You don't have to be an expert to engage a business owner in the process of creating solutions to small business issues.
Contact your local Financial Independence Group representative or your AIG wholesaler. We can help you leverage these topics to grow your business and provide real value to your clients.
©2019 AIG All rights reserved.
ACM Mission Statement Alphastar's mission is to lead the next generation of registered investment advisor (RIA) firms by providing unparalleled service & support to our investment advisor representatives in the field.
Alphastar's unique business model provides flexibility to the advisor by combining a service model linked to investment management. In other words, Alphastar partners with advisors in ways other RIAs may not. We provide sales support and resources to ensure you're able to focus on your core competency. Alphastar does all the heavy lifting so you may focus on client relationships and asset acquisition. Options of affiliation include becoming an IAR or via a sub-advisory agreement with your RIA to access our money management platform. Regardless, you have full access to all the services we provide.
Financial Independence Group strategically partners with Alphastar Capital Management, an SEC Registered Adviser. While these entities remain separate, we provide a strategic alliance with an independent RIA for those wishing to expand their business practices in representing managed portfolios.
To learn more, visit www.alphastarcm.com or call (855) 340-2514.
Cover Concept	J. Wesley Knowles	CopyrightŠ 2019 by Financial Independence Group, LLC. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Financial Independence Group, LLC.
FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE GROUP EXECUTIVE TEAM DR. WILLIAM H. CAIN Chief Executive Officer Bill received his undergraduate degree in Speech and a graduate degree in Theology. He received the degree, Doctor of Education, from the University of NC at Greensboro. Bill began his career in the insurance industry in 1976. For more than 25 years he has recruited and trained agents. He is an author, including training manuals for agents and a national speaker. As CEO of Financial Independence Group, Inc., Bill researches the market for the best products and directs his staff to give the best service in the industry.
ERICKA CAIN Executive Administrator Ericka's passion for top-notch service has helped to streamline a multitude of contracts, new business, policy issues, commission accounting, and service challenges. Since joining her husband, Bill, at Financial Independence Group in 1987, Ericka has played a major role in the company's development as the Office Manager and in 2000 as Chief Administrative Officer. In 2018 she moved into a new role as the Executive Administrator where she continues to add her expertise finding solutions for a variety of challenges that beset our industry and daily business.
BRIAN WILLIAMS Chief Operating Officer As COO and partner of Financial Independence Group, Brian is responsible for the overall business operations of the company. He works with his colleagues on the executive team to develop global strategies and direction for Financial Independence Group with a goal of providing opportunities for advisors while progressively integrating internal efficiencies for greater effectiveness. He also oversees all areas of IT as well as compliance.
MIKE MULLAN Chief Financial Officer Mike began his tenure in June 2002. Mike started as an annuity sales consultant where he was responsible for helping independent financial advisors increase their annuity production as well as helping to grow their overall practices. He quickly became one of the top annuity marketers and built a book of business that produced over $100 million annually in production. In January of 2009, he accepted the position of Chief Financial Officer. He is currently an owner and officer, and looks forward to continuing to help Financial Independence Group grow and succeed.
JIM COOPER Chief Marketing Officer As CMO, Jim directly oversees All Points Media (APM), the marketing division of Financial Independence Group. Jim sees what he does on a day-to-day basis as relationship building. He feels advisors not only need to have a strong relationship with their clients, but also with their marketing organization. Jim believes the independent financial advisor is our client and we are never going to forget that. He continuously works to make our clients the best advisors they can be. "Our work today is better than yesterday, and our work tomorrow will be better than today," is the motto Jim leads by.
TRACIA CERICOLA Chief Administrative Officer Previously, Tracia served as the Director of Administrative Services. In her current role as Chief Administrative Officer, Tracia is responsible for overseeing the operations of the administrative departments. These departments include contracting, case managers, and the front desk. She works with departmental team leads to assess current policies and procedures in the various departments and oversees the implementation of changes to ensure efficiency and the outstanding customer service for which Financial Independence Group is known.
NICHOLAS ROSS Chief Distribution Officer Nicholas has been in financial services for over 20 years and his passion for the financial sector is relentless. His experiences range from a retail financial advisor and executive at a registered investment advisor - broker-dealer, to ten years inside one of the largest privately-held brokerage general agencies in the world. For over five years, Nicholas has tailored solutions for entrepreneurial financial professionals with one goal in mind – to fulfill the vision of becoming the very best. Nicholas serves four verticals in his current role within Financial Independence Group: Surge Business Consulting, Next Continuity and Succession, leading managing directors, and institutional sales.
Annuities are designed to meet long-term needs for retirement income by providing tax deferral, a death benefit during the accumulation phase, and a guaranteed stream of income at retirement. Our track record shows that income benefits for Allianz fixed index annuities (either built-in or via an optional rider for an additional cost) have provided clients with income increases. That's important – because even guaranteed lifetime income needs the potential to increase to help your clients address inflation. And every time there's an income payment increase, that new higher payment is guaranteed for the rest of that client's life (as long as the terms of the contract are followed).
SEE THE COMPLETE 9-YE AR HISTORY AT www.allianzlife.com/theproof.
