Capital Gains: 3 Ways to Avoid Buying a Tax Bill

Many asset management firms have started to publish estimates for what their respective mutual funds may distribute to shareholders in short- and long-term capital gains. Moreover, early indication is that some firms will be paying out capital gains higher than recent years. As you may be aware, when a manager sells some of their holdings internally and realizes a gain they are required to pass this gain on to its shareholders. More specifically, by law and design, asset management firms are required to pay out 95% of their realized dividends and capital gains to shareholders on an annual basis. Many of these distributions will occur during November and December. Remember this is only relevant for taxable accounts; capital gain distributions are irrelevant in IRA’s or 401k’s.

Capital gain distributions are a double edged sword.  The fact that a capital gain needs to be paid out means money has been made on the positions the manager has sold. The bad news – the taxman wants to be paid.

What can we do to minimize the effect of capital gain distributions:

1. We exercise care when buying funds at the end of the year to avoid paying tax on gains you didn’t earn, and in some cases hold off on making purchases.

2. We may sell a current investment before its ex-dividend date and purchase a replacement after the ex-dividend date.

3. Throughout the year we harvest tax losses, when available, to offset these end of the year gains. 

As always, there is a balance to be struck between income tax and prudent investment management.  Please feel free to contact us if you would like to discuss your personal situation.

This material is being provided for information purposes only and is not a complete description of all available data necessary for making an investment decision, nor is it a recommendation to buy or sell any investment. Every investor’s situation is unique and you should consider your investment goals, risk tolerance, tax situation and time horizon before making any investment decision. Any opinions are those of [insert FA name] and not necessarily those of Raymond James. For any specific tax matters, consult a tax professional. C14-040561

Do You Have Warren Buffett’s Stomach for Volatility?

It is rare that I don’t agree with advice from Warren Buffett, but earlier this year we took different sides of a debate. His recommendation for a simple, flawless investment strategy was putting 90% of your assets in an equity fund designed to mirror the performance of the S&P 500 and 10% in cash.

This sounds great if you have nerves of steel and can make it work. But most people can’t stomach it.  Buffett is an amazing investor who understands his emotions and has a great ability to see the value of companies and what he owns.  But we’re not all Warren Buffett.  That is one of the reasons there are financial advisors in the world who help people understand appropriate volatility in their portfolio and what to do when that volatility spikes. 

Your Own Risk Tolerance

One common question I got during the downturn five years ago was when do we stop the bleeding?  One client said to me, “I had $1,200,000. Now I have about $1,000,000 due to the financial crisis and the market falling.  When do I do something?” To determine a time to sell really takes two correct decisions.  When to sell and when to buy back in. It is almost impossible to be right twice consistently.   

These difficult questions were most prevalent during the final weeks of the financial crisis in January to March of 2009.  And there was a lot more bad news to come. GM’s pending bankruptcy was front stage in the spring of 2009.  If someone was to try and time the exit and reentry during this period, it could have been devastating. Actually, the S&P soared over 30% from March to June in 2009 in the face of such horrible news and if someone sold out, it would be almost impossible to buy back in without paying more.  And those are the people on the sidelines that missed one of the greatest markets in history.

Nerves of Steel or Appropriate Allocation?

No one knows when a market downturn will occur or for how long it will go. More importantly to reap the benefits of long-term equity returns we need to be in to win.  Even more important, we need to have the right amount allocated so that we can withstand any type of downdraft and wait it out.  

So, while Buffett and his steely nerves might be able to stay invested through thick and thin with 90% of his wealth in the stock market, most people need less volatility to stay the course.  Buffet realized the value of companies when they were extremely cheap in 2009, while most investors could only see the losses from the past. Through those challenging times when people kept asking if it was time to do something, many investors benefited from staying the course through the last market cycle and went on to reap the benefits of this bull market.  I believe some nerves were enforced with regular meetings, appropriate plan design and investment portfolio allocation.

Matthew E. Chope, CFP ® is a Partner and Financial Planner at Center for Financial Planning, Inc. Matt has been quoted in various investment professional newspapers and magazines. He is active in the community and his profession and helps local corporations and nonprofits in the areas of strategic planning and money and business management decisions. In 2012 and 2013, Matt was named to the Five Star Wealth Managers list in Detroit Hour magazine.

Five Star Award is based on advisor being credentialed as an investment advisory representative (IAR), a FINRA registered representative, a CPA or a licensed attorney, including education and professional designations, actively employed in the industry for five years, favorable regulatory and complaint history review, fulfillment of firm review based on internal firm standards, accepting new clients, one- and five-year client retention rates, non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered, number of client households served.

