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The Blog

Weekly insights on the markets, economy, and financial planning

The Fund with the Odd Name

Puzzle Pieces

When first mentioned in client meetings, the Merger Fund sometimes elicits looks of confusion or curiosity from its name alone. It doesn’t sound like the other names in your portfolio, and it doesn’t act like them either. It’s considered an …

An Affirmation from Morningstar

Morningstar 2013 Fund Manager

Morningstar announced last week their selections for their 2013 Fund Manager of the Year awards. We were pleased to learn that Dan Ivascyn and Alfred Murata, managers of the PIMCO Income fund, were selected as Fixed-Income Fund Managers of the …

Low for Longer: A More Active Approach to Fixed Income

Road

“Low for Longer” is Blackrock’s investment theme heading in to 2014. The Low for Longer tag line is their way of expressing a forecast of tepid economic growth, easy monetary policy and, consequently, low interest rates. Investment catchphrases such as …

An Interview with Brian Miller: BlackRock Global Allocation Fund

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While visiting BlackRock’s New York offices on a due diligence trip in October, Bryan Zschiesche of Financial Synergies had the opportunity to interview Brian Miller, CFA, Portfolio Specialist for the BlackRock Global Allocation fund. The Global Allocation fund is a …

Worst Case Scenarios

iceberg

Negativity has permeated our society of late. Predictions of disastrous consequences from the federal debt ceiling impasse abound. Some pundits worry that inflation arising from dramatic increases in the monetary supply will surely diminish our future lifestyles. European sovereign debt crises will eventually contaminate the American banking system, and global warming will cause our coastal […]

Is Now a Good Time to Start Investing?

AdjustTime

“Is now a good time to start investing?” It’s a simple question, but it’s almost impossible to answer because it requires a market prediction. Most people agree that trying to predict the market is impossible, but it’s human nature to …

Syria and the Market

Flags

The situation in Syria has gone from bad to worse over the last few weeks. The U.S. and allies are preparing for a possible military strike against President Assad’s regime in a country that has been torn apart by a brutal civil war. …

Change in Commodities

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For the same reason we liquidated our position in TIPS (Treasury Inflation Protected Securities) earlier this year, we’ve made a change in the commodities category. You might be asking yourself, why would terminating a bond position like TIPS prompt a …

Flexibility: The Antidote for Interest Rate Uncertainty

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Much of our latest due diligence and fund research has focused on bonds, and that research recently led us to make a fairly dramatic change to our clients’ bond allocations. Three funds have been eliminated from our portfolios and two …

View Our 1st Qtr Newsletter

Inside this Issue

We are pleased to announce the redesign of our Quarterly Newsletter. Click here to view the 1st quarter newsletter, which was published on 4/15/2013. Feedback and comments are welcome.

The Annual End of the World

Time mag

There are millions of intelligent people in this country (don’t laugh- seriously!), many of whom invest their money in the securi­ties markets. Why, then, are there so few genuinely successful investors? In my opin­ion, the answer is simple – they …

Benchmarks and Investor Psychology

Busines Man Trees

Growing up on the east coast, your per­ception of Texas is what you might see in old John Wayne westerns. When I told my friends and family I was planning on mov­ing here, I could see wild visions floating through …

Cash Alternatives: Getting More Bang for Your Buck

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As you know, in 2011 we reduced our liquid Money Market Fund (Cash) positions from 5% to 2% in most of our portfolios. We then allocated the 3% balance to the Ridgeworth U.S. Government Ultra-Short Bond Fund (SIGVX). We are …

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