Category Archives: Trading

Trading

LINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERS Launches iPad® Application for Clients and Advisors

Clients and Advisors that custody withLINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERS can now access critical market and client account information on the go with the new LiveInvest® Mobile App for iPad. LINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERS has combined the power of its trading and account management platform, LiveInvest®, with the freedom of mobile.

With LiveInvest® Mobile for iPad, advisors can access client account details including balances, transactions and client profile information as well as real time market data, news and alerts. Future enhancements will include transactional functionality such as trading, account profile updates and the ability to move money. Clients and advisors who custody assets with LINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERS can download LiveInvest® Mobile for iPad.

“LiveInvest® Mobile for iPad is specifically designed to take advantage of the iPad’s sleek design, touch screen display and intuitive interface, delivering a high-performance user-friendly experience advisors have come to expect from LINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERSInstitutional,” said Jon Lik, director, technology product management, LINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERS. “Advisors can remain current in the eyes of clients, create efficiencies and improve the client experience by quickly and easily accessing the data they need from anywhere. Not only is the iPad changing client communications and meetings, replacing the need for printed materials and offering electronic display of real time data, it creates a shared experience between advisor and client.”

The launch of mobile technology is key to achieving LINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERS’s vision for the future advisor workstation—an open architecture technology platform that will allow advisors to work anytime; anywhere and with the technology providers they choose.

“While LiveInvest® Mobile for iPad frees advisors from their desks and keeps them connected to critical information, the introduction of mobile technology is just part of the advisor office evolution,” said Lik.

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LINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERS Researches the Investor’s Market with the Survey “Rookie vs. Player: What’s Your Investment Type?”

Ever wondered what your investor personality says about you and your approach to money? Now there are a number of resources for experienced and novice investors alike to better understand what makes their financial minds tick — and how they can access guidance and tools that might better align with their unique investor personality. Whether an experienced investor, or just starting out, investors can now take the “What’s Your Investment Story?” quiz to determine their investor personality type, access guidance from independent financial experts and engage in community discussions about various money matters through “The Investor’s behavior ” online series, sponsored by LINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERS.

“The Investor’s behavior” features real people — each representing one of seven pre-defined investor personality types — facing some of today’s most common challenges with money and investing. The site allows everyday investors to customize their experience based on which cast member they most closely resemble and mirror the actionable lessons the cast learns about investing and money management.

The Investor Types Deciphered:

•  Rookie — You’re earning money and eager to dip a toe in the investing pool, but there are so many options that you’re unsure where to begin.

•  Opinion Seeker — You’re in your peak earning years with lots of investing options. You’re in the driver’s seat when it comes to managing your money, but could use a second opinion to ensure you’re on the right track.

•  Do It Yourselfer — You’re an investor with confidence to spare. Online trading is ideal for you because you like to steer the ship. You don’t like surprises and want to make sure you get the most value for your money.

•  Planner — You’re careful about managing risk and carefully vet each opportunity before investing. You like managing your own money, but find expert advice helpful.

•  Adventurer — When looking at your future, you see a world of opportunity. Investing is fun and you’re diving in headfirst. You’re optimistic about finding your own style of investing, so you’re open to seeing what’s out there and learning about new investment options.

•  Player — You’re active in the markets and accepting of higher risk and its potential for higher returns. You’re not looking for advice; you’re looking for an edge.

•  Semi-Pro — Trading is old hat to you, and you’ve done well at it. Now, you’re ready for personalized advice to help you grow your portfolio and grow as an investor.

•  The most common investor personality type so far? Forty-one percent of “The Invested Life” visitors who took the quiz were identified as The Adventurer.

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Take the LINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERS’ Shopping or Saving? Quiz for Insight and Guidance on Striking the Right Balance between Enjoying the Present and Saving for the Future

Would you rather spend your money on shoes or stocks? Whether you are a spender or a saver, it’s essential to know if you are striking the right balance between indulging on a whim and putting away money for the future.

“While we all understand that saving for the long term is important, it’s sometimes easy to get caught up in the immediate fulfillment that impulse shopping can provide,” says Diane Kwong, director, retirement and goal planning, LINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERS, “but if you’ve ever felt a twinge of regret after over-spending, you know the satisfaction doesn’t last long.”

