Best Blogs of the Week

Best Blogs of the Week

Posted by Anu Heda on Dec 12, 2011, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with , , ,

This week’s posts cover a fairly wide range of topics and include a video post (from Wells Fargo).

  1. AllianceBernstein – This post shows the struggle between seeking a specific return versus controlling variability. I liked the focus on a specific institutional segment here.
  2. BlackRock – This post focuses on a commonly stated investment process: accessing fixed income directly is difficult and better done via active management. The analysis is interesting.
  3. Wells Fargo – This video provides “7 key principles” that are pretty good. All FAs will use some combination of these and perhaps this post helps sell working with an FA for a prospective client. At 8 minutes, the video is a little long. But once you get to volatility and standard deviation, the idea of working with an advisor will become more appealing to an on-the-fence investor.

Best Blogs of the Week

Posted by Anu Heda on Dec 05, 2011, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with , , ,

This week’s best include two different views on the super-committee, their action (or lack of), and implications to portfolios. Additionally, there’s an interesting take on Europe included.

  1. BlackRock – This post describes why the super-committee’s inaction may tip the US back into recession.
  2. Russell – This post describes the repercussions from the mandatory cuts going into effect in 2013.
  3. Wells Fargo – The post describes two opposing scenarios for the European Central Bank and repercussions that would ensue.

Best Blogs of the Week

Posted by Anu Heda on Nov 28, 2011, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with , , ,

We hope everyone enjoyed a significant amount of food and beverage over Thanksgiving.  While the volume trailed off at the end of the week, the week began with a bevy of blogs.  Here are three excellent posts.

  1. American Century – This post highlights the supercommittee scenarios of cutting budget or not and the impact to portfolios.  This is clear, direct and easy for an FA to absorb and consider.
  2. US Funds – This post makes a clear reason to consider technology investments for the long-term.  It’s an example of sharing ideas without pitching product.
  3. Franklin Templeton – A video post that discusses the drivers of Latin American growth and the role investing in Latin America may play for a portfolio.

Best Blogs of the Week

Posted by Anu Heda on Nov 21, 2011, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with ,

This week didn’t have many  exciting posts.  The two most noteworthy came from Russell.

  1. Russell – This post acknowledges and considers the very real and widespread struggle for advisors: investors want to stay on the sideline currently.
  2. Russell – This post announces the launch of an advisor app.  The post is nothing revelatory, but the introduction of an app to enable interaction with the information treasure-trove at Russell is important.

Best Blogs of the Week

Posted by Anu Heda on Nov 15, 2011, in Best Blogs of the Week , tagged with , , , ,

Sorry for the one-day delay.  Last week, many firms covered a lot of ground. Wells Fargo posted 11 blogs last week and other firms followed suit. AllianceBernstein – new to blogging – came in with seven. With so many posts to select from, we have four posts to share with no theme or inter-related issue.

  1. AllianceBernstein – In this post, Sharon Fay shares a compelling reason for being bullish on technology stocks. Agree or disagree, it’s valuable to the FA for a firm to share posts like this.
  2. American Century – This post shares a straightforward and easily shared reason for including alternative investments. For an advisor beginning the discussion with clients, this post is helpful
  3. BlackRock – I admit it: I am a sucker for a good heat map.  This post simplifies the tax-loss harvesting discussion many FAs will have with clients soon.
  4. Wells Fargo – This is a solid Q&A with thoughts on how high-quality in the high-yield market can represent value right now.