Money & Life

Choosing a Financial Adviser: A guide to making an informed decision.

ARS Admin — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:02:52 +0000

Recently Goldman Sachs executive Greg Smith resigned from the company and openly criticized the firm and some of its business practices in his resignation letter. The majority of his criticism centered around his former company's pursuit of profit which frequently came at the expense of the firm's clients. A recent article written by Dan Kadlec for Time gave some great guidelines on "How to Vet Your Financial Advisor". He gave a three step process outlined below:

*Gather a short list of names: Dan Kadlec suggested starting with references from those you trust. Asking friends and family members who handles their money and hearing first hand their experience should give you a good start.

*Interview each planner: Your financial advisor should be focused on you as the clients and your needs instead of your money. Another key to find out during the interview is how the advisor gets paid. Are they receiving a fee on the money that they are managing, are they commissioned based on products sold, or is a combination of the two? Dan stated that fee-only planners are generally a good choice.

*Investigate top choices: Potential clients can research investment adivisory firms through the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Adviser Public Disclosure website. Investment advisers Form ADV gives important information regarding the firm. It lists the amount of money the firm manages/ how many clients it has, and lawsuits & arbitration against the firm among other things.

Read the full article here.

Read Greg Smith's resignation letter.

"Advisors" Vs. "Brokers". What's the difference?

ARS Admin — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 18:24:59 +0000

Many people don't understand that there is a difference between an "Advisor" and a "Broker". As a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA), our firm is a fiduciary. Which begs the question of what exactly a fiduciary is? A fiduciary has the duty to act in the best interests of their clients at all times. Brokerage firms generally are not fiduciaries to their customers, and therefore do not make decisions that are solely in their customers' best interests. Additionally, as a fiduciary the advisor must disclose to the client any potential conflicts of interest that may exist. Advisors are required to provide their clients with a form ADV, which details exactly how the investment advisor does business. Lastly, as a fiduciary, advisors do not engage in other business activities such as investment banking or underwriting which brokerage firms do. In short, we are held to a high legal standard for the services we provide to our clients. Below is a short video that illustrates the difference between an broker and fiduciary.

Is your advisor looking out for you?

ARS Admin — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 17:50:22 +0000

One of, if not the main thing, that sets our firm apart from investment brokers is the level of accountability our firm has as a "fiduciary". As a fiduciary we are required by law to look out for what is best for our clients. A recent Goldman Sachs executive's resignation letter gives us an inside look at investment banks and their pursuit of profits. This portion of the article on the resignation letter jumps out.

"When evaluating people who are managing their money, investors need to be mindful of whether the managers are true fiduciaries, or commissioned to serve in the best interest of their clients, Hebner says. You need to understand the relationship you have with your money manager and insure your well-being is their responsibility. If not, you might want to look elsewhere, he says. 'Brokerage firms have clauses that exempt them from being a fiduciary. It's just incredible,' he says"

Are the people who are giving you investment advise or managing your money putting your interests ahead of their own? Here is our firm's promise to our clients in regards to always looking out for their best interests.

Read the full article

The Hidden Value of WPX Energy

ARS Admin — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 13:44:45 +0000

On January 3rd, 2012 we posted an interview with the newly formed WPX CEO Ralph Hill on our blog. A few days ago one of our Portfolio Managers came across an article in Barrons that made a case for the hidden value of WPX Energy. The article pointed out that there are some interesting valuation anomalies that point to WPX share price being cheap. Read the full article here.

Apple now worth over $500 billion, more than the GDP of Poland.

ARS Admin — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 20:26:13 +0000

We have been touting the potential of Apple here at ARS Wealth Advisors recently. Despite it reaching new highs almost daily, we still feel that it is undervalued as a company. Attached is a recent article that ran at CNN Money which looks at Apple's $500 billion worth, and points out that it is greater than the GDP of Poland, Taiwan, or Saudi Arabia to name a few countries referenced in the article. The article also points out three reasons why we still have strong conviction in Apple.

1) Apple is still one of the fastest growing technology companies who sales were up over 70% last year (Q4 sales of $46.3 bil up 73% from Q4 of 2010).

2) The companies stock price hasn't kept up with its fast earnings growth and is still being called "cheap".

3) The company trades at a lower earnings multiple than less proven companies with less predictable futures (Apple is 11.6, Netflix 42.2, LinkedIn 127.9). *based on S&P consensus estimated earnings for next fiscal year.

Read article here.

Bond Manager Recognized for Excellence.

ARS Admin — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:15:13 +0000

Dan Fuss has been around the mutual fund industry since its relative infancy in the 1970's. Fuss' focus on value and long term track record of out performance are two of the reasons why we have invested in his funds. One of ARS' core holding is Fuss' Loomis Sayles Strategic Income Fund (NEZYX). Below is an article that focuses on Fuss' emphasis on buying undervalued securities. While the article references another bond fund that Fuss manages, the article gives good insight into his philosophy and strategy which are similar across the funds he oversees. At ARS we are looking for the cream of the crop for our clients and their exposure to fixed income, and we believe strongly that Fuss is one of the best managers out there.

(Click to read article.)

Williams Companies (WMB) spins off E&P unit.

ARS Admin — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:23:24 +0000

Many of you may now be seeing a new ticker symbol on your statements. Williams Company recently spun off their exploration and production unit (E&P) into its own publicly traded company. Owners of WMB were given 1 share of WPX for every 3 shares of WMB that were owned. This spin off is non-taxable. Todays share price of WMB was down reflecting the spin off of WPX. The new CEO of WPX Energy Inc., Raplh Hill, was interviewed about the recent spin off.

Boomers are targeted for investment fraud.

ARS Admin — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:14:04 +0000

There has been talk lately about rising instances of investment fraud that are occurring nationwide and are specifically targeting baby boomers. Recently the Wall Street Journal ran an article that outlines what is happening. Last year there were over 1200 criminal complaints, cease and desist orders, along with other types of regulatory actions that involved investors who were 50 or older. This is quite an astounding increase from 506 cases that took place in 2009. In many cases investors are trying to make up for lost funds from the recent economic downturn and are seeking to maximize returns. Many times the investment fraud takes place in unregistered securities products such as investment contracts or private placements. Read the full article here.

ARS selected for "2011 Top Wealth Managers"

ARS Admin — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:46:20 +0000

ARS Wealth Advisors was selected for "2011 Top Wealth Managers". This is the 4th time in 5 years for the firm to receive this award. You can view our past awards at the "Our Awards" section of the website. MarketWatch.com (A part of the Wall Street Journal) posted a press release on the site regarding the award. You can view the full press release here. ARS is honored to have received this award as we continually strive to serve our clients.

Budget Cut Humor

ARS Admin — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:19:42 +0000

Here is legendary game show host Chuck Woolery with him thoughts on what needs to be cut from our bloated government spending.