Financial Symmetry News & Views

Archive for November, 2009

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney is offering as much as 330% of a brokers annual production to join the firm.

Bill Ramsay, CFP®, was recently quoted in the November 2009 Investment Advisor magazine.

In the cover story “Reassessing Risk” by Olivia Mellan, Bill discusses his views on risk tolerance:

“My experience is that many people’s tolerance is directly correlated with recent market performance, so we shy away from questionnaires. I’m also wary of the way people can misjudge odds due to things like familiarity bias or the structure of questions.”

…

“We then discuss with clients how that [performed] under different market conditions, and look for their wince point to gauge whether their tolerance is lower than their capacity. If their tolerance is lower, we’ll lower the max equity exposure.”

Click here to read the entire story on InvestmentAdvisor.com.

Bill Ramsay, CFP®, recently participated in his third Triangle Business Journal roundtable event.  The 2009 Financial Roundtable: Wealth Strategies was held at the Triangle Business Journal office on September 29th, 2009, with the full article appearing in the October 16th, 2009 issue.

Bill also participated in the Triangle Busniess Journal’s rountables on August 23, 2007 and July 18, 2006.

Please contact our office at (919) 851-8200 for a copy of the full article.

Paid subscribers of the Triangle Business Journal may click here to access the full article through their website.

Financial Symmetry Inc. is proud to announce that Will Holt, CPA, has earned the CFP® designation. Congratulations Will!

The following is Will’s recent letter to our clients announcing his achievement.

When I joined Financial Symmetry a little over three years ago, I came in with a broad goal of using my extensive experience in accounting and taxation to help others achieve their financial objectives.  It soon became apparent to me, however, that having the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation would enhance my hard earned skills and allow me to better serve our clients.  I am proud to announce that upon completion of an intensive preparation course and diligent self study, I successfully passed the comprehensive national CFP® exam in July.  In the months following I completed the remaining requirements to earn the CFP® designation and now possess the necessary credentials to move into a primary financial advisor role.

To earn the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation, candidates must complete what the Board of Standards refers to as the “4 E’s”:

• Education
• Examination
• Experience
• Ethics

In addition to earning a bachelor’s degree, completing a board certified education program, passing the exam, and adhering to a strict code of ethics, candidates must also have completed three years of relevant work experience in an industry related field.  As a licensed Certified Public Accountant I was automatically eligible to apply for the CFP® Certification Examination in lieu of the education requirement.  Thirty hours of continuing education every two years is also required in order to maintain an active CFP® license.

Being part of the team here at Financial Symmetry has enabled me to build upon my experience as a partner in a local CPA firm.  Through working on plan development, personalized investment analysis, and implementing strategies in our high-level client service model, I have added the essential knowledge and skills to move into this new role with our firm.  I look forward to the new challenges and responsibilities that this opportunity presents.

For a complimentary initial consultation with Will Holt, CFP®, CPA,  please contact him at (919) 851-8200 ext. 203 or by email at wholt@financialsymmetry.com.

Understanding the difference between a fiduciary standard and a suitability standard could pay major dividends in a relationship with a financial professional.  Operating under the fiduciary standard requires a planner to put the client’s interest ahead of his or her own.  In other words, don’t be afraid to ask your financial advisor the motivation behind his or her recommendations.  Recently, the FPA in a combined effort with NAPFA and the CFP Board have made a big push to have the fiduciary standard applied to securities brokers that give investment advice as well.  In this msn.com article, Liz Pulliam Weston does a nice job breaking down the differences between these two words and lists some questions you might like to ask your advisor.

Can You Trust Your Financial Advisor?

Written by Chad Smith, CFP®.

When researching mutual funds to invest client funds, we evaluate numerous aspects including corporate culture, manager experience and compensation, research philosophy, and expenses. One of our primary concerns is that fund managers have their interests aligned with those of shareholders. In our view we find one of the best measures of this to be if managers invest significantly in their own funds. Consistent with recent studies by Morningstar, this also seems to be indicative of better performance.

The recent issue of Investment News details these findings:

“…funds whose managers invest $1 million or more of their own money in their fund ranked in the 42nd performance percentile, on average, over the five-year period through July. That means they outperformed 58% of their peers.”

To read the full article click here: InvestmentNews

The following is written by Allison Berger, CFP®.

Protecting What You Have

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm ET

Instructor Roseann Bove, CFP, CLU

NAPFA-Registered Financial Advisor

Your health, family, and home are important and need to be kept safe. Roseann will provide information on how you can protect the things you have through life, health and medical insurance.

Click here to register for this Webinar.

Click here to view archived Webinar sessions.