Research articles from May 2004

Research archives from May 2004

The heart of planning.(Editor's Letter)
May 1, 2004... Financial planning is most essential where long-term needs are concerned. How clients get by in their later years when they are working less or not at all is therefore the most important matter for a planner to resolve. The obvious reason for...

Traditional employee, untraditional approach.(AdvisorChoice)(Advertisement)
May 1, 2004... Advisors today have more career options than ever before. They can build their practices a number of ways: as a traditional employee, an independent employee, an independent contractor, a fee-only advisor, or working in a community bank or...

Big trade for LPL: Phoenix quits retail.(ResearchReporter)(LPL Acquisition Corp.)(Phoenix Companies Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... INDEPENDENT GIANT LPL just got a lot bigger, welcoming about 1,000 more advisors from the Phoenix Companies into its existing 5,100-rep network after Phoenix got out of the retail broker-dealer business. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] While...

Strict margins: web traders fined.(ResearchReporter)(iClearing)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... WITH A RESURGENCE of day trading reported on the horizon, the NASD is cracking down on loose credit at trader havens Ameritrade and its onetime competitors turned subsidiaries, Datek and iClearing. NASD regulators fined each of the online...

Going independent: AIG adds advisor network.(ResearchReporter)(AIG Advisor Group)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... INDEPENDENT ADVICE is apparently such a good business that the world's biggest insurance conglomerate wants to help fuel the fire. AIG American General, the life insurance arm of AIG, recently launched an operation called the Independent...

Full-service clearing: looking to make matches.(ResearchReporter)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... CORRESPONDENT FIRMS are constantly looking for ways to add value for their clients, but First Clearing hopes that helping firms recruit reps will take the clearing relationship one step beyond. The company has volunteered to provide...

Loophole or fraud? Bond trader fights SEC.(ResearchReporter)(United States. Securities and Exchange Commission)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... TRADERS ACCUSED of breaking the rules of Wall Street tend to settle quietly, but one-time bond market star Joseph Jett is still maintaining his innocence years after the fact. The SEC recently threw out a ruling by an administrative law...

Wagging the dog: finance biz drives economy.(ResearchReporter)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... BETWEEN BANKING, insurance and the securities business, the financial services industry has evolved past simply keeping the wheels of capital turning to the point where it drives a big chunk of the economy. According to research collected...

Correction.(Letter)(Correction Notice)
May 1, 2004... Dear Research Magazine: Schultz Investment Advisors, Inc., (SIA) is honored to have been featured in your April issue. However, despite your kind efforts to get SIA's story out to the public, a wide variety of misrepresentations and some...

Closing bell: NYSE shuts lunchroom.(ResearchReporter)(New York Stock Exchange Inc.)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... THE DAYS when the market's movers and shakers could meet at the Exchange for lunch are over. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Almost unnoticed in the rancor surrounding former NYSE CEO Dick Grasso's departure, the 105-year-old Stock Exchange...

The long view: keeping clients forever.(ResearchReporter)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... ONE OF THE keys to serving the ultra-rich market is shifting your investment horizon from the personal concerns of college for the kids, retirement and the estate in order to think on a dynastic level. "Remember their objective if they're...

New markets: getting into 401(k) biz?(ResearchReporter)
May 1, 2004... GROUP RETIREMENT plans are huge business, but if you've been wondering how to start providing 401(k) advice, ING wants to help. The company has created a four-part Web seminar to teach advisors about retirement plans and how to recognize...

Strategic shifts: GWR tightens family bond.(ResearchReporter)(GWR Investments)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... NEBRASKA-BASED GWR Investments recently sold its retail brokerage accounts to Securities America in order to concentrate on its family-office business. Brokers currently affiliated with the firm will retain their existing books and even...

Full disclosure: managers keep pay secret.(FundReporter)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... AFTER EVERYTHING the mutual fund industry's been through, the biggest players in the business are reluctant to reveal how much they pay their management teams. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Fidelity and Vanguard have both gone on record as...