This material is being provided for information purposes only and is not a complete description, nor is it a recommendation. Any opinions are those of Center for Financial Planning, Inc. and not necessarily those of Raymond James. The information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but Raymond James does not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete. Holding stocks for the long-term does not ensure a profitable outcome. Investing always involves risk and investors may incur a profit or loss regardless of strategy selected. Inclusion of any index is for illustrative purposes only. Individuals cannot invest directly in any index, and index performance does not include transaction costs or other fees, which will affect actual investment performance. Individual investor’s results will vary. Past performance does not guarantee future results. C14-036847

3 Reasons Municipal Bonds are Darlings of the Year

While bond returns have astounded investors so far this year, many are left scratching their heads wondering if interest rates are ever going to rise creating the “Bond Armageddon” that has been so highly anticipated.  On November 17th the Barclays US Aggregate Bond index total return has returned 5.13% year-to-date1.  While that is certainly an attractive return on something that was destined to be down this year, municipal bonds have astounded even more.  As of November 17th the Barclays Municipal total return index1 has experienced a cool 8.06% return.  Is it time then to give up on municipal bonds after this return that seems like it should be unreal?  The short answer is no.

Why not to give up on municipal bonds

The municipal bond market offers three unique traits that continue to make it attractive. 

1. Taxes:  Paying taxes are always a concern for investors, so the tax advantaged nature of municipal bonds continue to make them attractive, especially as tax rates increase for the wealthy.

2. Supply is limited:  The chart below demonstrates how the number of municipal bonds available to purchase is getting smaller.  The light teal bar below zero shows the amount of bonds each month that have been redeemed (called away or matured giving the investor their principal back).  The purple bar above shows the number of new bonds being issued each month.  The blue line shows the net number of issues or redemptions (number of new issues subtracting the number of redemptions).  In most months over 2012 and 2013, the number is negative meaning the number of bonds out there for investors to purchase is getting smaller.  A limited supply with demand that stays steady or increases can create positive returns for bondholders.

Source: Columbia Management

3. Yields: When comparing two bonds of similar quality (bond rating) and the municipal bond is yielding about the same or more and the interest is tax free2, which bond would you choose?  Many investors have made that very same decision.

Three main things to consider before investing in municipal bonds:

• May provide a lower yield than comparable investments

• Are likely not suitable for investors who do not stand to benefit from the tax advantages

• Are subject to certain risks, including interest rate, credit, legislative, reinvestment and valuation risks

As with any investment, the decision to own municipal bonds is not one to be taken lightly.  As always don’t hesitate to ask us to see if they make sense for your portfolio. 

Angela Palacios, CFP®is the Portfolio Manager at Center for Financial Planning, Inc. Angela specializes in Investment and Macro economic research. She is a frequent contributor to Money Centered as well asinvestment updates at The Center.

1: Source: Morningstar Direct. Barclays US Aggregate Bond Index represents investment grade bonds being traded in United States. Barclays Municipal total return index represents the broad market for investment grade, tax-exempt bonds with a maturity of at least one year. Individuals cannot invest directly in any index, and index performance does not include transaction costs or other fees, which will affect actual investment performance. Individual investor’s results will vary. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

2: Municipal bond interest is not subject to federal income tax but may be subject to AMT, state or local taxes. Income from taxable municipal bonds is subject to federal income taxation; and it may be subject to state and local taxes. Please consult an income tax professional to assess the impact of holding such securities on your tax liability.

The market value of municipal bonds may fluctuate and, if sold prior to maturity, the price you receive may be more or less than the original purchase price or maturity value. There is an inverse relationship between interest rate movements and fixed income prices. This material is being provided for information purposes only and is not a complete description, nor is it a recommendation. Any opinions are those of Center for Financial Planning, Inc. and not necessarily those of Raymond James. The information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but Raymond James does not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete. C14-036843

Our Gold Medal Standard: The Center’s Investment Scorecard Review

I’m always amazed by the almost superhuman springs, twists, turns, and flips gymnasts are able to perform with grace and precision.  Who could forget Kerri Strug’s seemingly impossible vault of handsprings, twisting dismount, and a perfect landing just seconds after tearing two ligaments on her ankle?  Watching from home, I remember anxiously waiting as the judges reviewed her vault with a fine-tooth comb; evaluating the form, height, length, and landing of her performance.  To my excitement, Kerri received winning scores and managed to catapult the 1996 US Olympic women’s gymnastics team to gold medal victory.

