Author: CLS Investments
505 posts written by CLS Investments
Preparing for Higher Interest Rates
March 28, 2014
Content provided by Marc Pfeffer, CLS Senior Portfolio Manager On March 19, Janet Yellen gave her first press conference as head of the Federal Reserve. What ensued was an awkward speech conveying to the markets that short-term interest rates may actually go up sooner than the markets had anticipated. Stating that rates could go up…
Advisor’s Alpha
March 27, 2014
Content provided by Kostya Etus, CLS Investment Research Analyst Vanguard has written a revolutionary whitepaper on quantifying the value of an Advisor on portfolio performance. The original, “Vanguard Advisor’s Alpha” introduced in 2001 (a pivotal time for the industry), had outlined how advisors could add value through relationship-oriented services. One of the value-adds was providing…
Behold the Power of Credit Cards
March 25, 2014
Content provided by Michele Prell, CLS New Business Manager How many of you remember going off to college and receiving your first credit card application in the mail? Opening it, filling it out, and getting that first powerful piece of plastic. It was one of the most liberating feelings, for me at least. That is…
Weather and Markets
March 20, 2014
Content provided by Steve Donahoe, CFA, CLS Senior Portfolio Manager Recently, I spent some time in the San Jose area presenting at a couple client events. In that part of the country, the grass was green and the flowers were blooming, which is a treat for everyone any time, but it is especially enjoyable for…
2014: The Year of the Diversified Portfolio
March 19, 2014
Content provided by Sierra Morris, CLS Junior Investment Research Analyst 2013 was the year of the domestic bull, with all other asset classes falling short and leading investors to wonder why they should bother allocating money to underperforming asset classes such as bonds, international stocks, and emerging markets. While it is true that an entirely…
CLS Morningstar Ranking – Top 4%
March 18, 2014
Content provided by J.J. Schenkelberg, CFA, CLS Senior Portfolio Manager Each quarter Morningstar publishes a report entitled the Morningstar ETF Landscape Report. The report tracks 648 ETF strategies from 153 firms on a regular basis. The CLS Aggressive ETF model ranks in the top 4%1 for its 5-Year performance as of December 31, 2013, with…
Despite Recent Performance, Stay Diversified
March 14, 2014
Content provided by Josh Jenkins, CLS Investment Research Analyst With such strong performance in stocks as of late, it is easy for investors to begin questioning the need for diversification within their portfolios. Recent headlines have even popularized the passing of the fifth year of the current equity bull market that began on March 9,…
Innovative Proposals for Active ETFs
March 13, 2014
Content Provided by Rui Wang, CFA, CLS Investment Research Analyst As the ETF industry keeps booming, more and more traditional asset managers are lured into this business. Unlike index-based ETFs, these asset managers are intended to offer their active management specialty to clients by launching active ETFs. One of the biggest obstacles for asset managers…
Q & A with CLS Portfolio Managers
March 11, 2014
How worried should investors be about the tension in Ukraine and Russia? Scott Kubie, CFA, CLS Chief Strategist The overthrow of the pro-Russian government in Ukraine and the subsequent intervention by Russia in select parts of Ukraine has been unsettling. I believe the events should worry investors a little, but not too much for the…
Value Investing 101 from Graham to Buffett
March 7, 2014
Content provided by Kostya Etus, CLS Investment Research Analyst I read a couple articles recently from The Wall Street Journal and CNBC about the basics of value investing. They described stories and research from some of the greatest value investors in history including Benjamin Graham, as well as Graham’s most prized pupil, Warren Buffett. I…