Tarnished halo: fixed income under fire.(FundReporter)(IRS investigation tax-exempt status of some bond funds)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... THERE'S SOMETHING about market timing that evokes the fast-paced world of equities, but even relatively mellow bond funds are feeling the heat from an unlikely source. This time, it's the IRS leading the charge against more than 60 fund...

The microscope: market timing ... at H & R block?(FundReporter)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... FEW PEOPLE realize that tax preparation giant H & R Block also has a brokerage unit, but apparently not even relative anonymity can save H & R Block Financial Advisors from the taint of bad trades or the official scrutiny that comes with them....

Global strategies: Mass Mutual goes to Taiwan.(FundReporter)(Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.)(Fuh Hwa Investment Trust)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... IN PERHAPS an unfortunately timed move, MassMutual recently bought into one of Taiwan's biggest mutual fund companies, three weeks before the island's markets imploded. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Together with venture partner Mercuries &...

Value play: Buffett buys Safeco funds.(FundReporter)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... SAFECO HAS sold its fund, annuities and life insurance operations to a group of investors led by insurance company White Mountains and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway for $1.35 billion. Buffett and White Mountains chairman Jack Byrne...

Balanced portfolios: a fundamental fund focus.(FundReporter)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... THE FUND of funds investment approach is hot these days (largely thanks to its prevalence among hedge funds), but if you or your clients want to know how to use the strategy as an asset allocation tool, Ibbotson and fund family WM Group of...

Vision of independence: as founder of independent broker-dealer Cambridge Investment Research, Eric Schwartz was one of the early adaptors who brought the advisory business into the fee-based era. We find out what he's working on today and where he's placing his bets on the industry's future.(Q & A)(Interview)
May 1, 2004... Research: Given your reputation as a sort of oracle, where do you take Cambridge from here? Schwartz: Well, sometimes your reputation gets bigger than the reality; when that happens, I try not to complain! I got into the fee side of the...

The bucket stops here: Ray Lucia's financial radio show teaches financial responsibility to listeners nationwide.(ProfilesInsuccess)
May 1, 2004... Rare are those with widely diverse talents whose destiny finds a career marrying all their gifts in a single arena. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Meet Raymond J. Lucia. Thirty years ago he became a financial advisor. He used to sing and play...

Proper planning: Virginia Postrel argues that static planning doesn't work for an economy and neither is it the right approach for financial planners and their clients.(ProfilesInsuccess)
May 1, 2004... Virginia Postrel has been called one of America's top "thought leaders." For over 10 years, she edited the "think" magazine, Reason. In two celebrated books, the award-winning commentator upended the establishment with her piercing examination...

How to retire your business; Advisors have a wide range of business succession options: an internal transition versus an external one, a sale of some of your book or all of it, to a family or non-family successor.
May 1, 2004... Sure, it was fine for flighty heroine Scarlett O'Hara to constantly procrastinate: "Oh, fiddle-dee-dee! I'll think about it tomorrow." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] But your financial services practice may be "gone with the wind" tomorrow if...

Adding value in retirement planning: experts say that advisors who understand this area well need not prospect for new clients thanks to a high level of client retention and referrals.(Focus on: FinancialPlanning)
May 1, 2004... Retirement plan distributions mean big business. Nearly $500 billion is distributed from employer-sponsored retirement plans every year, and total distributions from 2003 through 2010 could hit a staggering $2.4 trillion. These projections from...

The retirement gap: too many workers have failed to address the chasm between post-retirement needs and means, especially in the area of health care costs.(Cover Story)
May 1, 2004... The session sounded non-threatening enough: "Are You Preparing Your Clients For Their Retiree Health Needs?" But an hour later, the few hundred financial advisors who had jammed into the standing-room-only workshop looked shell-shocked. It...

