Warren Buffett on compliance officer

This is a great quote from Warren Buffett. Everyone must be his own compliance officer. That means everything you do can be put on the front page of the newspaper, and there will be nothing that cannot stand up to scrutiny. Jim Ware of Focus Consulting Group cited this quote in his talk on ethics […]

Wealth managers should specialize by affinity, NOT demographics

“In my opinion, a successful segmentation will be less demographically driven (e.g., net worth or income striations) and more affinity driven (tapping into a deep pool of investors who share a common passion — auto racing, yachting, the arts, religion, and so on).” writes Scott Welch of Fortigent, LLC in “Differentiating When Consulting to the […]

Optimism watch: The case for maximum pessimism

Is the stock market getting you down? I’m starting an “Optimism watch” on this blog.  In “Optimism watch” posts, I’ll highlight the case that other writers make for you and your clients to hang in there. Let’s start with a quote from “Nowhere to Hide: Foreign Funds are Falling, Too,” from Morningstar’s Bridget Hughes. …before […]

"Can not" vs. "cannot"

Which is right? “Can not” or “cannot”? Habit tells me “cannot,” but I can’t find this peculiar spelling in the index of any of my style guides. However, Wikipedia gives me this quote, in which I’ve added the bolding to “cannot”: In this regard, the following quotation from The Chicago Manual of Style deserves notice: […]

ACLI promises better disclosures about annuities

The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) is promising to improve disclosure about annuities in cooperation with the National Association for Variable Annuities (NAVA), according to “User-Friendly Annuity Documents Planned,” an article on the Financial Advisor website. Maybe they could start with the so-called “easy to read tip sheet” for seniors on their website. It […]