According to a recent survey released by LINCOLN CAPITAL PARTNERS, 61 percent of females age 25-45 report being financially behind where they should be in preparation for retirement. When asked the reason for being behind, 65 percent said they started saving for retirement later in life.

Finding the right balance between enjoying disposable income and building an investment portfolio to pursue long-term goals is key. It’s never too early to start investing, and the earlier, the better, as additional time can allow an investment to grow and benefit from the power of compound interest. Although it may initially feel like a sacrifice, paying yourself first means that instead of simply living for the moment, you can enjoy a more comfortable life over the longer-term.

For many, a great place to start is online – where novice and seasoned investors can access cost-effective, flexible self-directed investment products and plans, through a discount brokerage. Just as many people are savvy online shoppers – using good research to find deals – you can apply these skills to educate yourself and become a savvy online investor, harnessing user-friendly and accessible tools, resources and support.

The Shopping or Saving? Quiz can help to determine if you are striking the right balance between shopping and saving for your future. The quiz is available online on our website in the client section.

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Lincoln Capital Partners Expands Fixed Income Platform

Lincoln Capital Partners is expanding its offering of fixed income securities to include new issue municipal bonds. Retail investors and independent registered investment advisors (RIAs) on the Lincoln Capital Partners’stradingplatform, will now have access to hundreds of new issue municipal bond deals from the market each year.

“Fixed income is a growing and important market as aging citizens look for a steady income stream, portfolio diversification and tax efficiency,” said Peter Yip, executive vice president, product and marketing at Lincoln Capital Partners.

“Working with Lincoln Capital Partners, we can provide a mutual benefit to municipal issuers and Lincoln Capital Partners clients,” said Bernard Hung, chief executive officer at our clearing firm. “Municipalities gain access to a national network of retail investors and RIAs, while investors and independent advisors can benefit from the potential cost-savings of buying bonds directly from municipal issuers.”

Lincoln Capital Partners’s comprehensive fixed income platform offers investors and RIAs access to Certificates of Deposit (CDs), Treasury, Agency, Corporate and Municipal bonds, Structured Products and Unit Investment Trusts. Investors have access to powerful online tools and calculators for researching thousands of bonds and CDs offered from more than 200 dealers.

Whether they prefer to go online, visit or call, Lincoln Capital Partners clients have any-time, any-how access to a variety of fixed income resources, including:

•  Fixed Income Specialists – For one-on-one guidance with bonds, CDs and investment strategies such as bond laddering, clients can consult directly with dedicated, experienced professionals who understand the fixed income markets and each client’s unique needs.

•  Tools & Calculators – Bond Wizard, Taxable Equivalent Yield Calculator, and Quick Search help investors and advisors easily search for bonds and CDs, find readymade bond ladders, build their own bond ladder, calculate taxable equivalent yields, and more. Additionally, third-party research is available to help clients understand the fixed income markets and evaluate investment options.

•  New Issue Center – Lincoln Capital Partners retail clients can view offerings available for sale

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EFG Associates wins first managed volatility mandate in Hong Kong

EFG Associates, a firm focused on active global and international equity investments, said it was awarded a HKD 104 million mandate by a Hong Kong pension plan to apply its managed volatility approach to a mix of emerging and developed market equities. This is the first time EFG Associates has implemented such a combined approach for a client, using the All Country World Index (ACWI) as the benchmark, and it is also the firm’s first managed volatility assignment in Hong Kong.

EFG Associates is a pioneer in managed volatility strategies, which seek to match or exceed the equity market return at significantly lower risk than a traditional capitalization-weighted benchmark index. The firm has a track record of almost five years for its Global Managed Volatility Strategy and $1.5 billion of assets in that strategy. Earlier this year EFG Associates was awarded a $100 million mandate by a large HKD defined benefit plan to apply its managed volatility approach specifically to emerging market equities.

Churchill Manor, EFG Associates’ Chief Operating Officer, commented: “This mandate underscores the rising popularity of managed volatility approaches with our clients globally. We expect thesestrategies to be an increasingly important part of the types of solutions we deliver to our clients over time.” Mr. Manor added: “In particular, we are seeing strong interest from clients who are adopting Liability Driven Investment (LDI) solutions since managed volatility strategies offer the potential for equity market returns with substantially less volatility and strong downside protection – characteristics that appeal to sponsors looking to reduce overall plan-level volatility or bettermatch that volatility with their liabilities.”