The new retirementality: six common myths stand in the way of a fulfilling retirement for your clients.(Your Clients for Life)
May 1, 2004... "How dull it is to pause, to make an end, to rust unburnished, not to shine in use! As though to breathe were life." --Alfred, Lord Tennyson On a recent plane ride, a businessman in his late 70s told me the following: "Let me tell you...

Stora Enso fact sheet for investors.(Investor News)(Company Profile)
May 1, 2004... Stora Enso at a Glance Stora Enso is an integrated paper, packaging and forest products company producing publication and fine papers, packaging boards and wood products, areas in which the Group is a global market leader. Stora Enso...

High-touch, high-tech: "Winning Clients in a Wired World: 7 Strategies for Growing Your Business Using Technology and the Web." By Kip Gregory. Wiley publishers. $49.95.(BookReview)(Book Review)
May 1, 2004... In 1998 Kip Gregory formed the Gregory Group to help financial service marketers better integrate technology and the Internet into their marketing work. Focusing on the financial services sector, he's helped everyone from individual advisors to...

The semi-retired life: some kind of work--paid or volunteer, manual or mental--should be part of your clients' retirement plan.(TheEthicalAdvisor)
May 1, 2004... For better or worse, financial professionals are looked to for guidance beyond simply the quantitative aspects of clients' financial planning. This can be a good thing when advisors are prepared to meet that challenge. But some advisors are...

Master yourself: three simple steps can help you eliminate your self-sabotaging thoughts, feelings and actions.(PersonalCoach)
May 1, 2004... Many financial advisors believe that all they have to do to change or improve is to attend a workshop. They rationalize, "I'll attend the workshop and when I have time, I will start to implement the change techniques." Unfortunately, generating...

Managing clients, managing your practice: only a team approach in which advisors focus on face time with clients and prospects can meet both corporate and client objectives.(SalesSeminar)
May 1, 2004... "How does one do an effective job managing client assets (maintaining the financial plan, asset allocation, risk management) and managing a practice (keeping a work day under 10 hours per day)? As I look to the future, I see my...

The big bang: a single well-executed event launched a spectacular career for Pat Bell.(TheWinner'sCircle)
May 1, 2004... When Pat Bell started in the business she knew precisely which market she would target, and developed an effective marketing plan. She also had one great idea that would put her in front of hundreds of individuals that fit her target market....

Of booms and bloodbaths: it is time to take profits in emerging markets.(Global Investment)
May 1, 2004... The golden rule of emerging market investors is "Buy after a Bloodbath." When a financial crisis strikes, private investors run for cover and mutual and pension funds cut their losses. Then, after the dust settles, professionals move in. ...

The most exciting global investment opportunities are available right here ... including these top Chinese companies.(Illustration)
May 1, 2004... Investing in non-US equities can broaden your opportunities and diversify your portfolio. But costly currency conversions, inefficient settlements and a host of unfamiliar practices can minimize the appeal. Depositary Receipts (DRs) are the...

Citibank depositary receipt issuers.
May 1, 2004... ASM INTERNATIONAL Country: Netherlands Exchange: NASDAQ Ticker: ASMI CUSIP: N07045102 Ratio (Ords to NYRSs*): 1:1 ASM International N.V. is a leading supplier of semiconductor process equipment in both front-...

Investment section: technology.(InvestmentSection)
May 1, 2004... ORDER YOUR FREE RESEARCH REPRINTS! * CALL (800) 458-2700 * FAX (415) 348-0222 * MAIL TO Research Magazine P.O. Box 7588 San Francisco, CA 94120-9595 Attention Orlando Orellana Jr. * VISIT OUR WEBSITE ...

Volvo.(Company Profile)
May 1, 2004... NASDAQ: VOLVY Stockholm: VOLVB Group Profile The Volvo Group is a publicly held company headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo holds leading positions in each of its business areas, which include heavy trucks, buses,...

