Investment News articles from March 2009

Investment News archives from March 2009

Financial execs losing the trust of consumers.(Short Interests)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Jamie Burns When it comes to their opinions of the financial world, it seems that consumers are from Mars and executives at financial services companies are from Venus. When asked to characterize their financial outlook for...

IN Events.(Short Interests)
March 2, 2009... March 9 FPA Business Solutions 2009 The technology expo, which is sponsored by the Financial Planning Association and InvestmentNews, will feature advanced content about tech trends and a who's who of the tech world. Keynote speaker:...

Nationalization should be last resort.(Viewpoint)
March 2, 2009... President Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner are resisting calls for the nationalization of Citigroup Inc. and perhaps other large banks. To many in the financial community, the idea of nationalizing one or more of the major banks,...

Advisers sticking with equities, survey finds; Despite economy, most respondents carry on as planned.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Jed Horowitz More than half of registered investment advisers responding to a recent survey believed that the market slide made it a good time to invest in stocks, and 93% said their clients were not cashing out their investments....

NAVA marketing conference notebook; Panelists address ratings, regulation, taxes, wholesalers, tech.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Darla Mercado Panelists addressed myriad issues at the annual marketing conference held in New York by NAVA Inc., the Reston, Va.-based variable annuity trade association. RATINGS CONCERNS During one session, Doug Meyer,...

Signs of a bottom? Stocks are cheap, but investors are fearful.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Jeff Benjamin By most measures, stocks are now cheap enough to justify a legitimate market rally that could easily develop into a multiyear bull run, according to some market watchers. The main sticking point, however, seems to...

Software program aims to simplify retirement account tax management; Goal is to flesh out the tax advantages of a client's household portfolio.(Tech Update)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Jeff Benjamin Taking the grunt work and the guesswork out of retirement account tax management could be right around the corner, assuming that a new product from LifeYield LLC can live up to the hype building around it. The...

Two leading 529 plan groups join forces in Washington; CSPN, CSF work together to promote legislative and regulatory goals.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Charles Paikert The Section 529 college savings plan industry's two leading advocacy organizations are teaming up to advance their legislative and regulatory agendas in Washington. Information-sharing between the College...

Mattresses are no savings vehicle.(Viewpoint)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Jim Pavia It was around midnight, and I was looking forward to some quiet time as I settled into a John Grisham novel. I had barely turned a page when the phone rang. It was my buddy Joe, who spends a great deal of time on the road...

Relief pitcher gets relief.(Short Interests)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Bruce Kelly The World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies are relieving a key bullpen pitcher, whose cash is frozen in the wake of the $8 billion fraud allegedly committed by R. Allen Stanford. The Phillies last week said...

Following commodity trading advisers; AlphaMetrix offers an index that taps into the appeal of non-correlated performance.(Street Wise)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Jeff Benjamin With the stock market down more than 16% in 2009, following a 38% drop last year, the idea of a non-correlated investment strategy has probably never sounded better. The folks at AlphaMetrix LLC in Chicago are...

At the Bell: Advisory exec accused of embezzlement.(Late News)
March 2, 2009... An executive at an investment advisory firm who allegedly ran an adult escort business on the side has been accused by federal investigators of pilfering nearly $400,000 from his company's 401(k) plan. Mark Harrington, a former vice...

For Edward Jones, wirehouse shrinkage spells opportunity; New transition plan at distinctive firm offers veteran brokers no upfronts, but steady income.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Dan Jamieson Reflecting the deep changes that the current slump has brought to the securities industry, wirehouse brokers are starting to look to Edward Jones for shelter from the storm. The iconoclastic St. Louis-based...

DANNY LUDEMAN; Wells won't sell Wachovia Securities, he says.(Newsmakers)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Dan Jamieson Wells Fargo & Co. has no intention of ditching Wachovia Securities, according to the brokerage firm's chief executive, . "Wells Fargo is totally committed to the brokerage business,'' he said in an interview Feb. 20....