Giving Investments the Fine-Tooth Comb Treatment

Similarly, we aim to build model portfolios with “gold medal” worthy investments that are equipped to meet your goals even through adverse circumstances.  We too, like Olympic judges, evaluate each investment with a fine-tooth comb making sure it meets its purpose in your portfolios.  In fact, we routinely complete a seventeen-point criteria review of our model investments.  Our investment department team fondly refers to this process as the Morningstar Direct Fiduciary Scorecard Review.  For the review, we assess the following:

Performance and Volatility

We look at performance, risk-adjusted performance (alpha), and the volatility of the investment compared to the market (beta) for 1, 3, 5, and 10-year periods.  In order for investments to receive points for these metrics, they must place above 50% of comparable peers.  For these categories, score points are more heavily weighted towards the longer periods of time with the intent of crediting investments that consistently produce over long stretches of time.

Tenure and Inception

We want your investments to be managed with the wisdom of experience and we want investments that have shown they’re able to adapt through different parts of a market cycle, therefore, we review manager tenure and product inception.

Size and Style

We evaluate the investment’s size and style to identify whether the investment has grown too large to maintain its investment strategy and integrity or whether an investment is too small to keep resources robust (i.e. research, analysts, etc.).

Expenses

We evaluate investment expenses so performance is not watered down by excessive fees.

Once scores have been tallied by the investment department team, our investment committee talks through each investment to determine whether it meets the gold medal standard.

We want to ensure your portfolio investments can perform through the springs, twist, turns, and flips of any market cycle with grace and precision.  The Morningstar Direct Fiduciary Scorecard Review is just one of the many ways we stress test your portfolios.  After all, due diligence is one of the key ingredients to maintaining our investment process and ensuring that we are investing your portfolios in the best products. So, the next time you review your portfolio, imagine each investment being able to do this gold winning move through even the toughest circumstances.

Investing involves risk and investors may incur a profit or loss regardless of strategy selected. This material is being provided for information purposes only and is not a complete description, nor is it a recommendation. Any opinions are those of Center for Financial Planning, Inc. and not necessarily those of Raymond James. The information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but Raymond James does not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete. Links are being provided for information purposes only. Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse, authorize or sponsor any of the listed websites or their respective sponsors. Raymond James is not responsible for the content of any website or the collection or use of information regarding any website’s users and/or members. C14-035970

The Strategy Behind Investment Allocation for 529 Savings Plans

529 plans can be a great way for families to create college tuition savings for their students.  Not only do the plans benefit students, they also carry advantages for donors. Benefactors can enjoy tax-deferred growth with federally tax-free distributions (when distributions are paid directly to the beneficiary’s college).  Donors have complete control of the account, they are allowed to make substantial deposits, and there aren’t age restrictions or income limitations to inhibit investing.  It’s no surprise 529 savings plans have become popular over the years.

Age-Based 529 plans

Ever wonder how 529 college savings plans are invested to meet timely tuition needs?  Age-based 529 savings plans are a helpful place to gain insight.  The graph below shows an example of the glide path of equity allocation for age-based 529 savings plans from 2010 to 2013.

According to this chart, we see the following:

• Generally, 80% of the portfolio is invested in equities at age 0 and reduces to 10% by the time the beneficiary is enrolled in college. 

• Since 2010, plan investment managers have become more conservative in the beginning (age 0) and end (age 19) stages of plans.

• Investment managers have become 6-7% more equity aggressive during ages 5-15 to meet tuition goals. 

529 Managers Make More Aggressive Move

To meet the tuition needs of students in adequate time frames, the graph trend reveals that investment managers are becoming more aggressive during the middle of a student’s investment time horizon, but they are also growing more cautious about preserving money closer to the end of the student’s investment time frame.  Interestingly, the graph also reveals that investment managers still rely on bonds as one of the safest places to preserve money (90% of the portfolio by age 19) despite the negative reputation bonds have received in our current rising rate environment.

As always, we are more than willing to support your investment needs.  If you have questions about 529 plans or are considering adding one to your investment strategy, don’t hesitate to reach out; we’d love to help.