There is no guarantee that a contract will receive an increase in any given year.
The contact listed is not an affiliate of the companies of OneAmerica.
is the marketing name for the companies of OneAmerica | OneAmerica.com © 2017 OneAmerica Financial Partners, Inc. All rights reserved.
Director of Marketing Liz leads an incredibly talented group of professionals at APM, our marketing division, who are committed to providing advisors with the marketing tools and strategies they need to grow their business and make a difference in the lives of their clients.
Director of Business Development Kevin leads both the sales and marketing divisions for Alphastar Capital Management (ACM). Kevin has over a decade of financial services experience across multiple focuses from leading operations to serving as a financial advisor. His extensive work in the sales and marketing divisions of various industries serves him well as he continues to promote and encourage the ACM value proposition to the clients and advisors that we serve.
Senior Vice President Institutional Accounts Before joining FIG, Matt successfully managed institutional account relationships with one of the largest Brokerage General Agents (BGAs) in the country. Matt focuses on educating financial advisors on incorporating risk management planning into their practice and the value of collaborating and leveraging industry resources. Matt concentrates on recruiting and managing FIG's broker-dealer (BD), RIA, and bank alliances.
Director of Compliance Paul collaborates with FIG's advisors and internal staff to find solutions to their compliance questions and potential regulatory issues. He's a member of the International Association of Risk and Compliance Professionals and has a Certified Risk and Compliance Management Professional designation. He currently holds FINRA Series 6, 7, 9, 10, 24, 26, 53, 63 and 66 licenses. Additionally, Paul has a North Carolina Life Insurance License and is a North Carolina Notary Public.
Investment Advisor Consultant A member of Alphastar's sales & marketing teams with the primary responsibility of overseeing the Pathways new advisor training program. Brooks works to prospect, on-board, and coach newly licensed investment advisors to ensure that they are able to efficiently and properly build a productive advisory business. He brings 8+ years of sales experience in the investment management industry to the Alphastar team.
Managing Director of Schechter Aaron works with high net worth individuals, families, business owners, and their advisors to bring them advanced financial planning solutions. Aaron heads the firm's branch of Private Capital, including deal sourcing, due diligence, deal structuring, and market opportunity identification. He's also instrumental in the development of correlated and non-correlated investment alternatives, helping identify investment allocations, and manager selection.
Vice President - Annuity Sales Brian believes that it is his duty to provide a unique relationship based service experience while recommending the best companies for performance, service, safety and commission. Brian works diligently with his producers to help them meet their personal goals within their yearly business plans and helps to make sure they stay on track with their marketing efforts so that they can continue to stay in front of new prospects.
Copywriter Mark's "jack-of-all-trades" mentality has made him both knowledgeable and passionate in advertising, digital and social media marketing, and of course— copywriting. Responsible for creating captivating content and convincing copy across the board for Financial Independence Group, he has a knack for making the most complex financial topics simple to understand.
Marketing Media Specialist Wes has been involved as an artist & designer with the nationally recognized brands of Spectrum, The DNC, Amway, NBA Charlotte Hornets, AHL Charlotte Checkers, and the NFL Carolina Panthers. Wes joined All Points Media in 2014 and delivers his insight to an already strong group of designers and marketers with his many years of experience in publication production, copywriting, and art direction.
'll bet that a majority of retirement income projections are overstated, misrepresented, and quite frankly, may be wrong.
at the time and needed their retirement assets to produce income to cover their Social Security gap—similar to many situations you see on any given day.
and the account value doubled through their lifetime, making the illustration look like it was unbeatable.
WHY WOULD IT DO THAT? Because the illustration software showed a static 8% return every year. It didn't show the ups and downs of the market. So, you can quickly see that if you are taking 5% out, but gain 8% each year, it'll always increase. Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? That's because it is. Return sequencing really doesn't matter if you're not taking withdrawals from your accounts.
can cause a long-lasting negative effect on account values in the future. It will also be detrimental for future income as well. This is the definition of sequence of return risk. What you may be thinking right now is, "What about my clients who are going to start taking income from their accounts today or in the very near future?" Where should that income come from? Should they take it from their managed accounts, or should they take it from an annuity contract that protects them from downside risk?
It's my opinion that it's almost always more advantageous to the client to withdrawal money from an annuity contract that can protect them from high volatility and the potential for negative returns. Take the first scenario above for example. If during those same years of 2000 to 2017 your client had a fixed index annuity (FIA) with a 50% par rate and received "zeros" in the negative years of 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2008; their $500,000 would be worth $316,068 after taking $25,000 annually—inflation adjusted at 3%—for those same 18 years.
income and account values should look like during the drawdown years. In addition, the use of income riders could be helpful when projecting the client taking income longer than 20 years and past their life expectancy. Ultimately, the goal isn't to have your client outlive their assets during retirement. This can be projected in many ways, but my advice is to be mindful of how your illustration software works so that 10 years later, you don't have to readjust your projections because of software fallacies.
