John Osbon's Posts

When the news broke that Third Avenue Management suspended redemptions in its junk bond mutual fund, it raised eyebrows and questions. Here’s a quick look at what happened and why it matters. What happened? Third Avenue’s Focused Credit Fund sought to deliver a robust yield to investors by holding relatively high risk corporate (junk) bonds. Unfortunately the fund’s managers chose…

It’s a great feeling to hit the ground running when the new year begins. If that means starting a new exercise regimen or diet, January 1 is the perfect day to begin. For financial fitness, it’s important to get things in order before the New Year rings in, especially anything related to 2015 taxes. Are you ready for the New…

More than 60 Boston-area companies have been acquired in the last 18 months, most of them privately held. When you sell your company, it’s not just a life-changing liquidity event, it’s validation of your business model and a hard-earned reward for your ideas and long hours. In the big deal, you’ll receive cash, stock and possibly incentives to continue working….

One of the tenets of Osbon Capital is to seek out and partner with industry-leading service providers for the benefit of our clients. Perhaps the best example of this is Windham Capital Management, our risk management and asset allocation provider. Its research and portfolio building tools are at the core of every client account. Windham held its biennial Research Summit on…

If there’s a future college student in your household, you probably know that 529 is numeric for “tax-advantaged educational investment account.” But did you know that you can utilize the 529 of any of the 50 states? That’s a lot of choice, so which one is the best, meaning best for you? Morningstar has just released its annual survey, and our…

A noisy group of over-regulators and stock pickers are braying that ETFs are, among other things, dangerous, flawed, and ruining the markets. With the market turmoil on August 24th these critics have gained some press traction. But are they correct? Let’s check the facts… Horses blame cars Those faulting ETFs for stock market problems are generally from one of two groups…

Does your investment advisor believe in lifetime employment in one place? This one does. The typical revolving door career path in wealth management rarely benefits the client. It often involves multiple moves from firm to firm, almost always for the purpose of higher compensation, followed by the sale of one’s book of business to another firm or another advisor. That…

It happens every time. A new client entrusts Osbon Capital with investment management of all their accounts. The clients are smart, capable, successful people who expect the best for themselves. But when they show us all their accounts… they are a mess!  Here are the three most common scenarios we see and how to fix them. Stop the self-inflicted complication It’s…

Sounds improbable, doesn’t it? Sounds like you’d need to be Warren Buffett, get insider access to some secret investment vehicle or have an extraordinary amount of luck. No, no and no. All it took was an initial investment, discipline and patience. Here we go We’re all familiar with the S&P 500, the most popular and most vanilla index of them…