Rules and laws governing 529 plans are varied and subject to change. There is a risk that these plans may lose money or not perform well enough to cover college costs as anticipated. Before investing, it is important to consider whether the investor’s or designated beneficiary’s home state offers any state tax or other benefits that are only available for investments in such state’s qualified tuition program. Investors should consult a tax advisor about any state tax considerations of an investment in a 529 plan before investing. This material is being provided for information purposes only and is not a complete description, nor is it a recommendation to buy or sell any investment. Any opinions are those of Center for Financial Planning, Inc. and not necessarily those of Raymond James. The information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but Raymond James does not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete. C14-035968

Investment Pulse: What we’ve heard in the Third Quarter

While the quarter started quietly, as summer was in full swing, it ended with a bang as Bill Gross announced his departure from PIMCO.  As summer travel and vacations died down, we ramped up our travel to collect insights from some of the world’s largest money managers.

Socially Responsive Investing with Neuberger Berman

In early August The Center’s Investment Committee had the opportunity to speak one-on-one with the management of Neuberger Berman’s long-time successful Socially Responsive Investing (SRI) strategy.  Since this is an area that seems to be gaining in interest from our clients, we talked with some of the most successful investors to get their take on how they do it.

•  Process: They look for areas of business that have tailwinds and find the best positioned companies.  They analyze the companies for 13-15 months.  Once a company meets their expectations, it is added to their prospect list (173 names currently).  When looking to buy they ask, “Why is the price attractive?”; “Is something broken (based what they know about the company)?”; “Does the stock have value criteria?"

• SRI has five avoidance points:  alcohol, tobacco, weapons, nuclear power, and gambling.  The investment team wants a management team that makes thoughtful, long-term, fundamental decisions.

Steve Vannelli, CFA, managing director of GaveKal Capital

On a trip to Denver, CO to visit clients, Matt Chope, CFP®, Partner, spent an afternoon in September with Steve Vannelli, CFA, Managing Director of GaveKal Capital. Matt and Steven discussed many aspects of investment markets, interest rates, and the state of the economy.  Steven shared GaveKal’s proprietary approach to finding what he calls "knowledge leaders" or firms with an R&D intensity greater than that of the industry they are a part of.  He finds a correlation to these innovative companies of higher future sales growth, higher future Return on Assets, and higher market share as well as lower variability to earnings and stock returns.

Steven described how to better understand the intangible investment that many of these companies make, which he says is the key missing element in understanding the true company value. In that, he says, lies the misunderstood inefficiency in the marketplace.

Matt also learned about their proprietary quality models that scrubs the balance sheet, reviews financial leverage, calculates net debt as a percent of capital, and, most notably, intellectual property as a percent of assets of 1600 companies around the world.

Goldman Sachs, Blackrock and JP Morgan on-site visits

Matt continued his busy schedule with due diligence meetings in New York City.  Global macro themes were the main takeaways from his discussions.  Topics ranged from deflation in Europe to the energy revolution in the U.S.

While many of these companies do not currently have representation in our portfolios, the discussions with management are key to us in the overall management of our clients’ investments.  One of the worst risks you can have is the risk you don’t know about. Discussions like those we had in the 3rd quarter help us to understand where potential risks could be coming from.  While we at The Center can’t be on the ground in 20 different countries every year, we have the opportunity to leverage many experts and listen to their sometimes conflicting viewpoints.

This material is being provided for information purposes only and is not a complete description, nor is it a recommendation. Any opinions are those of Angela Palacios, CFP®, Portfolio Manager and not necessarily those of Raymond James. The information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but Raymond James does not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete.

Are Donor Advised Funds Right for You?

Many people are charitably inclined and like to give money to churches or synagogues (among others) throughout the year.  At The Center, we fully support these efforts, but are always conscious of the most tax efficient ways in which our clients can give to their favorite charities.   One option that we often consider is a Donor Advised Fund. 

Charitable Giving

In order to take advantage of this charitable vehicle, an individual must open an account with the fund, and deposit cash, securities or other similar financial instruments.   By taking this approach, you can set funds aside--even if you aren’t sure exactly where you want them to go-- and still take the tax deduction in the year that the donation was made. 

Who Should Consider this Strategy?

An example of where a strategy like this might make sense is if you are in your peak earning years, but approaching retirement in the next 3-5 years.  You might need the charitable deduction more now than you would in retirement when your income would probably be less and your tax liability lower.

