Greetings!
Happy New Year, everybody! I trust that everyone had a great Christmas and New Year's Eve/Day.
It seems like the last newsletter was just a couple of weeks ago, but I guess time flies over the holidays. Time flies in general, I suppose, because this is the first anniversary of this newsletter going out to our clients and other acquaintances. I hope that the past twelve newsletters have provided worthwhile news about both our business and current events in the financial world, and I hope the next twelve do the same!
No time for rest here for us at the office: we're right back at it putting on workshops for folks in the Lake Norman area. We'll be in Huntersville this month and we've been adding some new wrinkles to our presentation over the last few weeks, so if you'd like to come, the info can be found on the "upcoming events" tab over at www.jdswealthmanagement.com. As always, clients of ours are invited to attend any workshop they'd like.
The two articles in this month's newsletter are from the end of last year - one of them from around Thanksgiving - but they're still very relevant. After all, we haven't had much time to compile material in 2012 so far! Jim and I are attending a financial planning conference in Los Angeles later this month, so I'm sure we'll return with more fresh material and some great ideas that we can use to improve everybody's financial situations even more than we already do!
 -- Tyler Stillman |
Giving Thanks: Ten Reasons ETFs
Are Better Than Mutual Funds
ETF Database, November 24, 2011
|
 This year more than ever before, investors of all sizes are giving thanks for the tremendous expansion in the ETF industry in recent years. ETF assets continue to climb, even in challenging economic environments. And in many cases, the growth of this industry is thanks to an exodus of cash from traditional mutual funds to vehicles that seem like new innovations, although they are actually approaching their two decade anniversary.
For certain investors in certain circumstances, mutual funds make a lot of sense. But while these vehicles can still be useful in a limited number of scenarios, they are bleeding cash because ETFs are in many ways a better solution that can deliver a number of advantages. For those advisors and individual investors beginning to explore the opportunities in ETFs, we present a quick rundown of why so many have embraced these securities:
Read more... |
How to Manage in Sideways Volatile Markets
Thought for the Week, December 12, 2011 |
 The aim of the Thoughts for the Week is to provide our clients with an insight into the way our investment team is thinking and acting with their valuable assets. We seek to provide original not plagiarized thought, while educating as to our management philosophy and investment techniques in general. We want you to know how hard we work and respect the privilege of being an institutional asset manager.
However, this week's Thought is not original thought; it's a reproduction of a pie chart from Fidelity, our main custodial partner. Why? Because it clearly and concisely outlines the way in which we manage most of our portfolios,
particularly in times where volatility is high and absolute returns (usually thought of as total stock markets returns over a given period) seem hard to come by. You could say the chart is a great way of answering the question: "Why invest when the headlines are not very good?"
Read more... |