First-rate technology: analysts concur that the tech sector is flourishing, and predict steady growth over the next few years.(Investment Section)
May 1, 2004... Timm Bechter Legg Mason 410.454.2616 tpbechter@lmus.leggmason.com [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] AREA OF COVERAGE: Technology Communications & Equipment OUTLOOK: My outlook for the group is fairly positive, especially...

Innovations for the digital home and office.(Intel Corp.)(Company Profile)
May 1, 2004... ABOUT INTEL Technology * Leadership * Expertise Intel focuses on developing advanced integrated silicon technology solutions, which we believe will provide the performance and technology features necessary to help accelerate the...

The world just got a little smaller: global business solutions for the expanding enterprise.(Nasdaq: Epic)(Company Profile)
May 1, 2004... Today, Epicor is a recognized leader and provider of comprehensive global business solutions for the midmarket. With more than 20 years of operating history and innovation, Epicor has been delivering enterprise software solutions with a...

Cisco systems investor information.
May 1, 2004... VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT www.cisco.com/go/investors Look For: The Latest Company News Annual Report * Investor Fact Sheet * Webcasts Stock Information * Corporate Governance Downloadable Financials * Plus more... THIS IS...

In 10 years since IPO, ProLogis has ...(Nyse: Pld)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... * Become the leading global provider of distribution facilities with over 220 million square feet in over 1,760 facilities in North America, Europe and Asia * Delivered 18% total compound annual return, including dividends * Grown FFO...

Deutsche Telekom: Fact Sheet.
May 1, 2004... Deutsche Telekom (NYSE: DT) is Europe's largest integrated communications company. Its four-division growth strategy focuses on growing and cash-generating segments of global telecommunications Deutsche Telekom at a glance. An agile...

SAP investor info: www.sap.com/investor.(Company Profile)
May 1, 2004... World's largest business application software company and third largest independent software provider globally Started by five engineers from IBM in 1972, SAP has grown in thirty years from a regional software firm to the world's proven leader...

56 years of record growth.(Coatings industry)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... At RPM, we remain focused on creating value for our stockholders. In addition to our solid growth, we have: * Increased dividends for 30 consecutive years * Completed more than 100 acquisitions in the last 40 years * Issued 11...

Western Gas Resources is a premier developer of unconventional natural gas resources in the Rocky Mountain Region.(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... 2003 Highlights: * 66% increase in net income * 16% increase in proved reserves * 10% increase in production * 13% increase in gas gathering volumes Western Gas Resources, Inc. www.westerngas.com [ILLUSTRATION...

EDO Corporation NYSE: EDO.(Fact Sheet)(New York Stock Exchange)
May 1, 2004... EDO Corporation provides military and commercial products and professional services, with core competencies in a wide range of critical defense areas, including: * Aircraft Armament * Defense Electronics * Undersea Warfare *...

Investor fact sheet.(Northrop Grumman Corp.)(Company Profile)
May 1, 2004... Northrop Grumman Corporation is a national security enterprise focused on providing technologically advanced, innovative products, services and solutions in systems integration, electronics, information technology, advanced aircraft,...

Occidental Petroleum Corporation.(Nyse:Oxy)(profile)(Company Profile)
May 1, 2004... Occidental Petroleum Corporation, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, is one of the world's leading energy and chemicals enterprises. Through its two subsidiaries--Occidental Oil and Gas Corporation and Occidental Chemical Corporation...

Questar: capitalizing on the strong fundamentals of natural gas.
May 1, 2004... Growing demand for clean-burning natural gas, declining production in mature basins and concerns about energy security highlight the importance of the Rocky Mountains as a major producing region. The Rockies--Questar's core operating area--has...

XTO Energy is one of the nation's fastest growing natural gas and oil producers.
May 1, 2004... Current Price (3/5/04): $31.43 52-Week Range: $17.91-$32.52 ABOUT THE COMPANY XTO Energy is a premier North American natural gas, coal bed methane and oil producer engaged in the acquisition and development of long-lived,...