Financial Planning, Investment & Insurance Solutions

  • One Hit Wonders

    One Hit Wonders

    The one hit wonder is a particular phenomenon in music that can be traced back to the inception of the Billboard Hot 100 music chart during the late 1950’s in the US. Generally speaking, it’s a singer or band who may have topped the music charts (or at least made the top 10) in a particular country, or even around the world, with one song, but never came close to reaching those heights ever again. It can be a subjective measure. Maybe an artist had a big hit across the world or in the US and was never really heard…

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  • Client Alpha

    Client Alpha

    The concept of adviser alpha has been floating around for several years now. We talk about it on a regular basis without explicitly naming it, but we specifically discussed it back in 2019. From an adviser context ‘alpha’ is essentially an excess return above what an investor may have achieved otherwise without an using an adviser. That’s the value the investor receives from an advice relationship. Various sections of the industry define adviser alpha (or adviser value) various ways, but from a high level these are the key areas: Goals: has someone identified their goals and do they know the asset…

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  • 2021 June Quarter Review

    2021 June Quarter Review

    Economic Overview Attention turned to vaccinations and reopening economies in the second quarter of 2021, by the end of the quarter over 3 billion vaccine doses had been administered globally. There are now strong indicators of a robust and lengthy economic expansion ahead. Around the world there are now businesses desperate to hire new employees, millions of consumers with money burning holes in their pockets, and ongoing fiscal and monetary support from governments and central banks. In the US, the positive news around COVID was vaccinations. While President Biden had set a goal of 70% of all adults vaccinated by…

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  • Good and Getting Better!

    Good and Getting Better!

    “Good and getting better!” Those are the first words he says every time he visits our office. The question he’s asked that prompts such positivity? “How have you been?” He’s a long-term client, now into his mid 50’s whose optimism never fails to impress us. You might be wondering why is this man so positive? There could be plenty of reasons. Some people may call him an optimist. “Well, you know, I think there will be a market crash next year.” Those were some of the words of a young man who called us up trying to figure out some…

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  • Gambling, Speculating & Investing

    Gambling, Speculating & Investing

    I said, “So, Walter, errr, script’s pretty good, huh?” And he said, “The script sucks, kid. I owe my bookie $2 million.” And that was Kevin Pollack’s introduction to Walter Matthau on the set of Grumpy Old Men. It was said Matthau lost $50 million gambling over his lifetime. Matthau’s gambling addiction was so legendary, the odds he’d given each NFL team of winning the Superbowl that season were printed on the back of the program at his memorial service. Were Walter Matthau alive today, you’d wonder whether he’d still be dedicating his time gambling on horses and sports teams given the current obsession…

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