Asset managers may be too weak to lead recovery; Janus, Calamos under review by Morningstar.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: David Hoffman Publicly traded asset management companies tend to lead market recoveries, but the fast and brutal decline in mutual fund assets makes the firms' ability to front a recovery doubtful. "They will lag the market,''...

Smith Barney bleeds as it prepares for merger; Sales force departures soared, client assets dropped in 2008.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Bruce Kelly Smith Barney is losing brokers and advisers by the score and assets by the billions as it prepares for its new role as the junior partner to former rival Morgan Stanley in their impending joint venture. Last year...

It's time for Schapiro to sweat the small stuff; The SEC chairman is under pressure as financial regulatory system faces overhaul.(News Analysis)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Bruce Kelly As Mary Schapiro scrambles to undo the errors of past SEC chairmen, she will be demanding answers and accountability for some monumental blunders. And so will her boss, President Obama. The president...

Downturn spells opportunity for some advisers; Many picked up clients during second half of 2008, report says.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Lisa Shidler Despite the market's unprecedented downturn, 63% of top- performing advisers actually gained clients during the last six months of 2008, according to a new report. Of those who picked up clients, 88% reported that...

Delay retirement withdrawal age: ICI chief; Life expectancy has increased, requiring change, Stevens says.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Sara Hansard Congress should permanently push back the age at which retirement savings account holders must take withdrawals, the head of the Investment Company Institute testified last week. "To help retirees manage their...

Investors angered by market losses; Recent surveys shed light on investor sentiment; advisers want help from fund companies.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: David Hoffman Neither investors nor their advisers are feeling particularly positive these days, according to research conducted by OppenheimerFunds. One study found that in response to portfolio declines of between 30% and...

More wealthy graybeards postponing retirement; Flush and fearful, they're switching to cash and working.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Mark Bruno With their portfolios squeezed by major declines in global markets over the last year, scores of aging millionaires are choosing to overhaul their investments and scrap any imminent plans for retirement. It's an...

Finra's VA suitability rule still sticks in B-Ds' craw; NAVA forum attendees say nine-month-old regulation has caused nothing but headaches.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Darla Mercado Fears of increased paperwork and disclosures related to Finra's variable annuity suitability rule have been realized, with many firms reporting that they are still overburdened by hair-splitting requirements. ...

Prime Numbers.
March 2, 2009... Go figure $71.2B The U.S. Department of Agriculture's projection of 2009 net farm income, down from $86.9 billion in 2008. Source: Reuters $170,300 The national median sale price for existing homes in January, down from...

Advisers: Recovering taxes for Madoff victims is tough; Few options exist for retrieving money that clients paid the IRS, but did not owe.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Sara Hansard Advisers, accountants and attorneys who represent victims of the alleged Madoff Ponzi scheme are struggling to recover taxes investors paid on "phantom profits.'' A major issue is how clients of Bernard L. Madoff...

Advisers take on challenge of clients with Alzheimer's; Different planning strategies are needed, especially at the onset of the illness.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Lisa Shidler Suzanne Hall knows firsthand how difficult it is to watch a family member struggle with Alzheimer's disease. Ms. Hall, vice president at The Financial Consulate Inc. of Hunt Valley, Md., was overwhelmed when her...

Morgan Stanley seeks 'star' manager; Investment manager, not brokerage exec, tops its wish list.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Mark Bruno Morgan Stanley is quietly hunting for a new top executive to run its investment management business, one of the world's largest - albeit shrinking - money management operations. According to several industry sources,...

Trickle-down effect.(Short Interests)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Lisa Shidler The recession has hit the wallets of young girls accustomed to getting a weekly allowance from their parents. According to an online survey of 207 girls ages 8 to 15, just 39% are getting a weekly allowance, down...