For illustrative purposes, let’s assume that Joe and Jane Smith are 58 years old and are employed with a taxable income of $300,000.  This places them squarely in the 33% marginal tax bracket. However, in retirement, they anticipate they will only need $140,000 of taxable income to sustain their desired standard of living. This would place them in a 25% bracket.  Every year Joe and Jane like to give about $10,000 to their church.  A donor advised fund may make a lot of sense for Joe and Jane because, if they know they are going to make the gifts anyway, they can set the money aside now and take advantage of the tax deduction at a 33% marginal rate as opposed to a 25% rate.

As always, be sure to consult with a qualified financial professional before incorporating any of these ideas into your own personal financial plan.

Matthew Trujillo, CFP®, is a Certified Financial Planner™ at Center for Financial Planning, Inc. Matt currently assists Center planners and clients, and is a contributor to Money Centered.

This material is being provided for information purposes only and is not a complete description of all information necessary for making a decision, nor is it a recommendation to buy or sell any investment. Any opinions are those of Center for Financial Planning, Inc. and not necessarily those of Raymond James. Consult a tax or legal professional for any specific tax or legal matters. C14-034226

Will the Bull Market Run out of Gas Soon?

 18 months ago, I wrote about “3 bull market killers still not being present” in this market, but now the landscape is changing ever so slowly.  I still get questions from clients and others regarding the market being high. I say, consider these factors:

•  The market’s nominal price has made over 50 new all-time highs since my last writing of this blog.
• 20 years from now, with an average annual gain of 9% per year, the equity market could be looking at a DOW JONES average in the 100,000 range – while 20 years ago, the Dow Jones was hovering around 4,000 (this is a hypothetical example for illustration purposes only. Actual results will vary).
• 12 of the last 20 years the Dow did not make a significant new high, but still averaged almost 10% a year.

Those numbers don’t tell the whole story. So when I’m asked, “Do we still have time before this bull runs out of gas?” I look at the gauge and start getting uncomfortable because of three markers.

3 Bull Market Markers to Watch

The three things that tend to kill a bull market are inflation, interest rates, and valuations. Only one of these is present now. First look at inflation, where we are tracking at one of the lowest rates in history -- less than 2% annually. Then check out interest rates, which are still at the lowest levels in history. Consider that the 10-year treasury at just over 2%. And finally, look at equity valuations -- these measures are just over the historical averages of 15 times earnings. 

History as our guide would tell us that until all three of the bull market killers are present this bull is still alive, but aging.

Matthew E. Chope, CFP ® is a Partner and Financial Planner at Center for Financial Planning, Inc. Matt has been quoted in various investment professional newspapers and magazines. He is active in the community and his profession and helps local corporations and nonprofits in the areas of strategic planning and money and business management decisions. In 2012 and 2013, Matt was named to the Five Star Wealth Managers list in Detroit Hour magazine.

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Five Star Award is based on advisor being credentialed as an investment advisory representative (IAR), a FINRA registered representative, a CPA or a licensed attorney, including education and professional designations, actively employed in the industry for five years, favorable regulatory and complaint history review, fulfillment of firm review based on internal firm standards, accepting new clients, one- and five-year client retention rates, non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered, number of client households served.

This material is being provided for information purposes only and is not a complete description, nor is it a recommendation. Any opinions are those of Center for Financial Planning, Inc. and not necessarily those of Raymond James. The information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but Raymond James does not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete. Past performance may not be indicative of future results. C14-033941

Where are we in the full market cycle?

Cycles exist everywhere.  One of the first cycles we learn about as a child is the water cycle or the journey of a raindrop. There’s something about the circularity of cycles that I just love.

The economy and financial markets also cycle. An economic cycle is the periodic ebb and flow of economic growth like Gross Domestic Product or employment.  According to the National Bureau of Economic Research the average economic cycle lasts a little less than six years.  This span is measured both from one peak to the next peak or one trough to the next trough.  While six years is an average, the cycle can be much quicker or much longer than six years. 

The Cyle of Economic “Seasons”

The various stages of the economic cycle can be thought of like seasons of the year as shown in the chart below.  From winter, or recession, where jobs are lost and the economy is shrinking to summer, where growth is accelerating and jobs have been recovered. 

Every quarter we take a poll at The Center to see where team members think we fall in this spectrum.  Our consensus is that we believe we are in the midst of summer meaning that this bull still has some room to go as we are still lacking some keys signs of a maturing economy like inflation and volatility.