The future of financial services is here. It simply hasn't been widely accepted yet. Usually a laggard to innovation, financial services is drastically evolving. Looking at 2018, every advisor can construct a quick list of available advancements that alter the way financial advisors and retail consumers conduct business. This year, it'll be another year of drastic change for financial services. Consumers will continue to scrutinize the value aspect of their financial services alliances. Technology will add efficiencies in everything from process competences, timing of transactions, and even the way we communicate with clients.
where to go to get the right alliances for their business. The Wealth Counselor™ will have a great opportunity—and responsibility—to selectively align with the perfect partners for them and their clients. Is that how you envision yourself?
Requirements for Alignment Three specific requirements of your broker-dealer (BD), registered investment advisor (RIA), and IMO/ BGA include: guidance and pure recommendations, expertise in products and process, and regulatory and compliance comprehension. You're hired to provide advice. And you remain hired if the client believes the advice is superior to other sources. Growing complexities in today's households place greater emphasis on objective guidance and education in specific household planning recommendations. Wealth counselors like yourself must confirm who they choose to work with and through to construct the right solutions for any given plan. The alliance must be educated and able to be diverse in recommendations. You must not favor any institution. You must remain agile as new facts are discovered in the planning process. Any lesser result may cost time—and most importantly—the client relationship. Regularly test your strategic alliances for consistent expert planning output.
Retail clients have access to product intelligence with single clicks. From health to hospitality, consumers are conditioned to do homework. Finance is no exception. Expect clients to come to you with questions and ideas of their own. Not to implement necessarily, but to seek your professional expertise to execute on their behalf. This forces you, The Wealth Counselor™ to ensure your alliances have superb and creative planning knowledge in their respective fields. You should never feel that you need to question outputs or be required to seek second opinions. You should have as much confidence in your strategic alliances as your own staff. Regulation and a client-centric authority are here to stay. Most of you will confidently state that you have and will always remain client-centric in all they conduct and recommend. That doesn't mean regulators will agree and not fight for continued consumer protectionary methods and rules. This will be costly for your business and require you to continuously adjust business practices and processes.
Welcome to tomorrow, today. Your alliances should not only fully understand adjustments, they should be able to swiftly enact changes that make regulatory changes easy on your business model and protect you from issues. Some alliances may provide you with expert counsel on rules and regulation, while the best firms will be there with ongoing resources and processes to help make conducting business simplistic. As you decide how and whom to conduct business with, be certain to have a plan for your selection and ongoing diligence. The future of financial services will get easier in some ways and tighter in others. As you face your valued client base, be certain you have the very best behind you. s ©Surge Business Consulting 2019. All Rights Reserved. The thoughts and opinions expressed herein are those of its authors only. This is not tax or legal advice. This article is for educational purposes only. Written exclusively for Financial Independence Group. This article shall not be circulated without expressed written permission from Surge Business Consulting or Financial Independence Group.
When it comes to your investment goals, limiting exposure to market downturns may be as important as capturing market appreciation. Alphastar Capital Management offers Betashield™ – a risk mitigation strategy designed to guard investment portfolios from catastrophic losses. The Betashield™ strategy is a globally diversified asset allocation model portfolio that uses portfolio value signals that when triggered, relocates a predetermined percentage of portfolio holdings in both times of market advancement and market downturns. The strategy allows you to participate in potential market appreciation while managing market risk. Portfolio values are monitored and trade signals are adjusted higher during periods of portfolio appreciation. This "adjusted floor" is designed to allow you remain invested while protecting part of the prior appreciation of the portfolio. Contact Alphastar Capital Management to learn more about Betashield™ and how these strategies may assist your current investment portfolio or investing needs.
www.betashield.io All investments involve the risk of potential investment losses. Past performance is not a guarantee or predictor of future results. Betashield™ portfolio strategies are not a guarantee against loss or declines in the value of a portfolio. Draw down targets can not be guaranteed. Advertisement is not an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any security or other financial instrument or to adopt a particular investment strategy. Refer to www.betashield.io for more information. Investment advisory services are offered through Alphastar Capital Management LLC ("Alphastar"), a SEC registered investment adviser.
The investment management industry is taking notice of Horizon Investments and their goals-based approach to asset management. A client's life and financial objectives should be determined as early as possible, so that effective plans can be implemented to achieve financial stability and success. Whether working toward financial independence, retirement, or some other monetary target, formulating a proper plan to reach financial goals during the different stages of life is essential. Developing a framework to achieve financial success can be simplified when consulting trained professionals. One firm that has created strategies to meet goals-based investment needs is Horizon Investments. Horizon was recognized for their work during the 2018 Envestnet Advisor Summit when their firm was awarded both Envestnet's 2018 Manager of the Year and Strategist of the Year.
The Horizon/Alphastar partnership has created Betashield™, a model targeted around maximum drawdowns. Utilizing the Betashield™ framework gives both an advisor and their client some information about risk in an absolute way. The cooperation among Alphastar, FIG, and Horizon Investments has created a great deal of synergy and innovation, which continues to strengthen.