Schwab ends custody of alternatives; Firm assists advisers in switch to other providers.(News)
March 2, 2009... Byline: Jed Horowitz ***** Correction: A quote in "Schwab ends custody of alternatives,'' which appeared in the Feb. 23 issue was incorrect. It should read, "We are rethinking how we use alternative investments, just as advisers are,...

Obama's proposed budget poses challenges for advisers.(Viewpoint)
March 9, 2009... President Obama's proposed budget for the 2010 fiscal year and projections for the next 10 years provide a clear road map for financial planners and investment advisers. The president made it quite evident in his budget speech that he plans a...

Investors value opinions of advisers, but also peers.(Short Interests)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Sara Hansard As stocks continue to struggle, investors are turning not just to professionals, but to family, friends and colleagues for investment advice. That is the finding of a survey conducted by Zogby International of...

Raymond James reps bullish on Thomas James' successor; Although he has never been a broker, Paul Reilly is winning kudos.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Bruce Kelly Many Raymond James Financial Services Inc. representatives and financial advisers would like to see Thomas James stick around forever, but they clearly understand the need to have a successor in place. But unlike...

RIAs lash out at Schwab decision on alternatives; They threaten to move their assets to new custodians.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Jed Horowitz A prominent group of registered investment advisers, angered by Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.'s recent decision to stop accepting custody of alternative investments, are threatening to move other assets from the San...

American Funds No. 1 in adviser inquiries; Firm manages 7 of 10 most researched funds.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Mark Bruno When the equity markets began their dramatic slide in the second half of last year, advisers and their clients researched the investment offerings of Los Angeles-based American Funds more than any other mutual fund...

B-Ds look to new Finra chief to lead regulatory overhaul; But many question Ketchum's willingness to push for change.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Dan Jamieson Broker-dealer firms are looking to Richard Ketchum, the incoming chief executive of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc., to play an active role in a regulatory overhaul. Mr. Ketchum, Finra's chairman...

LACK OF SEC ENFORCEMENT CALLED CULPRIT IN LAX OVERSIGHT; B-Ds and advisers should be subject to the same regulatory and inspection process.(Round Table: Regulation Amid Scandal)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Sara Hansard Scandals in the financial markets over the past several years are the result of enforcement failures and a lack of regulators with industry-specific knowledge, not a need for increased regulation. That was a common...

Climate proxies up.(Short Interests)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Sue Asci Climate change continues to be important to investors, and they want to know what companies are doing to mitigate the impact and risks associated with global warming. Shareholder resolutions on the issue of climate...

Curtain is drawing on Citigroup and BofA; Nationalization is in the cards for banks, big and small.(News Analysis)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Dan Jamieson The writing is on the wall for shareholders and executives of Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. A growing legion of observers think that the weakest of the major banks, Citigroup of New York and BofA of...

At the Bell: CFP Board names Glovsky chairman-elect.(News)
March 9, 2009... Robert Glovsky has been voted chairman-elect by the board of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. of Washington. He is president of Mintz Levin Financial Advisors LLC of Boston. Middle-market execs expect stability...

The Week Ahead.(Short Interests)(Calendar)
March 9, 2009... March 9 The Financial Planning Association's three-day Business Solutions 2009 conference begins in Chicago. March 10 Wholesale-trade data for January will be released at 10 a.m. ET. Fair Isaacs InterAct 2009: The Decision...

IN Events.(Short Interests)
March 9, 2009... March 9 FPA Business Solutions 2009 The technology expo, which is sponsored by the Financial Planning Association and InvestmentNews, will feature advanced content about tech trends and a who's who of the tech world. Keynote speaker:...

Social investing on upswing, foundation manager says; Do-good funds are encouraged to make nice with advisers.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Sara Hansard Investors who previously ignored socially conscious investments are eyeing them now, an official with the Calvert Social Investment Foundation said last week. "We're getting mainline pensions,'' Art Stevens,...

