Category: Investing

Changing Face of Technology

Content Provided by Scott Kubie, CLS Senior Portfolio Manager In 1999, S&P and MSCI jointly created the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®) codes to classify companies in various groups. Technology was destined to play a big part in the standard because the GICS were created during the height of the technology bubble. It is interesting to… Continue reading Changing Face of Technology

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It’s All About the Quality, Baby

Content provided by Matt Santini, CLS Portfolio Manager Blind yield buying has come back to haunt those who have never bothered to peek. And, since investors are rarely alone and adhere to crowdsourcing, the impact that has rippled through the markets has impacted our sacred defensive sectors. Utilities, REITS, telecom, high yielding credit, and preferred… Continue reading It’s All About the Quality, Baby

Two Over-Rated Performance Numbers

Content provided by Rusty Vanneman, CLS Chief Investment Officer There are a few performance numbers that investors like to examine, which quite frankly, are over-rated in my opinion. The first is the year-to-date (YTD) return. While admittedly a YTD return may provide some valuable context behind a portfolio’s behavior, it’s easy to overemphasize YTD returns… Continue reading Two Over-Rated Performance Numbers

ETF Duress

Content provided by Grant Engelbart, CLS Research/Portfolio Analyst With the recent volatility in fixed income and emerging markets, ETFs have come under the microscope for being less-than-perfect investment vehicles.  The Financial Times (FT) published an article on June 20 that ruffled some feathers among those in the ETF industry, to say the least. Let’s briefly… Continue reading ETF Duress

Learning a new language: Investor-ese

Content provided by Sierra Morris, CLS Junior Investment Research Analyst Coming into the investment field as a fresh college graduate, I knew there would be many things that I would be expected to learn. Advanced reasoning, presentation, and excel skills were among my expectations; however a foreign language was not. After my first meeting at… Continue reading Learning a new language: Investor-ese

Growing Opportunity for Advisors

Currently, more than $16 trillion is invested in retirement plans, and that number is expected to increase by 40 percent, to $22 trillion in the next three years. That means there are tremendous opportunities for financial advisors to take on some of the fiduciary responsibility for these plans and bring a complete solution to plan… Continue reading Growing Opportunity for Advisors

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A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats…Really?

  Content by Matt Santini, CLS Portfolio Manager For the mariners amongst us, we know the above statement is a gross generalization. An anchor’s rode must have enough scope to allow for the biggest tides, especially those encountered during a storm surge. Two scenarios can happen: Either the mooring pulls from the bottom, or the… Continue reading A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats…Really?