Raymond James Alternative Investment Conferences

 Risk seemed to be the word on everyone’s lips at two recent Raymond James conferences. In early April, Portfolio Manager Angela Palacios attended a conference in New York dedicated to alternative investment. She attended sessions where experts spoke on topics including Venture Capital, Real Estate, and Managed Futures. The goal of many of these investment options is to seek to reduce overall portfolio risk over time. Because volatility has been very low over the past few years, investors have ignored some of these risk-mitigating investing options, leaving them behind the flashier equity market returns. Angela’s take-away from the conference:

This is precisely the time to be reminded why these alternatives are an important aspect of all portfolios.”

Center Partner Matthew Chope attended another Raymond James conference in April. The Las Vegas alternative investment conference echoed the theme of risk management. Matt attended sessions that broadened his knowledge about mitigating risk by adding specialized securities to portfolios. Matt said the strategy comes with challenges:

We want to find ways to mitigate risk without impacting long-term returns. I came back looking for ways to implement these ideas for our clients on a case-by-case basis.”

With a vigilant eye on the ever-changing landscape of investing, The Center team is committed to staying at the forefront of the latest strategies and then putting them to work for our clients.

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Alternative investments are available only to those who meet specific suitability requirements, including minimum net worth tests. Please review any offering materials carefully, and consult with your tax advisor or accountant prior to investing, There are special risks involved with alternative investments, including investment strategies, and different regulatory and reporting requirements. There can be no assurance that any investment will meet its performance objective. Futures trading is speculative, leveraged, and involves substantial risks. Investing involves risk and there is no assurance that any strategy will ultimately be successful or profitable nor protect against a loss. C14-013296

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day from everyone at The Center!

Research Trip to Wall Street

In April, Dan Boyce and Melissa Joy joined a small group of financial planners for three days visiting Wall Street Firms. With an exclusive group of 30 participants from around the country, discussions were highly interactive. The main focus of the meetings was on Asset Allocation and Portfolio Construction in today’s market environment. Main sessions were held at Blackrock, JP Morgan Asset Management, and Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

The low interest rate environment and future return scenarios for bonds was an enduring theme across firms. It was interesting to see different strategies and perspectives based upon individual firms. Perhaps not surprisingly, the European debt crisis was also a dominant topic. We also always find value of being able to “look under the hood” of financial firms on their turf.

In addition to the larger group meeting, Melissa visited portfolio managers at IVA and American Century. Intellectual curiosity is a cornerstone of our research process and an important component to our investment committee decisions is hands-on due diligence. One of the highlights of the trip was sharing ideas with other financial planners and wealth management firms. We value insights from our peers and are always open to new ideas.

Center Team Attends Invitation-only Raymond James Investment Conference

Angela Palacios, Melissa Joy, and Tim Wyman. The three headed to St. Petersburg, Florida January 25^th and 26^th to attend the Portfolio Manager Group investment conference. Top industry experts talked portfolio monitoring, analyzing risk in portfolios, and even about the current political environment’s impact on investments.

“It is very energizing spending time with a group of peers and sharing ideas,” Angela said of the conference. “It provides valuable insight into how to better serve our clients.  Also, it is always a great opportunity to hear from economists and money managers in person as this is key to our investment decision process.”

Melissa and Tim joined the experts at the podium, sharing The Center’s processes in the portfolio monitoring space. Tim explained the history of The Center’s Investment Process and Melissa detailed ten tips for monitoring investments for clients. The audience was particularly interested in learning about our Due Diligence Questionnaire, which is a pre-requisite for investment in our model portfolios. Our investment communication process and firm-wide investment strategy were also well-received.

The advisors at the conference are part of an ongoing Institute of Investment Management Consulting group (IIMC) that was formed last year.  The goal of the IIMC is to provide institutional quality education for investment management. 

Learning from peers and sharing with others puts our process to the test. By that standard, our trip was an overwhelming success. And, coming from Michigan, the weather wasn’t half bad either.

Clients and Friends: Please Join Us

WHAT: 2012 Financial Planning & Investment Opportunities FOR: Clients and Friends of The Center Clients are encouraged to bring a guest WHEN: Offered at two convenient times. Please choose which time works best for you! Tuesday, February 14th, 10:30 am - noon Wednesday, February 15th, 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm WHERE: Bloomfield Twp Public Library 1099 Lone Pine Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302 www.btpl.org CONTACT INFORMATION: Gerri Harmer at (248) 948-7900 or Gerri.Harmer@CenterFinPlan.com www.CenterFinPlan.com

Register Online Now! Register for: Tuesday, February 14th Register for: Wednesday, February 15th

Matt Chope and Angela Palacios Sharpening the Saw in Seattle

Matt Chope and  Angela Palacios recently attended a three-day user conference in Seattle for Tamarac, our portfolio rebalancing software provider.  The meetings were held September 14–16. 

They were joined by 220 advisors, thought-leaders, and product experts from around the country.  Together they collaborated on ways to leverage our current software, learned operational best practices, and gained insights into new technology opportunities.   This collaboration is a result of The Center's ongoing commitment to utilize technology to better serve our clients.

Matt commented:  “To remain competitive, the best financial planning firms need to obtain a better return on information.  We are encouraged by our technology partner's work in this area.  They are forging on, working tirelessly toward better integration of information systems.  These systems will allow for smoother functioning of client information, with the goal of enhancing better decision making.  They are also designing a platform to develop better workflows for our staff and provide better service and overall client experience.”