Author: CLS Investments
505 posts written by CLS Investments
Party Like It’s 1999!
December 29, 2015
Content provided by Rusty Vanneman, CFA, CLS Chief Investment Officer The current stock market environment feels a heckuva lot like the late 1990s. Large-cap growth stocks, particularly some high-profile Internet companies, are leading the way now, just as they did then. Value-oriented investors, including some of the most well-known portfolio managers, are getting shellacked. The…
5 Factors for 2016 and Beyond
December 21, 2015
Content provided by Kostya Etus, CLS Associate Portfolio Manager 2015 is coming to a close which means it’s time to reflect on the year that was. But, more importantly, it’s time to plan for the year that will be. Planning for the future (for anyone and anything) has to start with the three basic questions:…
Likelihood of Interest Rate Hikes and Their Effect on Your Portfolio
December 15, 2015
Content provided by Josh Jenkins, CFA, CLS Portfolio Manager Recent guidance from the Federal Reserve (Fed) suggests it may finally be ready to lift interest rates at its next meeting on December 16, and the market has taken note. According to Bloomberg, as of December 10 the probability of a hike was 80%. Bloomberg has…
Managing the Aspirational Portfolio
December 9, 2015
Content provided by Scott Kubie, CFA, CLS Chief Strategist In Omaha, some of the people whose names appear on buildings or near the top of philanthropic donor lists have two sources of wealth: their businesses and their early investments in Berkshire Hathaway. The story goes that in 1960 Warren Buffett invited 10 doctors to dinner…
What Do ETF Strategists Stand For?
December 3, 2015
Content provided by Joe Smith, CFA, CLS Senior Market Strategist Over the last 20+ years, exchange traded funds (ETFs) have captured the hearts and minds of investors. These investment vehicles have empowered everyday investors to build portfolios that help them reach their financial goals – with greater transparency, lower costs, and more precision. ETFs have…
Fixed Income ETFs: A Don’t Buy?
November 25, 2015
Content provided by Marc Pfeffer, CLS Senior Portfolio Manager One of the newest trends in the densely populated world of ETFs now includes fixed income. As investors turn to the safety of bonds in anticipation of higher interest rates, fund companies are launching new, and increasingly complex, fixed income ETFs. But as I recently told…
Recency Bias, Emerging Markets, and the Lost Decade
November 24, 2015
Content provided by Case Eichenberger, CLS Client Portfolio Manager I recently had the opportunity to study at the world’s first recognized collegiate business school – the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. I was there for a week-long program as part of my CIMA certification, where I was able to learn from some of…
Fed Takeaways: December is Alive!
November 17, 2015
Content provided by Marc Pfeffer, CLS Senior Portfolio Manager We saw two key changes in the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)’s October statement. First, the committee removed this earlier mention: “recent global and financial developments may restrain economic activity somewhat and are likely to put further downward pressure on inflation in the near term.” That…
Tips for Advisors: Ways to Connect with the Next Generation
November 11, 2015
Content provided by Kostya Etus, CLS Associate Portfolio Manager Recently, I had the pleasure of seeing our very own Sean Hollingshead present on Autopilot (CLS’s automated onboarding platform) at an advisor event. He discussed embracing new technologies as the target client is beginning to change. The new target client being millennials, or 30-somethings, people like…
A Smart Idea
November 4, 2015
Content provided by Rusty Vanneman, CFA, CLS Chief Investment Officer Smart beta ETFs, sometimes known as strategic beta ETFs, represent the fastest-growing segment of the booming ETF landscape – and for good reasons. In 2014, smart beta accounted for $170 billion in assets, according to a report for Institutional Investor by Howard Moore. The concept…