Author Archives: Andrew Haigney

Having a realistic financial plan in place is very important when preparing for major life events like buying a home, sending children off to college, or funding retirement.  But when your financial plan comes with a financial planner or an … Continue reading →

We caught a CNBC segment yesterday that featured Steve Rattner, the former “Car Czar” and Business Insider Editor and CEO, Henry Blodget.  Their discussion revolved around the upcoming Facebook IPO, but it was their general comments about individual investors that … Continue reading →

We recently ran a commentary, “Will the Real Butchers Please Stand Up?”  Our commentary was in response to the viral whiteboard video, “Brokers vs. Fiduciaries” that was produced by Chicago-based HighTower Advisors. The video, which was narrated by HighTower’s CEO … Continue reading →

Back when I worked in institutional equity sales at Merrill Lynch, we charged our accounts commissions to execute their trades.  Bundled into the commissions paid was access to our firm’s research and research was only offered to customers who had … Continue reading →

The SEC appears to be on the verge of adopting a universal fiduciary standard for all financial professionals.  On the surface, this appears to be a big leap forward for investor protection and it’s being hailed by many as a … Continue reading →

HighTower Advisors, a Chicago based registered investment advisor, recently published a very clever whiteboard animation titled “Brokers vs. Fiduciaries.”  In the video, HighTower CEO Elliot Weissbluth describes brokers as cleaver wielding butchers.  The video implies that the butchers would be … Continue reading →

Stockbrokers are going extinct.  Wall Street hasn’t trained a real stockbroker in nearly twenty years. Today, stockbrokers have been replaced with “financial consultants” (or whatever they choose to call themselves) who do nothing more than gather clients’ assets, outsource the … Continue reading →

Hats off to Greg Smith, the Goldman Sachs executive who published his resignation from the firm in a New York Times Op-Ed this week.  In his piece, Mr. Smith highlighted a decline in Goldman’s culture, describing a firm that has … Continue reading →

The benefits of a well diversified investment portfolio can’t be overstated.  When properly executed, diversification becomes the shock absorber of a portfolio, greatly reducing the risk of investment losses.  But what many investors fail to recognize is that there is … Continue reading →

It’s universally accepted that lower investment management fees help lead to better long-term investment returns.  Despite this fact, most investors don’t have a clear understanding of the true cost of investment management services or what they are actually paying for.   … Continue reading →