After the 2008 financial crisis, many investors began looking for investment opportunities that would allow them to “catch up” on losses suffered in retirement plans. With interest rates at historic lows, traditionally “safe” investments such as bonds offered little income. Banks and brokerages began to expand and advertise Exchange-Traded Notes (ETNs) as lucrative, steady payouts.Since [...]
Allianz Global Investors (AGI), an investing arm of the large German insurance company Allianz SE, announced on March 25 that two of its hedge funds, managing nearly $2.3 billion, would be liquidated. The hedge funds - Structured Alpha 1000 and Structured Alpha 1000 Plus – took unexpected heavy losses in March 2020’s coronavirus stock [...]
April 2020 - Exchange-Traded Funds (ETF)s are popular investment products that allow consumers to invest in a basket of stocks that capture certain markets or industries. When purchased knowledgeably, they can help investors diversify their portfolios or buy into an industry they believe in. ETFs also create risk by making it more difficult to see [...]
April, 2020 – In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and on top of historic stock losses, investors were hit with another record-breaking “first”: West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures went negative. For the lay person not familiar with the oil futures market, this probably makes little sense. Here’s an analogy to help: Imagine you [...]
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are investment vehicles that hold income-generating properties. Investors earn dividends from the properties without having to own them individually. Some REITs specialize in specific market sectors – such as office buildings or hotels - while others are more diverse. REITs have been heavily promoted by investment advisors and stockbrokers in [...]
Investors and money managers opened 2020 with optimism: U.S./China trade talks seemed to be making progress Interest rates were steady An 11-year bull market rolled along Then a previously unknown virus – eventually named SARS-CoV-2 – jumped to humans and the Covid-19 pandemic brought the world economy to a standstill in, literally, a matter of [...]
Your stockbroker and brokerage firm have a responsibility to make recommendations and purchases that fit your financial circumstances and risk profile. By extension, they are obligated to let you know if your investments are riskier than can be reasonably expected. This might mean discussing in detail high risk products – such as Leveraged ETFs – [...]
What Are Leveraged ETFs? Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) are securities that contain a basket of stocks from an index such the S&P 500. Leveraging is an investing strategy that uses financial products and debt to increase the impact of pricing changes. A leveraged ETF (LETF), then, is a product that uses leveraging to magnify the pricing [...]
What is Overconcentration? Overconcentration refers to the risky practice of investing large percentages of your portfolio in one security, one sector of the economy, or one type of investment. Your grandmother might have called it “putting all your eggs in one basket.” Unless you can afford to play with extreme high risk, most financial experts [...]
What is Asset allocation? If you are investing for retirement, then your age and the age you want to retire play a large role in how your investments should be allocated. As you near retirement, your portfolio should shift from riskier equities, like stocks, to safer investments that you can use when you need them. [...]