Advisers dust off insurance strategies; With taxes poised to rise, cash-value products may come back in vogue.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Darla Mercado Financial advisers are looking at some insurance strategies to help clients cope with the nearly $1 trillion in higher taxes that await the wealthy over the next decade, thanks to President Obama's new budget plan....

Stanford advisers sweating it out as judge keeps their assets frozen; Receiver was given sole power to exempt employee accounts.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Charles Paikert Although some accounts at the scandal-rocked Stanford Group Co. may be released as soon as this week, some of its 250 financial advisers are in a sweat because a federal judge gave a receiver power to exempt...

Short sales seen offering home buying opportunities; They are an alternative to purchasing houses in foreclosure, advisers say.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Janet Morrissey Although economists are predicting that home prices could fall another 15% to 20%, many financial advisers see select buying opportunities for clients willing to nab a home from distressed sellers - in particular,...

People.
March 9, 2009... Investment Planners Inc. of Decatur, Ill., has hired Benjamin E. Bramer, 36, as chief compliance officer/chief administrative officer. Previously, Mr. Bramer was chief compliance officer of M Holdings Securities Inc. and M Financial Asset...

Money maker carries on.(Short Interests)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Sue Asci Consumers can't watch the news without seeing images of new money spewing out of government printing presses along with highlights about economic stimulus spending. With all that printing, business should be booming at...

Nervous investors reaching for gold; Advisers have many options when buying the metal for clients.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Janet Morrissey For market-tossed investors seeking refuge in gold, there are many ways to invest in the illustrious nugget - ranging from purchasing physical gold to investing in futures contracts or other securities. For...

Lights! Camera! Futures trading! Cantor Fitzgerald takes a second crack at launching a movie exchange.(Street Wise)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Jeff Benjamin Bizarre as it might initially sound, it is possible that the timing is right for a futures exchange to trade contracts based on movie ticket sales. The plan - initially spawned more than seven years ago by Cantor...

Bears still betting against real estate despite selloff; Short interest activity is on the increase.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Janet Morrissey Wall Street skeptics continue to step up their bets against battered real estate investment trusts. In a sign that investors still think REITs have further to fall, short selling rose in the first two weeks of...

Go figure.(Prime Numbers)
March 9, 2009... Go figure $625,500 The new size limit placed on federally insured reverse mortgages, increased from $417,000, under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, effective until yearend. Source: Lone Star Reverse Mortgage...

Regulation Amid Scandal.(Round Table: Regulation Amid Scandal)
March 9, 2009... The following is an edited transcript of the round-table discussion. It was moderated by InvestmentNews deputy editor Frederick P. Gabriel Jr. and InvestmentNews reporter Sara Hansard. InvestmentNews: What will happen in terms of financial...

Gold's wild ride perplexes advisers; At current prices, some question whether gold bugs are bugging out.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Jeff Benjamin Investors' voracious appetite for gold has started to skew valuations of the asset, leaving some advisers and money managers at odds over how best to use it in a portfolio. After hitting $1,000 an ounce last...

Suit against UBS may hurt U.S. business; Americans turned off as Swiss giant's reputation takes a beating.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Charles Paikert UBS Wealth Management Americas might end up taking a financial hit because of its parent's headline-grabbing legal brawl with the U.S. government. At issue is the tax status of more than 52,000 offshore...

ICI chief favors fiduciary role for advisers; Stevens says it provides more 'responsibility and accountability'.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Sara Hansard In what might come as a surprise to the organization's members, the head of the mutual fund industry's biggest trade group last week said that he supports the idea of requiring all financial advisers to act as...

Advisers can make financial news more accurate.(Viewpoint)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Jim Pavia InvestmentNews reporters and editors often are called on by a variety of other media to address the economic situation and the problems that investors face.The focus, of course, is mainly on what advisers are doing to...

Rising state income taxes worry advisers; Crossing a river can cost clients thousands of additional dollars.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Lisa Shidler As the prospect of higher federal income taxes loom for America's wealthier families, advisers are looking more closely at state income taxes, which may rise as well. The disparity in state income tax levels, in...

