Investor

08/06/10 - Socially Responsible Investing: Noble Not Noteworthy

The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has environmentalists and nature lovers in an uproar and with good reason.  The company’s...read more

06/18/10 - Independent 401(K): A Top Retirement Vehicle For Sole Proprietors

The SEP-IRA is dead. At least it should be for every sole proprietor who is looking for the best retirement vehicle. There are very...read more

01/19/10 - Improving the 401(k)

The greatest thing about defined benefit plans was that the worker didn't have to do anything other than show up for work reasonably often to get...read more

01/19/10 - Structured Notes: Buyer Beware!

Forget investing; Wall Street is a marketing and sales machine, and this time it has developed a real stinker of a product that at first glimpse...read more

10/16/09 - Now you see it! Now you don't! The Illusion of Immediate Annuities

A recent study suggests that by adding an immediate annuity to a blend of stocks and bonds, you can increase the chance of “making your money...read more

09/09/09 - Target Date And Target Risk Strategies

The goal of target date or target risk strategies is to make pension plans or private savings for retirement simpler, more attractive and...read more

06/12/09 - Don't Lose Your Shirt on Mutual Fund Sales

How you report your  mutual fund transactions can have a serious impact on the amount of taxes you pay at the end of the year. For those of you...read more

04/17/09 - 10 Investment Ideas for Today - After the cows have left the barn

In a world where asset diversification has seemingly failed, what do you do?  My account is down 10%, 20%, 50%; isn't there a better way? ...read more

04/06/09 - The Public-Private Investment Program

Mark to Making a Market Would you buy a "toxic" asset? Certainly not. How about a "legacy real estate-related" asset? Well that sounds...read more

12/18/08 - Hedge Funds: Lessons from Bernie Madoff

  A few months back, a friend told me, “My cousin’s husband’s mother has been investing for over ten years in a hedge fund managed by...read more

11/07/08 - The Muni Opportunity: Fact or Fiction?

The media is heralding the relatively attractive yields available today in the municipal bond arena. This is measured by comparing the yield...read more

08/01/08 - Don't Forget Commodities When Diversifying

By now, most investors are familiar with the importance of diversification when constructing their portfolios. Investment management firms,...read more

07/03/08 - The Fiduciary's Default Investment Choice

Several high profile class action law suits are now winding their way through the Federal Courts alleging high costs, sustained underperformance,...read more

03/05/08 - 130/30 Mutual Funds: Don't Believe the Hype

Do these times of increased market volatility have you wondering, "How can I protect myself from market downturns?" If so, the wizards of Wall...read more

02/20/08 - The Best Investment You Will Ever Make

What if I told you that I had an investment that would return a guaranteed 18% to 36%? And, to make it even sweeter, there was no risk at all....read more

02/06/08 - Target Date Funds: Panacea or Hallucinogen

2008 should be a banner year for Target-Date Retirement funds. After a slow start in the early 90s, this category of funds has grown rapidly to...read more

12/12/07 - International REITs - A Great Diversification Opportunity

International real estate investment trusts ("REITs") represent an excellent opportunity to extend your portfolio's diversification and...read more

12/12/07 - Separately Managed Accounts vs. Passive Management Part II of II

While the popularity of Separately Managed accounts has grown over the last several years, so too has the search evolved to find a lower costing...read more

11/06/07 - Separately Managed Accounts vs. Passive Management Part I of II

Over the last several years, there has been a significant increase in the popularity of separately managed accounts over mutual funds for high net...read more

07/31/07 - More Hedge Fund Woes

Hedge funds are in the news again. The near melt down of two Bear Sterns funds sent ripples through the world's financial markets. We are detached...read more

07/05/07 - Equity Indexed Annuities

I'm not sure how many of you have heard the song that goes, "Ready, ready, ready, ready to run..." by the Dixie Chicks but that's what we should...read more

10/02/06 - Another One Bites the Dust!

Amaranth Advisors, LLC's Chairman recently told investors that "highly unusual market behavior" and "a series of unusual events" caused the loss...read more

07/24/06 - Stripping the ETF

There are currently over 300 offerings available in the Exchange Traded Fund arena from giant asset managers such as Barclays Global Investors and...read more

06/16/06 - IPO's: A Great Investment Opportunity or a Sucker's Bet?

There's nothing like the seductive allure of buying an IPO at its offering price, riding the stock up, and then flipping it for a pile of cash....read more

06/02/06 - Not All Commodity Indexes Are Created Equal (Part One of a Two Part Series)

Direct investment in commodities has become far easier with the advent of a series of funds based on popular commodity indexes but performance can...read more

05/16/06 - Do You Know Your ABC's?