Investment solutions that achieve investors' financial objectives are far superior when allied with experienced, knowledgeable and trustworthy partners. There is now a new appreciation for asset management alongside financial planning that work in tandem for better wealth management. Goals-based investing is being recognized as an important piece of the financial wellness landscape. Setting goals and having a framework that strives to meet financial objectives will help in the attempt to achieve financial rewards while trying to minimize challenges.
Innovation is a necessary part of financial technology (fintech) in the modern financial planning marketplace. Horizon and Alphastar regularly make enhancements to their technology offerings to complement the investment strategies and products that they provide to their advisors. Robbie mentions, "One example is text alerts regarding risk for portfolios, this is something we are looking at. We have created a committee with members from the teams at Horizon and Alphastar. This committee is very successful in bringing disparate talents together to develop and operate the products. They also bring concerns to the council to ensure our products are functioning properly." Horizon Investments provides financial advisors a full suite of cutting-edge goals-based investment management, risk mitigation, and practice management tools. Resources and solutions that strive to help advisors and their clients position wealth to reach life goals.
JULY 25-26 | CHARLOTTE, NC More information coming soon!
"I don't really care about converting leads," said no financial professional ever. Let's face it: Converting your leads into prospects, and those prospects into clients, is the lifeline of your business. But, that doesn't make generating leads and converting them easy. In fact, prospecting is one of the biggest challenges advisors face. It's difficult getting strangers to stumble upon your website—or even better— your office. Especially when there are so many competitors out there. From Sally down the street to the newest robo-advisor, you must be on top of your conversion game to reign supreme in today's advising environment. Follow this list of advisor lead conversion tips, though, and you'll be on your way to securing more clients for your business. Let's get started.
making the trip. Whatever small moments you choose, be sure to make that prospect feel like your most important client.
Social media and digital marketing are excellent ways to draw in potential clients. The days of solely relying on brochures, referrals, and direct mailers have passed. LinkedIn is an especially great way to find new prospects and nurture relationships, due to its professional nature. Prospect connections, join groups, get involved, and reap the benefits of the goldmine that is LinkedIn.
people who would rather golf and sail, or throw darts and bowl? There's a plethora of different demographics to go after, so do your research and make a targeted approach. Focus on your niche and you'll avoid many problems that can come with the one-sizefits-all advisor. Because at the end of the day, having an effective niche will see your conversion rates soar.
Financial services are unique in the sense that you're dealing with intangible products and services. It's not like people are buying a new iPad from you—they're giving you access to their hard-earned savings and assets. With that in mind, education is the name of the game for advisors who want long-lasting, trusted relationships with prospects. When you're interacting with prospects, try educating them properly with—you guessed it—quality content. It'll further your standing as a thought leader (especially if you wrote it) and will be more effective than what the often-misinformed Internet can provide. Then, give them time and space to think about their decision. Let them digest the information. They'll be able to absorb it, learn something new, and that will eventually lead to their selection process. And if your content is good, your professionalism is known, and your accolades trusted; they'll most likely return for your services.
Processes definitely matter, but without seeing the outcomes, they aren't all that useful. As an advisor, part of your job is to show prospects where their finances have gone wrong, or where they could be better—maybe they're investing poorly, or perhaps they're living a bit lavish. The point is, you shouldn't just show them how you can help them. Instead, allow them to envision their possibilities.
Where do they want to be in life when they reach retirement age? How would they benefit if their financial worries were gone? Allow them to peek into their future, to look behind the curtain, to envision the life they've imagined. Once they can visualize it, then you can talk about the process to get them there. But if they can't ever see the end of the road, they may be less likely to commit to your plan.
Just in: People are different! Individuals and couples have vast differences in their retirement vision, investing goals, and finances in general.
their vision, and what they seek in their finances. Then, as a team, commit to a well thought out process that ends with their vision a reality. This will boost your closing rates.
In retirement, a lot of people dream of golfing every day of their retirement in Florida or the Carolinas. Others envision a quaint mountain cabin deep in the Rockies. Yet others want to stay in their current homes, simply relaxing and living their lives how they please.
When it comes to converting leads, you should be following at least a couple of these tips. It's a prolific time to be an advisor, with an average of 10,000 Baby Boomers reaching retirement age every day, and an even bigger generation right behind them (Millennials) who continue to seek out help with their finances.
Indeed, advisors have opportunities they've never seen before—if they know where to look. By using these effective lead conversion tactics, you can secure more clients and capitalize on the two largest generations in history needing your financial expertise.
Alphastar was founded in 2011 with a rigid focus and investment philosophy that has allowed us to further learn what advisors genuinely wanted. Over the years, our eyes have been opened to more opportunities in front of us which have highlighted affairs that are most important to a majority of advisors. Those discoveries confirmed what we always believed: that most advisors desire to develop a partnership with an experienced team. One they can trust and collaborate with to help them serve their clients better. There are many ways to address a problem, achieve a goal, or realize investment returns. Similar to the way Financial Independence Group (FIG) advisors utilize a variety of insurance products, riders, and indexes; Alphastar advisors prefer to use an assortment of methods and strategies to achieve their clients' investment and planning goals. Our platform has opened up to accommodate a range of strategic and tactical methods: from algorithms to buy and hold to funds and ETFs versus individual securities. The Alphastar investment team (along with a multitude of investment partners) has constructed efficient and effective platforms equipped to address almost any client or advisor need.