Beleaguered Conseco may face bankruptcy - again; Much hinges on report from its auditors, according to analysts.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Darla Mercado Conseco Inc., emerging battered from a rough 2008, may be teetering on the edge of filing for bankruptcy protection a second time as its auditors mull its viability as a company, analysts say. The prospect of the...

RIA firms hunt for ways to avert layoffs; They cut salaries, costs, say goodbye to laser tag.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Lisa Shidler To avoid cutting staff, investment advisory firms are reducing expenses from top to bottom. Office and equipment leases, as well as travel and health costs, are being scrutinized and trimmed - as are newspaper...

Advisers grapple with stress amid downturn; Concerns over economic woes and market meltdown fuel guilt, depression and even suicide.(News)
March 9, 2009... Byline: Jed Horowitz Todd Bauerle wakes up at 5:30 a.m. to pray. Scott Roulston indulges in massages. Tom Orecchio eats. These are some of the more benign approaches that registered investment advisers and brokers are taking to cope...

RIA awareness campaign inches closer to launch; OneVoiceRIA education effort is expected to start in a few weeks.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Jed Horowitz Efforts to launch OneVoiceRIA, a branding campaign to educate investors about the existence and virtues of registered investment advisers, are being revived after a delay caused in part by its creator's job change. ...

Happy Birthday, MITTX.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Sue Asci On Saturday, the granddaddy of mutual funds the Massachusetts Investors Trust Fund (MITTX) will celebrate its 85th birthday. As one might expect from an octogenarian, the $2.1 billion fund, managed by MFS Investment...

Model ETF portfolios get attention from Barclays; Company releases new version of a guide for advisers.
March 16, 2009... Byline: David Hoffman As exchange traded funds gain in popularity, more financial advisers are building model ETF portfolios for use by other advisers. It is a trend being driven by advisers who "define their value proposition as...

Advisers may eschew private equity deals if tax plan passes; Higher taxes on carried interest likely will hike management fees.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Sara Hansard Financial advisers are likely to cut back on using private-equity investments or look for lower-fee products if President Obama's plan to change the tax on carried interest from capital gains to ordinary income rates...

Advisers look to safety "ladder'; Yield is secondary to peace of mind in bond strategy.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Jeff Benjamin As some financial advisers have watched client portfolios fall off a cliff in the recent market downturn, proponents of an unconventional allocation to low-yielding Treasury bonds are suddenly sitting pretty. The...

Despite market rally, advisers remain skeptical; 38% say DJIA will dip below 6,500 this year, survey shows.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Janet Morrissey Many advisers don't believe that the market has bottomed, even though the Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied for four days last week. "We may see a 20% or 30% pop in the indexes'' in the next three to four...

To help regulators, a posse of citizen bounty hunters? New ideas emerge about bringing lawless financiers to justice.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Bruce Kelly Securities regulators need help, and these extraordinary times are seeing unusual ideas come to the fore. Jeffrey Sonn, a plaintiff's attorney, dreams of a day when the government creates a white-shoe "bounty...

At the bell.
March 16, 2009... Madoff appeals bail revocation Bernard Madoff's lawyers on Friday appealed a judge's decision to revoke his $10 million bail and send him to jail to await sentencing. He pleaded guilty Thursday to 11 felony counts and was jailed. ...

Making the case for futures trading; Investment strategy offers almost no correlation to stocks and bonds.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Jeff Benjamin Direct access to futures-trading strategies is still just out of reach for most retail-class investors and for good reason. While commodity-trading advisers gained an average of 14% last year, the sometimes...

Big-name investors lose luster with some advisers; Performance by Buffett, Miller and Gross raises doubts.
March 16, 2009... Byline: David Hoffman Believing that the financial oracles may have lost their gifts, many advisers appear unwilling to tie their fortunes to the investment acumen of such big-name investors as Warren E. Buffett and Bill Miller. "I...

