Blog

The concluding speakers presented today at the CFA Annual Conference in Frankfurt. The sessions were fruitful and provided much food for thought. I'm excited to bring these perspectives to our investment team, many of which are already present and implemented in our client portfolios.…

It was an enjoyable and informative first day at the CFA Annual Conference here in Frankfurt, Germany. It got off to a good start when our cab driver played "New York, New York" by Frank Sinatra in honor of us. We told him that we were from Iowa and he asked if we were cowboys or American football players. We had to disappoint him by saying we were financial advisors and mediocre soccer (I mean futbol) players but he was happy to learn that John Wayne was born in Iowa. …

Today in Frankfurt is overcast and rainy, which is a bit symbolic of the current economic environment in the European Union. The EU is plagued with slow/no economic growth, troubling unemployment, and generally weakened government balance sheets.…

This year's CFA Annual Conference, a gathering of leading investment professionals, is meeting in Frankfurt, Germany. Jason and I are in attendance representing Sherpa Investment Management and look forward to hearing about current investment trends and research.…

Many times we see people that have selected a Target Date Fund (TDF) for their retirement plan figuring this is a good diversified choice. At the Financial Advisor Retirement Symposium, Rob Arnott explained the problems with Target Date Funds. We agree with his assessment and recommend that these investments not be used. …

It's time for March Madness to begin, which means millions of workers will bring their employers' internet to a crawl as they live stream the NCAA basketball games.…

One of the things I'm most excited about in the future are the new possibilities coming from technological and medical advances. In fact, new and better technologies will likely be the catalyst for advances in medicine. …

Check out pictures from the 2015 Variety Telethon this past weekend!…

I'm bringing you two charts-of-the-day displaying interest rates over time. As you can see, Treasury and corporate bond rates are at historic lows and well below average levels.…

A new report by the Employee Benefit Research Institute says that Americans have a retirement savings shortfall in excess of $4 trillion. Yikes! The shortfall for late bloomers is greatest for single females ($65,000/household) and least for married households ($19,500).…