WHAT WE OFFER Currently, we have over 60 different investment models to choose from and blend together to serve a variety of needs and objectives. Among those offerings is Betashield™. Launched in 2017 in partnership with Horizon Investments, Betashield™ is a risk mitigation strategy designed to lower a client's downside risk. This plan of action has become one of our advisors' preferred portfolios for retirees as we trek through an increasingly volatile marketplace. In early 2019, we launched another enthusiastic partnership with Madrona Financial Services. This alliance offers advisors access to the Delaware statutory trust (DST) 1031 real estate market. We're always proactive in our search for opportunities that'll serve our advisors' clients. Alphastar is focused on pioneering ideas that remain grounded, while allowing our advisors to expand their practices to new and evolving areas. To remain efficient, it's essential to incorporate technology in today's financial environment. Our team has developed an advisor portal in order to simplify our advisors' work, abilities, and business transactions. With our Orion integration, we can create unified management accounts (UMAs) that are specific to a client's needs. This provides advisors, the client, and the back office a virtual interface rivaling any firm in the industry. This flexibility—blended with the consistency of our model approach—gives our advisors and their clients a fully scalable offering regardless of client size.
A READIED AND EXPERIENCED TEAM Furthermore, our experienced team is always ready to assist our advisors to grow their overall success. Alphastar has a financial and investment planning team led by a chartered financial analyst (CFA) and a certified financial planner (CFP) that allows one-on-one client-specific discussion and analysis. This provision helps to ensure that our advisors' clients are treated with the utmost care and respect. Alphastar also works directly with advisors to learn about the client's goals and risk tolerance. Our team can build personalized reports utilizing some of the best tools on the market with Riskalyze, Hidden Levers, Morningstar, and YCharts, just to name a few. The Alphastar planning desk has proved to be an invaluable resource to our advisors. It's not only a time saver, but is also a way to gain professional insight while striving to give clients the best chance of success. Our team of advisor partners is growing, too, and so is our home office team. We're bringing on a chief compliance officer and chief investment officer to help Alphastar continue to grow in the right way. This asset growth and human capital happened solely from the growth and success of our amazing advisors. And we're honored to partner with them each and every day. s Interested in exploring a partnership with us and joining the excitement at Alphastar Capital Management? Visit us on the web at www.alphastarcm.com.
An advisor makes the call to Financial Independence Group to discuss a long-term care (LTC) need his 78-year-old female client has expressed interest in. This is a straightforward request we see daily; the client has some money on the sidelines to fund the LTC need with the desire to see a couple traditional options and an asset-based (or linked benefit) option.
The advisor was ecstatic, as was the client. The dollars she had reserved for LTC are now working for her in other investment vehicles recommended by the advisor and he's busy profiling his book of business for similar value-add situations where this concept works in the best interest of his clients.
Upon the advisor walking through what the client had in place, he was stopped after listing a couple variable annuities that were out of surrender with a low-cost basis and having significant gains that you don't want your clients paying taxes on.
Our consultant suggested leveraging monies in the VAs through a 1035 exchange into OneAmerica's assetcare product. With this scenario, the advisor moved roughly $100,000 (non-qualified) into the asset-based LTC product and accomplished much more than just putting LTC coverage in place.
RetireUp Pro integrates with Riskalyze software. We're proud to announce the integration of RetireUp Pro with Riskalyze, a software aimed at financial professionals to get risk assessments for client portfolios. With a few clicks, RetireUp Pro users can integrate Riskalyze software in their RetireUp Pro account via our Agent Portal.
Amplify Your Client's Growth Trailblazer Sectors 5 Index crediting option with a rider charge that may provide higher caps, higher participation rates and/or lower spreads each crediting period.
Even when clients know what they want, it's still pertinent to counsel them on the bigger picture. It deepens the conversation, increases trust and confidence, and makes it hard for them to go anywhere else. We had a prospect experience a significant liquidity event. He was a partner in a technology company and sold a portion of their business to a private equity firm. This gave him cash in the bank (for the first time) while also retaining a large amount of equity in the business going forward. The client was knowledgeable and had a firm understanding of investment concepts. That said, while interviewing us and other advisors, we were competing with him using an entirely passive investment approach he would do on his own. He was looking for a reason not to do that, but it seemed that was the likely outcome unless you could provide real quantifiable value. During our meetings, we focused on the benefits and downsides of passive investing. But more importantly, we focused on a broad look at his estate, wealth, goals, risks, and investment preferences (turns out, he hated equity investing). By taking a planning-based approach, we were able to win the client's business, develop a great relationship with him, and get a referral to the partner.
Active vs. Passive Investing Vanguard founder Jack Bogle started the debate of active versus passive investing when he created the first index fund in 1975. Hundreds of additional index funds, countless studies, and one historic recession later, passive investing has become a household concept and is accepted as the preferred method of investing for millions of investors.
Drilling Down Research has found that active managers are more likely to outperform their benchmark on a net-of-fee basis in certain asset classes. This is true in international equities, where the median active fund manager outperforms by over 1.5% per year. That's a return well worth the fees of active management, and the same holds true in smallcap investing.
