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Financial News

9.3.2010
Market Update Podcast
Listen in for the latest financial market news!
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9.1.2010
A Wise Year for Giving?

While much attention has been given to the fact that there is no estate tax this year, there is another way to help your heirs this year.
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8.11.2010
Selecting and Sizing Alternative Investments

This recent article, written by Greg Crawford, details how alternative investments can improve the diversification and performance characteristics in portfolios.
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7.29.2010
ETFs for the Wealthy

Exchange traded funds (“ETFs”), once used as simple building blocks of “beta” exposure in small accounts, have become more sophisticated and can be effective tools used in a number of high-net worth portfolios.
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7.14.2010
Why the brokerage makes money and you don’t

This recent article in the New York Times highlights the multiple ways in which a brokerage house does not serve your best interest. Unlike what the article suggests, you don’t have to “learn to live with it.”
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5.26.2010
When 100% “Protected” Equals Zero
This recent article from the NY Times highlights a consistent problem we see – high commission products being shoehorned into portfolios.
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4.19.2010
The Game is Rigged

Many people have been inquiring about the Goldman Sachs situation in our offices. While conflicts of interest plague brokerage houses (not our firm), the allegations in this case are particularly disturbing.
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3.6.2010
We don’t face tough ethical “choices,” we are simply ethical
Unfortunately, we see the impact that commissions and corporate compensation structures can have on thoughtful portfolio designs – it isn’t pretty.
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2.1.2010
A Plan for Pro Athletes
Unfortunately there are a lot of examples of those who come into sudden wealth at a young age who ultimately lose their financial footing and declare bankruptcy. This does not have to happen.
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1.13.2010
A Decade of Violated Trust

Every industry and business faces challenges; however the recent developments in our industry have challenged the very core of finance.
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1.7.2010
Brokers Flee Big Firms
Independent financial advisors, like Sierra Nevada Wealth Management, are gaining ground from Wall Street brokers in the competition to manage more than $5 trillion in Americans' savings.
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When 100% “Protected” Equals Zero

Posted: 5/26/2010

This recent article from the NY Times highlights a consistent problem we see – high commission products being shoehorned into portfolios. The thinking is “commissions, not consequences.” In this case, and many others, it ended terribly. For this retired couple, it was devastating. Of course the 1.75% commission has long been paid, and amount alone higher than the total yield on maturing FDIC investment vehicles which it replaced.

Commission-based relationships in financial services are fundamentally flawed, with conflicts in interest that can have disastrous consequences on the client. For a different approach to investing, with people who have actually been on Wall Street, give Sierra Nevada Wealth Management a call at 775-297-4681.