Category: Investing
390 posts categorized as "Investing"
Factor Investing
December 12, 2013
Content provided by Sierra Morris, CLS Junior Investment Research Analyst Smart beta has gotten a lot of press lately. This branding isn’t as intuitive as we would like, so CLS has decided to take a different spin on the name and call it “factor investing.” As an added bonus, by changing our labeling we won’t…
1987 – A History Lesson
December 10, 2013
Content provided by Kostya Etus, CLS Investment Research Analyst I recently read an article from Ned Davis Research Group on the global market outlook. Below is some information I thought our readers might find useful: As the infamous Gordon Gekko once proclaimed, “Greed is good.” Although Gordon is a fictional character in the 1987 classic…
Financial Advice for Any Age
December 5, 2013
Content provided by Steve Donahoe, CLS Senior Portfolio Manager Recently, Omaha had a pesky little snow storm that put down just enough snow to get my car dirty, and that is about it. After driving a couple of days in a filthy car, and being too lazy to wash it myself, I got the brilliant…
An Overview of Industry Regulation Changes
December 4, 2013
Content provided by Sierra Morris, CLS Junior Investment Analysts I recently listened to an InvestmentNews webinar that gave a lot of useful advice about regulation for plan advisers. Below is a summary of what I found to be most useful. Speakers for this webinar included: Michael Kim – Senior Vice President, Genworth Jania Stout –…
Q&A with CLS Portfolio Managers
December 3, 2013
How have balanced portfolio’s performed year-to-date? For example, clients are looking at the S&P and seeing returns greater than 20 percent, but since some have 40-50 percent in fixed income they are only seeing portfolio returns of about half that. Steve I think the better way to ask that question is to ask: how have…
The “Great Rotation” Flow
December 2, 2013
Content provided by Rusty Vanneman, CLS Chief Investment Officer There is a popular notion that money flowing out of bonds and into stocks will significantly propel the stock market higher in the year(s) ahead. This is called the “Great Rotation,” a term first introduced by Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts back in 2011. How…
Food for Thought
November 27, 2013
Content provided by Matt Santini, CLS Portfolio Manager I can’t believe I am going to belittle such a wonderful American tradition with micro economic jargon, but it is a must before the tryptophan really skews my thought process. Economists are usually trained with a simple supply and demand curve providing a beautiful canvas. They…
10 Market Events to be Thankful for in 2013
November 26, 2013
Content provided by J.J. Schenkelberg, CLS Senior Portfolio Manager In investments, we are primarily focused on what is going to happen in the future. But, every once in a while it’s worth looking back. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, here are ten market items I can give thanks for in 2013. 1. Equity markets have…
The Benefits of Bonds
November 22, 2013
Content provided by Paula Wieck, CLS Portfolio Manager How many people have you talked to lately that still feel weary of bonds? Many of us on the portfolio management and investment research teams have found that the number one concern among investors is why we are still investing in bonds. We’ve written a decent amount…
The Yellen Confirmation and the Taper Guessing Game
November 14, 2013
Content provided by Josh Jenkins, CLS Investment Research Analayst Today, Janet Yellen went before the Senate Banking Committee for her confirmation hearing to be the head of the Federal Reserve. Since May 22, when current chairman Ben Bernanke began to discuss the timing of the inevitable wind down of the Federal Reserve’s bond purchase program,…