For many investors, the best solution might be a passive one. If they have a modest net worth and don't require much financial planning, the diversified investment options provided by robo-advisors and passive options may be as cost-efficient and diversified as possible.
Low Correlation Diversification for UHNW Investors Markets have ridden an exciting rollercoaster of activity, and current ambiguities on forward-looking market projections have forced the hand of many extremely high net worth investors to be entrepreneurial in their thinking.
We used this opportunity to put an insurance policy in place to cover this risk, bringing their attorney and accountant into the situation. By identifying the risk and bringing in other members of our client's team, we solidified our place as the quarterback for the client's financial life.
Depending on an investor's risk tolerance, it's generally recommended that a portion of their portfolio should have some correlation to the broader market, with the balance diversified into other asset classes that have low correlation. This diversification is necessary to avoid systematic risk or the chance of being over exposed into one type of asset class or market. How do investors achieve returns and diversification at the same time?
It started with investments, moved onto planning, and ended with a great client and a referral to their business partner. During the interview process, the client touched no less than seven people at our firm. We've found that multiple touch points, great interactions, and a holistic approach lead to great outcomes. Clients most often aren't just looking for an investment, their looking for a plan.
There are many types of risks investors can take, and not all of them are stock market risks. When building a diversified portfolio, we look for diversification within each asset class but spend a lot of time looking for ways to diversify across different asset classes.
Alternative investments provide the opportunity to get exposure to various risks different from the stock (economy) and bond (interest rate) markets. We look to private equity, private debt, real estate, merger arbitrage, quantitative, and other strategies to diversify the risks in a client's portfolio. Our Solution: A Holistic Approach At Schechter, we're believers in building a portfolio that takes both active and passive approaches into account. We're even a bigger believers in the idea that no two investors require the same approach. Every one of the clients we work with has different sets of needs and goals. It's our job to find that balance. By educating the client on the investment landscape, the way we develop portfolios, and our general thought process; we can add value from an investment perspective. The next step is to understand the big picture so we can design something tailored to those clients. Let's go back to the story of our tech client. By identifying that he retained a large stake in the business going forward, we identified an estate tax and estate liquidity issue. If the client and his wife were to pass away, the entirety of the liquidity in their estate would go to pay estate taxes and it still wouldn't be enough to cover the bill. Being in their late 70's, there was a real chance this would occur and create issues for their heirs.
About Schechter: Schechter is a boutique, third-generation wealth advisory and financial services firm. For 80 years, our multi-disciplined team consisting of JDs, CPAs, LLMs, CLUs, PFSs, CAPs, MBAs, CFA® charterholders, CFP® practitioners and CIMA® consultants have been quietly advising wealthy families on financial matters including: Institutional quality investment advisory services, private capital and alternative investments, advanced life insurance planning, income and estate taxes, business succession and charitable planning. About Aaron Hodari, CFP®, CIMA®: Aaron Hodari, CFP, CIMA, is Managing Director of Schechter. Aaron works with high net worth individuals, families, business owners, and their advisors to bring them institutional quality investment management and advanced financial planning solutions. Aaron heads the firm's branch of Private Capital, including deal sourcing, due diligence, deal structuring, and market opportunity identification. He's also instrumental in the development of correlated and noncorrelated investment alternatives, helping identify investment allocations, and manager selection. Disclaimer: Securities for Schechter Wealth dba Schechter offered through Chalice Capital Partners, LLC (Chalice), member FINRA / SIPC. Schechter and Chalice are affiliated but do not share common ownership. Advisory Services for Schechter offered through Schechter Investment Advisors, LLC (SIA), a registered investment advisor. Schechter Private Capital, LLC (SPC), which concentrates on advising private funds, is also a registered investment adviser. Schechter, SIA and SPC are affiliated and share common ownership. Certain principals of SIA and SPC are also registered representatives of and sell security products for compensation through Chalice. Chalice is otherwise unaffiliated with SIA and SPC.
SURGE TO NEW HEIGHTS Surge Business Consulting engages with financial professionals to create tailored strategic and tactical business solutions that maximize growth in their respective businesses. Through the 20.20 process, Surge holds itself and the financial professional accountable to reaching new heights together. Three important questions: • Are you fully prepared to execute your five year business plan to become explosive by the year 2020? • Is your business vision clear and concise to execute change inside your business? • Are you willing to dedicate 20 minutes 20 days per month to be accountable and focus on your business? 20.20 becomes a ritual. With the help of Surge you'll create new personal and business habits that will impact you for the remainder of your years in business as a financial professional.
Let your business surge beyond your initial dreams.
