Riskalyze Prior to investing on behalf of a client, it’s critical to gain a thorough understanding of the client’s risk tolerance. Asset Allocation construction is based on risk and return objectives. Defining one’s risk tolerance is historically accomplished through questionnaires or through a conversation. It’s always been a challenge to pinpoint somebody’s risk tolerance, [...]
Year In Review And Investor Behavior To say that 2017 was an unusual year in the stock market is an understatement. Certain financial measurements make this clear. For example, Standard Deviation is a measure of volatility. The lower the Standard Deviation, the less volatile that asset is. The Sharpe Ratio is a metric [...]
Semiannual Report A model portfolio for a moderate growth investor may have approximately 60% in stocks and 40% in bonds. According to Vanguard, the average return for this model from 1926-2015 was 8.7%*. In my opinion, the majority of investors with a middle of the road risk tolerance would be satisfied with that return. If [...]
Five Questions In most businesses, it’s critical to first identify what clients want and then deliver those desired services to the clients. I believe that certain firms in the Financial Services industry have not offered the necessary services and tools that clients desire. The following five attributes enhance the relationship between the client and advisor, [...]
Math Investors should keep in mind how large gains and losses may affect overall returns. This brief excerpt is a reminder why managing risk is important when investing. Let’s review two hypothetical scenarios. There are two clients who are choosing to self-direct their investments, and each will need the money invested in six years. They [...]
Thoughts On The Stock Market and Investor Behavior As of February 21st, the S&P 500 Index has returned approximately *5.05% year to date. At the current pace the total return will be over 30% in 2017. Some investors may think these returns will continue. It’s certainly possible for the S&P 500 to return over 30%, [...]
Why Does The Average Investor Underperform The Market? Dalbar Inc. is a market research firm in the financial services industry. Their goals are to raise the standards of excellence among financial professionals. Blackrock is an investment management corporation, and currently the world’s largest asset manager with 5.1 Trillion Dollars under management. A recent study by [...]
Decemeber 2016 Dear Client, As 2016 comes to an end, I want to draw your attention to certain investment tools that I have recently acquired that will add value to the services that I will be able to provide you in 2017. Recently, various investments have been made at Snyder Asset Management that will enhance [...]
How Government Debt Affects Retirement The Baltimore CFA Society hosts monthly seminars on various topics. The most recent seminar was titled “Going for Broke- How Government Debt Affects Retirement”. The presenter was Michael Tanner. Mr. Tanner is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute where he heads research into a variety of domestic policies. Since [...]
Measuring Success: Risks Associated With Competing Against A Stock Index Wealth Managers are constantly confronting the expectation of many investors that the value they provide is strictly measured based on outperforming an index such as the S&P 500. (The S&P 500 is an index composed of 500 of the largest companies listed on the New [...]
