role of the U.S. consumer…
Companies with good corporate governance standards—those that avoided no poison pills, staggered boards, golden parachutes, and other practices favoring management—helped boost share prices, according to a new study by three university professors: Lucian Bebchuk of Harvard Law School; Alma Cohen of Tel Aviv University and Charles C. Y. Wang of Stanford. The study found that…
First it was individual stock selection, than manager expertise, then investment styles (e.g., large-cap, small cap value), then asset allocation. Now, a new study shows that the industry fashion is alternatives, which is a general term for both alternative strategies (long-short, leveraged, or absolute return) and the foray into different sectors (commodities, real estate) or…
Master limited partnerships offer tax advantages that can be useful to investors.
The current gatherings of anti-Wall Street protestors seem like amorphous groups, but the protests center around a variety of issues related to financial insecurity. According to the protestors, every class strata, with the obvious exception, is financially stressed and their losses in home equity and market portfolios will take years to recover. Consider that the…
While large segments of the financial services industry focus on wealth management, a larger and more ominous number of financial reps will soon be practicing financial planning in an era of wealth destruction. The odd thing is that both financial planners will work with the same fundamentals. A Credit Suisse report on July 28, 2011,…
