Brought to you by Proactive Advisor Magazine, active investment management’s weekly magazine. Michael Kuczinski, CLU, ChFC, RICP, CFP • Millstone Township, NJ Total Wealth Enhancement Group LLC • Garden State Securities Inc. The majority of our clients are within 10 years of either side of retirement. Our mission is to help them navigate a changing and complex financial landscape, using our experience and base of knowledge to create tax-advantaged retirement-distribution and estate-planning strategies. We strive to guide clients toward achieving a suitable level of growth for their asset ..read more

Brought to you by Proactive Advisor Magazine, active investment management’s weekly magazine. Building a strong ‘core’ for client portfolios Building a strong ‘core’ for client portfolios Steven Heiman • Wichita, Kansas​ Cooper Malone McClain Inc.Read full biography below Proactive Advisor Magazine: Steve, how do you see your role in working with clients? ​While I work with many clients on their total financial picture, I see myself as more of an investment consultant. I am very passionate about helping people grow and protect their assets and believe my greatest strengths lie on the i ..read more

Brought to you by Proactive Advisor Magazine, active investment management’s weekly magazine. The calendar year 2022 was difficult to navigate for most asset classes. To put it in perspective, it was the first calendar year on record that saw the S&P 500 Index and U.S. 10-year Treasury bonds both down double digits within the same year. However, the one investment category that was able to buck the downtrend in 2022 was commodities. The most notable, passive, long-only broad commodity indexes all produced a positive return for the year. For example, the Direxion Auspice Broad Commodit ..read more

Brought to you by Proactive Advisor Magazine, active investment management’s weekly magazine. 10 traits of top advisory teams 10 traits of top advisory teams Top-performing financial advisory teams know that success is an ongoing process. They seek out opportunities to learn and share with each other, implementing best practices and effective drivers of growth. What does it take to build a top team? The formula is part art and part science, leveraging processes, technology, talent, and purpose to take your firm from a practice to an enterprise. “The best teams in the industry have figured ..read more

Brought to you by Proactive Advisor Magazine, active investment management’s weekly magazine. D​espite the threats emanating from the banking sector last week, equity markets handled the uncertainty with surprising weekly strength. Amid heightened volatility, the S&P 500 registered a weekly gain of 1.4% and the NASDAQ Composite was up an impressive 4.4%. Only the Dow suffered a minor loss, dropping 0.15%. The equity market’s large swings both up and down last week were reflected in a spike in the VIX (Cboe Volatility Index). Barron’s wrote this past weekend, “The Cboe Volatilit ..read more

Brought to you by Proactive Advisor Magazine, active investment management’s weekly magazine. Steve Deppe, CMT • La Jolla, CA Nerad + Deppe Wealth Management Broadly speaking, our industry is centered on helping our clients achieve their stated financial objectives. We review their current financial position, explore their financial goals over a variety of time frames, and devise a plan that is designed to improve the probability of our clients achieving their financial objectives. Review meetings are then conducted where we help our clients track their progress and stay on course. That ..read more

Brought to you by Proactive Advisor Magazine, active investment management’s weekly magazine. In the Proactive Advisor Magazine article “Bonds are not carrying their weight. Looking for an alternative?” from earlier in 2021, we pointed out that bonds contributed just 15% to the return of a traditional 60% equity/40% bond allocation for the past decade, versus 35% for the period from 1989 to 2010. We think Warren Buffett was proven correct when he stated a decade ago in the 2011 Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter that “right now bonds should come with a warning label.” The traditional ..read more

Brought to you by Proactive Advisor Magazine, active investment management’s weekly magazine. Bear market narratives: Guiding clients through volatile markets Bear market narratives: Guiding clients through volatile markets Long-term investment decisions should be based on a goals-based and risk-managed investment plan, rather than a wide range of diverging opinions and speculative market narratives. It seems everyone has offered their views on the direction for the market in 2023, from weekly market commentary to annual outlooks. Despite an impressive start to the year for equities, thi ..read more

Brought to you by Proactive Advisor Magazine, active investment management’s weekly magazine. Building client loyalty through personalized relationships Building client loyalty through personalized relationships Advisors can build client loyalty not only by offering comprehensive financial and investment guidance but also by communicating often and demonstrating a personal interest in clients’ lives. H​ow can financial advisors engender more client loyalty? Of course, delivering “market-beating” investment returns every year might be a good way to ensure that happens—but that is hardly re ..read more

Brought to you by Proactive Advisor Magazine, active investment management’s weekly magazine. The University of Michigan’s final February reading of consumer sentiment showed a small month-to-month uptick for the third month in a row, but it is still well below its historical average. FIGURE 1: CONSUMER SENTIMENT RECOVERING FROM 2022 LOWS Sources: University of Michigan, Trading Economics TABLE 1: FINAL UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SURVEY RESULTS FOR FEB. 2023 Source: University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers director Joanne Hsu reported on the latest findings: “Consumer sentime ..read more