Not all mutual funds are created equal. With all the different classes of mutual funds out there, it's no surprise investors are plagued with...read more

01/17/06 - Closed-End vs. Open-End Mutual Funds

Ah, the beginning of a new year. The time where we make our resolutions to be healthier, spend more time with our loved ones, get our financial...read more

07/08/05 - Tracking Errors Cost Billions of Dollars a Year

Anomalies in the market place are typically few and far between.  The markets are extremely efficient and once an opportunity presents itself...read more

05/16/05 - Brilliant But Not Free!

Just a few years ago, if you wanted to sell one no-load mutual fund to buy one from another company you had to write (that's right-snail mail!) to...read more

02/15/05 - Can REITs Continue to Outperform?

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) have been one of the best performing asset classes over the last two years and have outperformed the S&P...read more

01/27/05 - Should You Invest In Individual Bonds or Bond Mutual Funds?

Before we can answer the question "should you invest in individual bonds or bond mutual funds", we have to first understand the purpose of owning...read more

11/18/04 - ADR's or Foreign Funds? Which Are Best?

The benefits of international investing cannot be denied. There have been countless articles and papers written on the subject already that are...read more

11/18/04 - Buyer Beware: The Hidden Costs of Municipal Bonds

I am going to let you all in on a little secret that may come as a shock to some of you. Institutional investors get better prices than individual...read more

10/15/04 - Exchange Traded Funds To Avoid

How do you entice a broker to sell an index based product? You pay him! Until now, you'd be hard pressed to find a broker that would recommend an...read more

07/15/04 - Commodities As An Asset Class

At first blush, commodities sounds like a risky strategy that only a wild and crazy guy would consider. In fact it's just the opposite. Properly...read more

05/10/04 - Heads Up for Hedge Funds

The hedge fund industry has experienced a considerable growth in the last decade with an estimated 300 funds in 1990 to more than 3000 today! ...read more

03/12/04 - No Break Points

B Share mutual fund pricing is hardly ever a good thing for the investor, but it's a great thing for brokers. Brokers seem to be born with a...read more

12/11/03 - The Roth IRA

If you're looking for a tax-free investment, the Roth IRA might just be the perfect retirement tool to meet your needs. The concept to the fairly...read more

12/09/03 - Mutual Fund Alternatives

With regulators and many board members asleep at the switch, the $7 trillion invested in mutual funds was bound to tempt some unsavory activity....read more

11/20/03 - Annuities Take Another Blow

Congress just landed a right hook on the face of variable annuity companies. The recent Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003,...read more

11/18/03 - Gotcha! A Hard Look At The Annuity Business

Insurance companies have the perfect "Heads I win, Tails You Lose" game in the fixed annuity business. It's very profitable, and few consumers...read more

05/30/02 - Donor-Advised Funds

People who have made enough money so they can afford to give some of it away typically want to control who receives their charitable gifts. An...read more

12/20/01 - For the Average Investor, Folios Fall Short

Investors have been buzzing about finding ways to get mutual fund diversification benefits with the flexibility of stock investing. Riding on the...read more

08/03/01 - Investing In Real Estate Through Reits

Amid the carnage of the stock market in 2000 it was easy to spot the survivors and the winners. One winner was U.S. Treasury securities, which as...read more

05/17/01 - Exchange Traded Funds: A new viable alternative for investors

The explosion of product offerings in the Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) universe offers investors viable alternatives to the traditional index mutual...read more

04/18/01 - How Much Will A Variable Annuity Cost You?

It's just about impossible to build a case for annuities that makes economic sense. The most widely sold variable annuities have total annual...read more

04/12/01 - Zero Coupon Bonds

Zero coupon bonds are an interesting derivative investment. As we shall see, they are not necessarily a great investment for long-term investors....read more

03/25/01 - Fund of Funds: Perfect Solution or Dangerous Shortcut?

It would be nice to achieve all of your investment objectives with a single fund. At first glance, a mutual fund that invests in various other...read more

10/12/00 - Mutual Fund and Tax Efficiency

About this time of year, millions of mutual fund investors begin getting some shocking news. Their funds are going to generate big tax bills for...read more

05/18/00 - Exchange Traded Funds: Making the Choice

There's a new kid on "The Street" that claims potential cost savings and greater tax efficiency than traditional index funds: Exchange-traded...read more