New rankings show that Delaware is a better place to hide money than Switzerland. While this may come as a surprise to most Americans, financial sector analyst Heather Lowe says that it is not a surprise to the world’s criminals. Question: would that be in, uh, Dollars?? Spin, spin, spin… Watch the video

The greatest transfer of wealth in history is old news – but now that baby Boomer recipients are beginning to retire, on the heels of the meltdown, how will this affect the industry?

Changing client investment parameters are leaving some firms scrambling to adapt. The aftershocks of the Financial crisis are reverberating in portfolio allocation, and sweeping changes may result for the industry, from a service provider perspective (and then of course there will be regulatory reform, but that’s another horse entirely) . With more than a trillion dollars lost by those about to retire, many would be retirees are reportedly allocating an increasing portion of assets out of growth oriented products like equities, an into income producing products and managed accounts, according to a recent report released by consulting firm Deloitte LLP. (more…)

Small brokers are reporting marked gains in client share as well higher quality Brokers. This comes as a surprise to many in financial services, since bailouts and government loans have bolstered the positions of the Big Firms.

Ironically, it may be the very fact of government intervention – combined with the failures at virtually all big firms – that has contributed to the trend. (more…)

The past few months have been harrowing ones for investors and the world’s financial markets, shaken by the subprime crises, credit crunches, and other ills.

Although, at times like these, it becomes difficult to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, the prevailing assumption among investors should be that recessions and bear markets come and go, and that things will work out in the end, much as they have since the Great Depression.
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Over the last few decades, conventional investment wisdom has taught most investors to seek the highest return from growth stocks, create diversified, yet passive (buy and hold), portfolio allocations, and ignore short-term volatility in order to reap the benefits of rising stock prices over time. In theory, this strategy can work for them. (more…)

Alpha is the difference between a fund’s actual performance and the performance anticipated in light of the fund’s risk (beta) and the market’s behavior. In other words, the value delivered by the fund’s manager above the relevant investment category’s benchmark index. The chart below represents 113 fund families with at least 7 equity funds with 3 years of past performance — the minimum time required to receive an alpha rating — and represents the collective alpha of the family’s equity funds for the period 2004-2006. (more…)

 

 Which Fund Families Have the Best Managers? [17:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Alcoa is once again on the clock. What were their “whisper numbers” this quarter? Did you hear ABC, Inc. missed by a penny? Were there any non-recurring charges that impacted profits? How was managements’ forecast for the full-fiscal year? Comments like these can only mean one thing…It must be earnings season again! (more…)

Following the U.S. equity market declines in 2001, which were accompanied by historically low interest rates, many of my more income-oriented clients began searching for investment vehicles that would produce yields higher than traditional bonds. Resource-oriented shares in U.S.-based Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) and Canadian Royalty Trusts (CANROY) appeared to be attractive. Both investment vehicles are natural resource related. The main difference, however, is that MLP’s are indirectly tied to the price of commodities and the CANROY’s provide an almost pure play in the price of oil, coal, and natural gas. (more…)

For years, investors throughout Canada, the United States, and elsewhere participated in Canadian Income Trusts, most often for the tax-efficient status they enjoyed. The trust structure allowed the issuing businesses or flow-through entities (FTE) to distribute their operating income to unit-holders and avoid paying traditional corporate taxes in the process. (more…)

The securities industry continues to fall over itself to introduce securities whose aim is to capture market share by offering greater portfolio diversification. While no one is arguing against portfolio allocation as the key to successful investing, this explosive product trend brings as much redundancy as novelty to the ongoing portfolio optimization process.

Among the dozens of new means that one can enhance risk-adjusted performance through expanding market-sector exposure, there are several fund vehicles that present an opportunity for tactically managing portfolio risk to effectively enhance risk-adjusted returns. (more…)