Prime Numbers.
March 16, 2009... Go figure $8.894T U.S. equity market capitalization at the close March 12, up 10% from March 9 but down 16.1% year-to-date. Source: Bloomberg 70% The percentage of consumers who say that deep discounting during a...

Long-term Treasuries raise some red flags; Low yields, flood of new issues and the risk of inflation dim outlook for 30-year bond.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Dan Jamieson Long-term Treasury bonds may soon lose their allure as a safe haven for jittery investors. The bonds have given up most of the gains they made late last year when a panicked rush to safety drove up the price of...

The Week Ahead.(Calendar)
March 16, 2009... March 16 Data on Treasury international capital for January are slated for release at 9 a.m. ET. Industrial-production data for February will be released at 9:15 a.m. ET. March 17 Housing starts data for February will be...

HOW TO INVEST WHEN INFLATION AND DEFLATION ARE POSSIBLE; Participants warn of need to weigh tactical decisions against long-term strategy.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Arleen Jacobius Institutional investors need to weigh extraordinary short-term opportunities against their strategic asset allocations, according to experts at sister publication Pensions & Investments' round table on how the...

EXPERTS WEIGH IN.
March 16, 2009... Institutional investors already battered by the credit crunch are being whipsawed further by the prospects both for deflation in the short run and inflation in the long run. Both trends are viewed as tremendously destructive to asset...

Feds crack down on; State charges three with fraud in first half of March.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Mark Bruno Warning to larcenous advisers: Don't try anything in Massachusetts. That is the message that federal investigators in that state have sent in recent weeks, nabbing several advisers who allegedly defrauded and...

AIG B-D reps say buyer must respect their culture; They express concern about being forced to push products.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Darla Mercado As representatives at American International Group Inc.'s three broker-dealers anticipate the sale of their firms, they warn that the acquirer must respect their culture for the purchase to work out. They are...

State officials to fight call for federal insurance regulator; States sort out differences to step up their anti-OFC efforts.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Sara Hansard State groups opposed to an optional federal charter for insurance regulation are trying to overcome their own differences so that they can unite to fight attempts to allow the federal government to be an insurance...

Keep your clients aware of latest scammers.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Jim Pavia According to a recent report, the government's economic-stimulus plan presents an unintended gold mine for scam artists out to steal a person's money, identity or both. One word springs to mind when I think about those...

Investors seek 529 plans backed by FDIC; Utah is the latest state to offer the product.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Charles Paikert Interest in Section 529 college savings plans that are backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is picking up amid the stock market's downturn. Last month, the Salt Lake City-based Utah Educational Savings...

IN Events.
March 16, 2009... March 24 Adviser-to-adviser webcast: "Successful strategies for buying and selling your practice'' Get tips from the experts on valuing your practice and making a smooth transition. Panelists: Steven Levitt, Liz Nesvold and Dan Seivert...

Advisers will triumph over disappointment.
March 16, 2009... It isn't surprising that, as reported in InvestmentNews last week, many financial planners and advisers are feeling stressed and depressed. They are holding the hands of their clients through the worst stock market collapse since the Great...

No takers for Madoff.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Jamie Burns Bernard Madoff's face has been plastered on magazine covers and in newspapers, but artist Yan Pei-Ming has taken the confessed Ponzi schemer's image one step further. He painted it on a 60-inch-by-90-inch canvas,...

THOMAS JAMES; Raymond James chief prepares to step down.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Bruce Kelly Representatives and advisers at Raymond James Financial Inc. will sorely miss , the firm's chief executive for the past 40 years, when he steps down in 2010. Mr. James, 66, is an "old school'' leader, observers...

Advisers urge homeowners to appeal lofty property tax bills; Due to falling values, clients want help with reassessments.
March 16, 2009... Byline: Janet Morrissey Advisers are getting an earful from frustrated clients who can't understand why their property tax bills remain high when home values have plunged, and many are now helping these clients appeal their property tax...