Author: Peter Lazaroff

The Importance of a Fiduciary Standard of Care vs. Suitability

Today the Department of Labor released new rules regarding retirement savings advice. We will post a more detailed analysis in the future, but today I want to explore the different standards in place and provide an initial reaction to the new rules. Read more…

Hedge Funds: What Are They Good For?

Absolutely nothing. That is the answer to the question in the subject line. It is also the value hedge fund investors receive for shelling out exorbitant fees for lackluster performance. The chart below looks at historical performance of hedge funds (yellow bars) relative to diversified stocks Read more…

Stock Selloff Stats

Market sentiment remains negative with the S&P 500 down 12.3% to date and 13.92% from the high point set in May 2015. Read more…

China Drags Down Global Markets

Stock markets started the New Year off with a bang, but not a good one, as panic in Chinese markets spread throughout the globe. Read more…

Fed Raises Interest Rates

Today the Federal Reserve announced that they will raise interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade. The Fed’s decision to move rates higher signals that the economy is no longer in a state of emergency and healthy enough to continue growing with modestly tighter monetary policy. Read more…

When Should You Take Social Security?

Last week President Obama signed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, which raised the federal debt limit and avoided another debt ceiling issue. Tucked within this new law is a provision labeled “closure of unintended loopholes,” which eliminates a couple strategies for maximizing Social Security Read more…

The Failure of Active Management

For the past 11 years, the S&P Indices Versus Active (SPIVA) Scorecard has been the de facto scorekeeper of the active versus passive debate, and last month they released their mid-year update. Below is a graphic of active funds that failed to beat their respective index. As you can see, the Read more…

The Collective Knowledge of Markets

Meet Penelope the cow. NPR’s Planet Money asked the internet how much Penelope weighed and got 17,205 responses. The average of all the responses was 1,287 pounds and the actual weight was 1,355 pounds. The average was off by only five percent. This experiment, which was originally conducted in Read more…

Stock Market Correction

I wrote an article at the beginning of the summer titled Volatility is Not the Enemy. I remember thinking it would be the perfect article for whenever the market had a correction. Since it had been nearly four years since the last correction, I figured it should be published and referred back to Read more…

5 Estate Planning Documents You Need

Estate planning is a little different for everyone. While you are alive, the estate planning process allows you to manage and preserve your assets. At death, your estate plan allows you to conserve and control their distribution after your death according to your goals and objectives. Read more…