With all the news around the Robinhood drama and the possibility of the firm going public, the IPO market seems to be gaining recognition. In fact, 2020 was an unprecedented year for IPOs reminiscent of the 1990s. On this video we explain what is an IPO, and whether you should invest in them. The bottom line is that they can be a risky investments so you need to be careful when investing in these newly minted public companies.
It is a mistake for consumers and even investment managers to question the wisdom of diversifying amongst many asset classes. We have heard “advisors” say, “oh I don’t believe in modern portfolio theory”. Every time we hear that we find out that advisor has not been adequately educated in modern portfolio theory and does not understand the science and mathematics behind it. Yet people continue to use them because the advisor speaks with authority, is an employee of a known brand or simply has built a reputation. If an advisor does not have a CFA or a PhD, they probably have not studied the virtues of modern portfolio theory, and the latest research published in scientific journals. Using MPT to assist in properly devising a diversified portfolio is discounted by too many people in the field. Hopefully, more and more consumers will work with someone who has this knowledge.
We like to think that there are three critical “E’s” related to providing clients with competent advice, Ethics, Education and Experience.
Many financial planners are salesmen who use high-pressure sales tactics to convince you to buy what they are selling. How do consumers know if someone is qualified to be a financial planner? Not by looking towards regulators since financial planning is not regulated. Anybody with any level of education and credentials can call themselves a financial planner and there is no regulatory body to challenge them. Further anyone can call what they do financial planning. There is not regulation or universally agreed upon definition of financial planning. Don't get us wrong, the industry is heavily regulated. But financial planners are not regulated in terms of how they do financial planning. They are only regulated by what they sell. There is one regulation when they sell insurance, another when they sell investment products and another when they sell investment advise. But none if the tell you to sell stocks that create a devastating tax liability or if they fail to identify financial risks in your life that will result in you running out of money. The only group which is enforcing any standards (although they are not regulators) is the CFP Board and what they require from a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ . Assuming regulation improvement is not forthcoming; the CFP® certification provides at least a minimum signal of human capital investment and ethical standards in the financial planning process.
Large cap stocks represent the majority of the U.S. equity market, they are often looked to as core portfolio investments.Large-cap investments can be purchased as individual shares of stock; through an exchange-traded fund, or ETF, that tracks a large-cap benchmark; or through one of the hundreds of available mutual funds focused on large-cap investments. There is a difference. This discussion illustrates how we create further diversification in this one asset class.
Many wonder if the new administration's policies could impact the stock market but history shows no systematic correlation associated with the party who wins an election and the returns of the market.