Most investors don’t know what the “fiduciary standard” means. In short, it means the adviser is looking out for the best interest of its clients at all times and will/must disclose any conflicts of interest that arise from the adviser’s business dealings.
I’m posting an article a friend turned me on to. It is published by Mark Heschmeyer of the CoStar Group. There is a lot of discussion regarding a double dip recession, with some claiming that the catalyst for the second leg down will be the implosion of the commercial real estate market.
This is an article from Morningstar.com on Roth IRA Conversions. It notes the significant change in tax law for Roth IRA’s for 2010.
The CFA Institute dedicates an entire session to what drives investors behaviors. There are three themes to this topic and I’m going to highlight the first theme they focus on in this post: Heuristic-driven bias.
Below is a link to a Morningstar article discussing Jack Bogle (founder of Vanguard) and his perspective on investing. There are some very good points that I have also put forward when selecting funds for clients portfolios, they inlcude:
Always nice to see one your key holdings in your portfolio distinguished as one of the best managers for any given year. That was the case for the American Funds EuroPacific Growth Fund, a staple in most of my portfolios.
This article makes a great point in Bernanke’s support of low interest rates, while Greenspan was Fed Chair.
What I like about this chart, is that it shows the National GDP of the country the year that construction was completed, and the previous 5 years before the project was completed. It shows how usually “unthinkable” development projects are made during periods of economic expansion and how these accomplishments often peak at the same time as the relative economy peaks.
I received the following Member e-mail from the CFA Institute. It discusses the state of the current financial reform regulations being pushed through Congress and stresses the areas that need further attention.