Weekly Articles by Osbon Capital Management:
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2012 currency impacts
Last week we discussed how owning international securities adds an extra layer of risk, due to currency exchange rates. This time we look at the actual year-to-date return of major indexes, both before and after currency conversions. The big currency fluctuations may not be where you would have expected.
Ignore currencies at your peril
Many US investors are just that: they invest mostly in US stocks and bonds. But many also diversify their investments outside our borders, buying securities domiciled in other countries, and denominated in their respective currencies. What are the risks related to international investments, and are they worth it?
Your advisor is moving. Should you, too?
It could happen to you. Or maybe it already has. Your advisor is moving to a different employer. Change happens. Frequently. Every year 12-13% of financial advisors change employers or their firms are sold or merged. That’s a lot of motion. If your advisor moves, should you follow? What do you need to know before you make that decision?
Fee war in your favor
Three exchange traded fund (ETF) sponsors – State Street, Vanguard, and BlackRock – control more than 80% of the massive ETF market. Each can claim advantages. State Street has the two biggest ETFs: SPY and GLD. BlackRock was first to market, and has the largest market share. Vanguard has the lowest costs. All three aspire to a larger market share,…
Pursuing better
Now and then a great business emerges because it does something no one else can through a breakthrough technology or discovery. But far more often, success comes to those who simply “do things better.” This may mean improving the auto engine to get more miles to the gallon, or providing faster turnaround on dry cleaning, creating a tastier coffee grind,…
The big picture, literally
When we ask what your portfolio looks like, we mean it literally. We find that a visual representation of a few critical metrics can tell us a lot about your portfolio and how it can be expected to perform. Let’s take a look at a hypothetical portfolio, in pictures. We know that the risk and return of an investment portfolio…
What Windham is doing
Windham Global Solutions, the portfolio and risk management experts, is an essential provider for Osbon Capital. Windham held its second annual investment conference last week in downtown Boston. What happens when you put savvy Windham people in a room for two days with several dozen clients? Lots of interesting discussion and debate about how to translate financial theory into best practices. And…
How Massachusetts Invests
If you had $50 billion to invest, how would you do it? Let’s take a look at the investment strategy of the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management board (PRIM), which invests that sum for the benefit of state employees, teachers and retirees. PRIM has done well. How have they done it and what can we learn from their approach?
Digging deeper into long-term returns
Last week we discovered that even in rising markets, up days barely outnumber down days (54 percent up, 46 percent down). This time let’s dig a little deeper in the numbers and see what we can learn about the pattern of equity returns and market volatility.
