Welcome to “The Summit,” the official First Ascent blog.
If you’re looking for ways to build your practice, investment insights, or advice on how to communicate more effectively with clients and potential clients, then you’ve come to the right place.
Each of us is on this earth for a very short time. Barely a blip on the radar screen of history. But that doesn’t mean we can’t make a difference. I was riding my bicycle through Death Valley earlier this year and came across a place called the Artist’s Palette. It is a beautiful patchwork … Read More
The SEC Outsourcing Rule: What Happens When Advisors Fail as Fiduciaries
The SEC recently proposed a new rule designed to ensure that advisors live up to their fiduciary duties when they outsource. The proposed rule is quite broad in scope. It covers not only outsourcing to TAMPs, but also outsourcing to a range of other service providers. The proposed rule requires advisors to: Have processes and … Read More
Our Greatest Gift to Our Clients
Ouzel Lake in the Wild Basin area of Rocky Mountain National Park is a peaceful place. Especially on an early Fall morning after the first snowfall. My wife and I reached it on an icy trail surrounded by waterfalls and beautiful views of the rugged mountains that define the edges of the Wild Basin. After … Read More
Don’t Believe the Pundits—Small is Beautiful
Pundits keep predicting that big will “dominate” small in the financial advice space. I ain’t buyin’ it. The big wirehouses have been around forever and they have been losing ground not gaining it. Mark Hurley predicted decades ago that the independent advisory business would consolidate into a handful of big firms and, instead, there are … Read More
I returned to the scene of the crime last weekend–the Manitou Incline. The Manitou Incline is a beast. It’s a stairway that rises over 2,000 vertical feet straight up the side of a mountain in less than a mile. (It’s 1,454 feet to the top of the Empire State Building.) In September, I climbed it with my … Read More
The Relationship Between Direct Indexing and Active Management
Last month I described what direct indexing is and how advisors might use it to satisfy specific client needs. This month I want to briefly explore the differences between direct indexing and traditional active management. Is Direct Indexing Passive or Active Management? True index investing—or passive investing—involves investing in mutual funds, exchange traded funds (ETFs), … Read More
Direct indexing portfolios are broadly diversified portfolios of individual stocks that are personalized to meet the needs, values, and preferences of an investor. An Index Oriented Approach As its name suggests, direct indexing takes an index-oriented approach to investing. The investor, in consultation with their advisor, selects one or more broad market indexes, and the … Read More
Here They Come Again—The Soothsayers and Snake Oil Salesmen
Since the stock and bond markets started misbehaving at the beginning of the year, we have been assaulted pretty much non-stop by the usual crop of product-pushers, market timing advocates, and crystal ball gazers. Do yourself a favor and ignore them all. In 2006 Philip Tetlock published his 20-year study of the efficacy of experts … Read More
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