Stock Market Cycles

The stock market also goes through cycles and, along with it, investor emotions ebb and flow.  Usually the stock market cycle is slightly ahead of the economic cycle meaning that market indexes often peak before the economic cycle peaks.  Our latest survey of our employees placed the stock market cycle near excitement in the picture below.  At this point (excitement/thrill/euphoria) investors start to question why they don’t have more aggressive positions because they have clearly performed very well and many even start to shift their portfolios in this direction.  As Warren Buffett said”

“Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.”

Refocusing on the Long Term

This is the point when it is most important to stay in a diversified portfolio, not abandon your long-term investment objectives while reaching for more returns. Rebalancing at these market extremes may go against what investors want to do, for example, selling your stock positions to buy more bonds right now or selling your bonds in 2009 to buy more stocks. However, going against these basic emotions have potential to be the best decisions you can make for your portfolio.  Navigating these emotions is the single most difficult road block to the success of an investment strategy.  While markets and economies will cycle as long as water continues to cycle, having sound financial advice during these market extremes can make big difference in the success of your long-term financial plans. 

Angela Palacios, CFP®is the Portfolio Manager at Center for Financial Planning, Inc. Angela specializes in Investment and Macro economic research. She is a frequent contributor to Money Centered as well asinvestment updates at The Center.

This material is being provided for information purposes only and is not a complete description, nor is it a recommendation. Any opinions are those of Angela Palacios and not necessarily those of Raymond James. The information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but Raymond James does not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete. Investing involves risk and investors may incur a profit or loss regardless of strategy selected. This material is being provided for information purposes only and is not a complete description, nor is it a recommendation. Any opinions are those of Angela Palacios and not necessarily those of Raymond James. The information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but Raymond James does not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete. Investing involves risk and investors may incur a profit or loss regardless ofstrategy selected. C14-031971

Investment Commentary - September 2014

Clients and Friends,

While much of our communications with you in the last few months have been about The Center’s recent move, our intensive investment focus is always present. The last few months were marked by many insightful conversations with portfolio managers and investment professionals. This reminds me that at our core, our investment process is focused on good old fashioned research whether it comes to the way we construct asset allocation mixes or how we select investments for your portfolios.

Here is some news for you from our investment team:

• We’re more than halfway through 2014 and the financial markets have picked up where they left off last year. Not only are stocks measurably higher this year, but bonds have made a rebound with positive returns as well. We’ve got a new one-page investment dashboard that sums up the current investment world. We’ll update this one-pager each quarter going forward. Let us know what you think of the new look and feel.

• Angie Palacios, CFP® provides a great recap of the Morningstar Investment Conference which is held in Chicago each June. This is a can’t-miss conference each year and 2014 was no exception. She includes notes about employment predictions for the US economy and focus on international as some of the key takeaways this year.

• Our quarterly investment pulse includes recaps from four meetings held here and around Detroit and highlights the extraordinary access we’re able to get to investment professionals because of size and reputation. I particularly enjoyed a meeting with Joseph Brennan and Lee Norton from Vanguard. The discussion was broad and interesting including how Vanguard, known for their preference for indexes, identifies active investment managers for their offerings.  With several other top-notch investors giving us time for lengthy discussion, you can see the quality of discourse we are privileged to entertain.

• Matt Chope shares insight from a conversation with one of his favorite investors – Charles de Vaulx – who is a portfolio manager with IVA.

Do you have investment-related questions for us? Please don’t hesitate to let me or your financial planner know. Thanks again for your trust and commitment to The Center for the opportunity to work with you to pursue achievement of your financial goals!

On behalf of everyone at The Center,
Melissa Joy, CFP®
Partner, Director of Wealth Management
CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™

Melissa Joy, CFP®is Partner and Director of Investments at Center for Financial Planning, Inc. In 2013, Melissa was honored by Financial Advisor magazine in the Research All Star List for the third consecutive year. In addition to her contributions to Money Centered blogs, she writes investment updates at The Center and is regularly quoted in national media publications including The Chicago Tribune, Investment News, and Morningstar Advisor.

Financial Advisor magazine's inaugural Research All Star List is based on job function of the person evaluated, fund selections and evaluation process used, study of rejected fund examples, and evaluation of challenges faced in the job and actions taken to overcome those challenges. Evaluations are independently conducted by Financial Advisor Magazine.

This material is being provided for information purposes only and is not a complete description, nor is it a recommendation. Any opinions are those of Melissa Joy and not necessarily those of Raymond James. The information has been obtained from sources considered to be reliable, but Raymond James does not guarantee that the foregoing material is accurate or complete. Investing involves risks and investors may incur a profit or a loss regardless of strategy selected.