Investment companies and the financial media generally spend most of their time focused on returns and other benefits of the various investment opportunities they recommend.  Yet when it comes to communicating the risks associated with those investments, the industry is a lot less forthcoming, according to Larry Doyle, author of the book In Bed with…
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Have you ever wondered how Standard & Poor’s selects the companies whose stocks go into the S&P 500 index?  They utilize a methodology called capitalization weighting (cap weighting for short), in which inclusion is based on a company’s market capitalization.  That’s a fancy term for how much investors value the company, and it is calculated…
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Yes, you do. How’s that for a succinct answer? But in case you don’t know what an Investment Policy Statement (IPS) is, or how it’s utilized, here’s a brief explanation. An IPS is a written document that basically describes how an investor’s money is to be managed/invested. Every publicly-traded mutual fund and ETF is required…
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Whenever an asset class experiences a large price swing, whether up or down, people naturally try to understand what the causes have been and whether or not the asset class is currently worth buying or the reverse.  Indeed, since the beginning of 2013 we’ve seen the price of gold drop by 25%.  Gold is now…
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This is a follow up to my blog several weeks ago about crowd funding.  The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) is additionally considering modifying the definition of an accredited investor as part of a proposal to amend the rule that permits the sale of private-placement securities.  Lawmakers want the SEC to expand the definition so…
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