THE 20.20 PROCESS A CLEAR AND CONCISE VISION Discovery Meeting - This 30-minute call will introduce you to Surge and help you understand specifics and deliverables surrounding your Surge engagement. You're invited to have key associates attend this call with you. GO | Gather and Observe - A one to two day on-site discovery meeting to gather and observe. Surge will spend time extracting information about your business. From people and processes to business psychology and future planning. Surge would like to meet all staff members and even core partners that are key to your business model. In certain cases, Surge will ask to meet family and significant others if they're involved in your business life. The more that's learned the stronger the solutions and output will be. DO | Developmental Output - Once the tailored GO process is complete, a developmental output (DO) is created specific to the theory and application necessary to stimulate your business. In this step, you'll be given an outline and detailed specific strategic and tactical items to hold accountable to change. SUM | Reveal and Discover - Next step is a phone call with you and colleagues of your choosing, to disseminate the findings and discuss how to best turn ideas into practice. This conversation will last between one and three hours. Account | Staying on Course - How many times have you left a great seminar or meeting filled with ideas, only to implement none of them? This final step is to ensure that doesn't happen. Each month an accountability call is hosted with your specific office to discuss where you are in the process of change and what's needed to remain on course. Also as a member of Surge, you have an open invitation to a monthly call series hosted by Surge and other experts on various industry impacting topics.
The modern financial planner must consider many different factors when devising solutions for their clients. Among the most important is a client's ability and willingness to take on risk. But how do you measure and manage risk? Traditionally, risk has largely been quantified using statistical analysis and measures of volatility or standard deviation. While probably the most familiar and popular metric in today's environment, is volatility really the best measure to utilize with your individual clients? Well, maybe for some. However, for others there may be a simpler and more intuitive way to help clients understand the risk being taken in their investment accounts: maximum drawdown.
Understanding Maximum Drawdown Maximum drawdown refers to the most an individual can lose in their account from the highest previous account value. Adjusting the consideration of risk from volatility to maximum drawdown can produce some powerful insights on how to manage investment risk and help individual investors have a clearer understanding of the return expectations for a given account. So, how do we take the maximum drawdown method and utilize it in an easily implemented strategy that advisors can use with their clients? This was the driving question behind the creation of Alphastar's Betashield™ Risk Mitigation Overlay (RMO) concept.
Alphastar partnered with Horizon Investments to research and develop a model portfolio that would address an individual investor's concept of risk in a thoughtful manner utilizing the notion of maximum drawdown. We begin by creating a base model portfolio and determining what asset class and geographic allocations will make up the base model.
• Globally diversified - 100% equity • Globally diversified - 80% equity, 20% bonds • Globally diversified - 60% equity, 40% bonds • 100% U.S. equity • 100% International equity The Betashield™ rules are calibrated based on limiting investment losses to a pre-determined maximum level. That means framing client expectations in terms of investment loss are clearly set, and provides a reference point to which gains and losses are measured.
The pre-determined maximum drawdown level is also coupled with a "ratchet up" functionality. Each Betashield™ model's performance is tracked on a daily basis. If any of the portfolios records a new high at market close then the maximum drawdown percentage is reestablished from that new value.
At its core, Betashield™ adopts the "lose less" philosophy by using the maximum drawdown measure of risk management. This is coupled with a tactical management strategy to systematically reduce the risk exposure in an account during periods of market downturns—and remain invested in a more aggressive allocation during times of prolonged market uptrends.
In other words, as the portfolio model increases in value over time, a client's gains will be protected by the maximum drawdown risk mitigation strategy along the way. Once a Betashield™ portfolio is selected, with accompanying maximum drawdown, we can then look at the tactical management that the Betashield™ RMO provides. Betashield™ will move a client's funds into or out of the base portfolio and a short-term treasury position in 25% increments of the account value. These triggers consider portfolio performance and volatility measures in the hope of avoiding shortterm market volatility and the change of being "whipsawed"—meaning selling out or buying in at the wrong time due to quick and considerable market movements.
Additionally, firms have their own business risks to consider. These risks include operational risks, sales practice risks, market risks, and financial risks. Firms should identify all risks and incorporate a risk management process to ensure their risks are understood and mitigated where they can be. Past Regulatory History FINRA has long focused on individuals who've had past regulatory issues and will continue this focus in 2019. Specifically, FINRA will focus on how firms address the risks associated with hiring individuals with U4 (interpretive questions and answers form) issues and how they manage those risks. Any firms who employ individuals with U4 issues can expect FINRA to dig deeper for information. Sales to Senior Investors We all know the US population is aging at a rapid rate. The Baby Boomer generation represents a large chunk of our overall population and most are at or nearing retirement. In the next five years, all of this generation with be over the age of 60 and the majority will be over the age of 70! Seniors are more susceptible to fraud, abuse, exploitation, and high-pressure sales tactics. That said, FINRA will continue to focus on the ages of one's clients.
SEC Priorities Letter The SEC Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) issued their 2019 Examination Priorities letter on December 20, 2018. Similar to FINRA, they too will focus on AML and sales to seniors. As it related to senior investors, the SEC will key in on ensuring firms have adequate disclosures and calculations of advisory fees. Additionally, the SEC will take a look at FINRA this year to ensure their examination process is fulsome and adequate. The SEC has also had concerns regarding digital assets and cryptocurrency, and will focus a great deal of energy in this area.
