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.
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
An Essential Road Map for TAMP Users
Selecting a turnkey asset management provider (TAMP) to manage your clients’ assets is an investment decision. Thus, it triggers your fiduciary responsibilities to your clients. The SEC made this clear in a Risk Alert issued July 21, 2021. The Commission also provided a roadmap for advisors to use in discharging their fiduciary duties to clients … Read More
Why Investing Based on Past Performance is a Terrible Idea
Both the SEC and FINRA require performance-based advertising and sales literature to include the statement: “past performance does not guarantee future results.” Is that good advice? Mutual Funds Research by S&P Dow Jones on the persistence of mutual fund performance shows why this warning makes sense. Of the domestic equity mutual funds that performed in … Read More
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