Category Archive

What does “Independent Investment Advisor” even mean? It’s a scary (financial) world out there. Just as the first season of True Detective had its gumshoes searching the seedy underbelly of Louisiana for a serial killer, finding a financial professional with your best interests truly at heart is a dangerous undertaking. The process seems simple in principle: You need advice. Financial Person has the advice. You have money. Financial Person gets a little bit of the money for advice. Case closed, the world is better off! A case study for the gains made by trade, both parties are now better off. Unfortunately, as we know, the advice seeker is rarely better off. This is why the financial industry has the reputation it does. Where …

Financial planning and portfolio management is ripe for disruption, and the “robo” advisors are definitely making inroads. I follow the developments pretty closely and have formed some pretty strong opinions about them. For the most part, they get it – it’s just that there are a few sticking points I believe they’ll need to address to be successful. Obviously it doesn’t benefit me to spell it out for them step by step, but I also know they’re probably not reading this. One of my gripes is the Schwab cash issue. It’s probably above gripe status – I think they’re acting like full on Wolves of Wall Street on that one. Anyway, on to the point. The Wall Street Journal has a …

Here’s another example why I’m an independent investment advisor. Read on only if you’re fully caffeinated… There’s a big controversy in the investment world regarding Schwab’s high allocation to cash in their brand new “robo” platform (up to 30%). The discussion started with accusations of this being an unethical move on Schwab’s part because they’re branding their new product as “free” but will utilize high cash allocations to bank revenue via low interest rates paid to clients. Elsewhere, the discussion has turned into a debate of the merits of cash itself in an investment portfolio. Here’s where I stand on the issue. First, I think Schwab is being disingenuous. They’re entering a segment of the investment management market with well …

In order to get a better idea of what I’m all about, and assuming you’ve already checked out the FAQ, here’s where I stand on many key investing topics. I might have also snuck one other topic in there. To challenge myself (and to avoid putting you to sleep), I’ve addressed each topic in ten words or less. Active/Passive: invest passively and pay less to get more. Good deal. Annuities: useful for the risk intolerant but always opaque and expensive. Debt: sometimes a necessary evil, extinguish as early as reasonable. Economics/Economic Forecasts: rarely accurate, typically biased, fun graphs at least. Emergency Accounts: absolutely necessary, don’t leave home without one. Fees: major drag on returns, rarely justified, must minimize. Fiduciary Duty: would you trust …

Disclaimer: this post contains no financial material of any kind. It’s simply a post card from a really cool, under the radar place – the southern coast of Alabama. Maybe it’s a reminder of why we budget, save and invest accordingly…so there’s my financial spin on it, after all.  Sometimes random trips are the best type and this was definitely one of them. If your next visit to the website gets redirected to “Mobile Bay Capital,” I hope you’ll understand why. It’s a beautiful place.