What This Means Firms must conduct due diligence of their third parties to ensure they handle customer data appropriately. This topic is never going away. As we become more dependent on technology to get our business done, we have to ensure our firms have tested safeguards in place to protect customer data from security breaches. Regulators spend a lot of time in examinations assessing the risks a firm and its individuals may present. By understanding what your regulator is looking for and being prepared to address their concerns will put you on the right path for a successful examination.
As you may know, FINRA reports directly to the SEC, so it should come as no surprise that both regulators would be aligned on many of their exam priorities. There's one topic that regulators from all corners of the financial industry are keeping an eye on and that's cybersecurity.
Both the SEC and FINRA have identified cybersecurity as a priority for many years now. Even other industries, such as the insurance industry, are showing much concern over cybersecurity. Firms must ensure that the systems they use and the systems their associated individuals use are locked down, tested, and vetted to ensure customer data is protected. It's not enough to outsource technology to a third-party and point the finger at the third party if something goes wrong.


text:
digger feed: dinosaurs are dancing
Planet Drum Retrospective
September 7, 2018 Eric	Leave a comment
In the history of the 1960s Digger movement in San Francisco and the West Coast, there is an arc of events and a continuity of intention that can be discerned starting in the late 1950s with the Beat poets and avant-garde happenings amidst the burgeoning social movements of the period. The Diggers themselves formed out of a nexus of radical arts and social consciousness that swirled around the San Francisco Mime Troupe and the Haight-Ashbury formations that took place in 1965 onward. Ecology was always an important aspect of this continuity. When the Diggers dispersed from their daily activities on the streets of San Francisco after the Summer Solstice 1968, many moved to rural outposts with the intent of creating new social formations as they had done in the urban context. Planet Drum was a signal moment in 1972 when Peter Berg and Judy Goldhaft returned to the City from their travels to remote communes and country families. Planet Drum at first was a communication medium — periodic bundles distributed to a wide-flung network to stay in touch with others who were attuned to the idea that would come to be known as "bioregion." Later, Planet Drum was the name of the non-profit foundation that was incorporated to engender awareness of and communication with all manner of bioregional groups and activities across the continent and worldwide. Planet Drum Foundation is still active with dozens of programs and projects.
The San Francisco Public Library's Wallace Stegner Environmental Center is hosting a retrospective exhibit on the history of Planet Drum. This exhibit takes place from September 1 through November 29, 2018. For anyone close by, it is well worth the visit.
Click here for more information on the exhibit. The collage of images (above) are a selection of the informative placards in the current exhibit. Judy Goldhaft will host groups of 5-20 people who are interested in a guided tour of the exhibit. Contact Planet Drum (415-285-6556 or mail@planetdrum.org) to make the arrangements.
Cockettes pre-Anniversary
The Orkustra (first psychedelic electric symphony orchestra)
Peace and Freedom II
For Love and Peace and Freedom
Digger Bread (another recipe)
Eric on The Orkustra (first psychedeli…
Harvey Kornspan on The Orkustra (first psychedeli…
Eric on For Love and Peace and Freedom
William Olkowski on For Love and Peace and Freedom
Peace and Freedom II… on For Love and Peace and Freedom
A WATERING HOLE FOR OLD AND NEW FRIENDS

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
<!DOCTYPE html>

    <title>geojsontiles-example</title>

    <link rel="stylesheet" href="http://leafletjs.com/dist/leaflet.css" />

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


4.8.2014. [Cont'd from 3/3/14] Sunday I had to sit down at the machine and catch up with four weeks of free-motion quilting (FMQ) assignments. Amazingly, my FMQ (though far from expert) flowed smoothly, with sharp corners, straight lines, easy curves and no loopy "eyelashes" on the back. My eyes actually STAYED FOCUSED on the pencil line as I stitched. During this month I did a lot of hand-quilting, some free-motion embroidery, and experimented with sashiko embroidery -- can it be that my eyes and hands are actually learning to play together? Have I crossed the threshold from Haywire Novice to Wonky Beginner? Or did I just have a freakishly lucky day?
Oh, yeah. Back in February, when I pieced these Rail Fence blocks -- before I graduated from Haywire -- I cut the strips the wrong width. Then I corrected them incorrectly. (Must have been drinking that day.) So the layout didn't match the quilting patterns. Time to improvise. No problem, except that I had to undertake some mental geometry to render new versions of the pattern on the fabric instead of letting Jim trace the originals from the paper pattern.
But, phew, finally done. And the results show progress.
Naturally, I had to gild the lily with Lumiere paints. I'm never sure whether the painting is my muse getting all excited and whispering some more inspiration to me or whether the devil of desperation is shrieking at me to cover up my imperfections. Ha-ha! Guess I won't be able to tell till it's done.
Block 3.1. Used cotton swabs for the dots and brush for painted areas.
Block 3.2. Used a stencil for the squares. I painted "beads" onto my wiggly lines, but they didn't pop they way I would have liked.
Block 3.3. Cotton swabs again for the dots. A stencil made from one of my drawings for the hands.
Block 3.4. We quilted the word "love" so I couldn't help painting on some faces of mismatched lovers. "LOVE" in Roman capitals painted freehand, accessing old skills from the 1980s.