The Cash-Sweep Lawsuits Make a Strong Argument–for Fiduciary Advice
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The Cash-Sweep Lawsuits Make a Strong Argument–for Fiduciary Advice

Never has cash been so controversial in wealth management. Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo, LPL, and many other brokerage firms are currently facing lawsuits over the low interest rates they pay on accounts that hold clients’ uninvested cash. The hoopla over cash sweeps—which has attracted regulatory notice as well—hinges on whether clients are entitled to the…

Tax Efficiency: Vast Benefits Easily Overlooked       
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Tax Efficiency: Vast Benefits Easily Overlooked       

Traditional investment advice normally focuses on allocation into buckets. These buckets could be traditional mutual funds, or ETFs, or managed accounts holding individual stocks. In most cases, the allocation buckets are tactically rearranged, and the securities within mutual funds and managed accounts are also actively rearranged. This process of rearranging can easily result in realized…

Expect to Bleed at the Cutting Edge
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Expect to Bleed at the Cutting Edge

It is quite fun to try to predict the future and invest in companies in the sweet spot of your prognostications. Investing in long-term growth trends with short-term dislocations is a viable strategy, and we do this often. But finding the “next big thing” is entirely different and is fraught with pitfalls. Such positioning comes…

Segment Unveils Initiatives to Navigate Market Volatility
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Segment Unveils Initiatives to Navigate Market Volatility

With almost 40 years of investing experience, Baumgarten is revealing how he applies keen knowledge and his eye for tracking the latest financial developments to Segment Wealth’s advisory practice. “During inflation, cash is under attack, so items such as property and investments will generally do better. Specifically assets like collectibles, ranches, prime real estate, even…

Resist ESG Investing
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Resist ESG Investing

Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG Investing) is the new popular trend in investment evaluation whereby investors use non-financial factors to screen investment options. As it gains popularity for its feel-good effects, it is currently enjoying outsized results as investors jump on the bandwagon. But as ESG separates its winners and losers, as is clearly the…

ESG? Not So Fast.
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ESG? Not So Fast.

Gil penned a piece on ESG Investing in Financial Advisor Magazine! Do well by doing good. That’s the trendy, feel-good mantra of ESG (environmental, social, governance) investing proponents. It’s much the same claim as electric cars being environmentally friendly. The carbon footprint of an electric car battery is far worse than a gas-powered car’s lifetime of…

Percentage Returns Are Not Created Equal
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Percentage Returns Are Not Created Equal

There is nothing more mesmerizing than eye-popping percentage returns. While investors equate high returns to transactional intelligence, studies routinely show that randomness and luck are the far more likely explanations. Investors often don’t fully appreciate that all percentage returns are not created equal. These occasional high returns earned by aggressive investments give them a marketing edge when investors…

Predictably Irrational Investing
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Predictably Irrational Investing

The field of economics has long assumed that people make decisions that optimize their own utility, and to derive the greatest benefit for themselves. However, psychological studies show that we humans do not do this, but rather we often make irrational choices, and we do so predictably. In this case, irrational investing choices. The reason we…

Ego Rush of Short-Term Investment Victories
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Ego Rush of Short-Term Investment Victories

Back in the pre-Covid glory days, when you could have charity golf tournaments, I played in the LifeHouse tournament at Carlton Woods. I’m not much of a golfer, and because it’s such a time-consuming hobby, I tend to stick with things for which I have a natural propensity. I mention this because this tournament was…

Odds-On Favorite Stock For 2021
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Odds-On Favorite Stock For 2021

Whatever you are doing that’s working, stop it. The cyclicality in investing is profoundly impactful. Unfortunately, most investors misread the signals and misplay their hand. They look for trends that have persisted and invest late in the game, often just in time for the reversal. Therefore, investing in last year’s loser is often a better…

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