Category: Personal Finances
145 posts categorized as "Personal Finances"
Expectations from the Fed Meeting
September 18, 2013
Content provided by Matt Santini, CLS Portfolio Manager One of the most commonly fielded questions as a portfolio manager is the classic, “What are you watching?” This is indicative of sideline money, nerves, and just simple opinion missions. When a domestic market is experiencing such robust gains, the questions tend to have a pessimistic undertone….
Looking for Protein in the Market
September 17, 2013
Content provided by Sierra Morris, CLS Research/Portfolio Analyst As a vegetarian, I frequently get asked, “How do you get enough protein?” The answer is simply that I make a conscious effort to eat a variety of the large number of meat alternatives on the market. These range from beans to certain vegetables and also fake…
Attention Do-it-Yourself’ers
September 16, 2013
Content provided by Rusty Vanneman, CLS Chief Investment Officer Many “do-it-yourself” investors ask me for market tips. My number one tip? Get an advisor. Bottom line, advisors help investors reach their financial goals. First, they help investors have a plan. Second, they help investors save more. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, a study…
Q & A with CLS Portfolio Managers
September 10, 2013
What impact may the situation in Syria have on the U.S. markets? Rusty Vanneman, CFA “Generally speaking, our decision-making revolves around relative valuations instead of headlines. There may be some short-term downside volatility in the stock market, but that will likely create some opportunities to take advantage of.” Paula Wieck “I look at it…
Sgt. Pepper Yields
September 4, 2013
Content provided by Matt Santini, CLS Portfolio Manager Yields are hot, hot, hot! The opening line of Paul McCartney’s 1967 hit for the Beatles, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” chants something about “20 years ago today.” Well almost 20 years ago, bond investors were feeling the same effects from a volatile rates market….
Are You Back-to-School Ready?
August 16, 2013
Content provided by Paula Wieck, CLS Manager of Investment Research I have three little girls, one who is starting the first grade this year. I don’t know about you, but my inbox has been flooded with “Last Chance to Save for Back-to-School” ads. Of course, being the value shopper I am, there’s no way I’m…
Holding on Too Long
August 7, 2013
Content provided by J.J. Schenkelberg, CLS Senior Portfolio Manager My grandmother passed away this past May. She was 91, and lived a very full life. Like many families dealing with the loss of a loved one, she left behind the family farm. My grandfather and grandmother grew up very close to it, and my mother…
ETF vs. Mutual Fund Costs Examined
August 6, 2013
Content provided by Kostya Etus, CLS Research/Portfolio Analyst The general notion that ETFs are more cost efficient because of on their expense ratios, is not always true. There are additional trading related costs that need to be considered, such as commissions and bid/ask spreads. There are actually various explicit and implicit costs associated with both…
Be Patient with Current Strategies
August 5, 2013
Content provided by Rui Wang, CLS Research/Portfolio Analyst Fund investors tend to chase top performers and abandon bottom ones. According to recent research done at CLS, this strategy is myopic and does not serve an investor’s best interest in the long term. Using Morningstar’s mutual fund database, we collected three years of rolling category return…
Going at it Alone isn’t Always Worth it
July 30, 2013
Content provided by Sadie Brewer, CLS Marketing Communications Specialist The past two months have been a blur. I literally couldn’t tell you what I did yesterday, let alone a few days ago. At some point in May, I could find the exact dates but it’s really not that important. I sold my car, sold my…