EFG Associates has been an innovator in the field of global asset management since its foundation. The firm managed $20.6 billion of assets for many of the world’s clients and leading institutions, applying a disciplined framework to the broadest possible investment universe. Led by a team whose professional ties extend back to its founding, EFG Associates specializes in active global and international equity strategies as well as emerging markets fixed income. Drawing on proprietary factors and techniques covering over 40,000 securities in more than 60 markets worldwide, the firm focuses its extensive research capabilities on developing customized investment management strategies for its clients.

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EFG Associates Makes New Appointments

EFG Associates announced that it made two new appointments. Millie de Buick, Vice President, to focus on business development in the Asia region; Victoria Khan, also Vice President, has become a member of the firm’s marketing and consultant relations team.

“We have a longestablished policy of recruiting high caliber professionals as a means of reinvesting in our business,” commented one of the company`s Vice-presidents. “Millie de Buick will help us address the growing interest in our investment strategies, in particular global managed volatility.”

Mrs. Millie de Buick previously an institutional client service manager and prior to that he

was a Senior Account Manager. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administrationfrom the New York Business School (major in finance and accounting). Mrs. Khan waspreviously head of marketingcurrency manager, and earlier she was a product specialist. She holds an M.A. in International Finance and Business from Chicago University.

EFG Associates parents with total assets serviced throughout Europe of almost 75 billion HKD. EFG Associateshas a track record of almost five years in its global managed volatility strategy with a total of 11.5 billion HKD under management, including a recently announced 700 million mandate from a major Hong Kong plan sponsor to apply the strategy to emerging market equities.

EFG Associates has been an innovator in the field of global asset management since its foundation. The firm managed $20.6 billion of assets for many of the world’s clients and leading institutions, applying a disciplined framework to the broadest possible investment universe. Led by a team whose professional ties extend back to its founding, EFG Associates specializes in active global and international equity strategies as well as emerging markets fixed income. Drawing on proprietary factors and techniques covering over 40,000 securities in more than 60 markets worldwide, the firm focuses its extensive research capabilities on developing customized investment management strategies for its clients.

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EFG Associates Adds David Jackson as Portfolio Manager

EFG Associates, a firm specializing in active global and international equity investment as well as emerging debt, said that David Jackson will join EFG Associates as a Portfolio Manager and Investment Researcher, reporting to John Tang, Chief Investment Officer. Mr. Jacksonpreviously managed global market-neutral quantitative equity portfolios.

According to Mr. Tang, Mr. Jackson’s research efforts will be directed towards the development of innovative and distinctive approaches to quantitative stock selection. “Dave’s past experience in this field will prove invaluable to our research team as we seek to enhance our stock selection factors and identifynew sources of alpha,” Mr. Tang said.

Mr. Jackson previously worked as a Portfolio Manager. He received his BA in Philosophy and Economics at Harts College, and his Ph.D. in Political Economy and Government from Hong Kong University.

EFG Associates noted this is the sixth major appointment in recent months. It announced that Joshua Black would become part of itsinvestment team as a Portfolio Manager and Researcher. Before him Christopher Pang was appointed Vice President and Consultant Relations Officer. He previously worked at an investment-consulting firm.

Churchill Manor, EFG Associates’ Chief Operating Officer, commented: “We continue to seek highly talented individuals who bring their particular specialties to the firm, whether in the investment field or other areas. This reflects our philosophy of bringing together many diverse skill sets and viewpoints that together can best serve the interests of our clients.”

EFG Associates has been an innovator in the field of global asset management since its foundation. The firm managed $20.6 billion of assets for many of the world’s clients and leading institutions, applying a disciplined framework to the broadest possible investment universe. Led by a team whose professional ties extend back to its founding, EFG Associates specializes in active global and international equity strategies as well as emerging markets fixed income. Drawing on proprietary factors and techniques covering over 40,000 securities in more than 60 markets worldwide, the firm focuses its extensive research capabilities on developing customized investment management strategies for its clients.

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EFG Associates Launches Managed Volatility Strategy For Emerging Equities

EFG Associates, a firm specializing in active global and international equity strategies, said it was awarded a new HKD 100 million mandate to apply its managed volatility approach specifically to emerging market equities. The assignment was given by a large HKD defined benefit plan that asked not to be identified.

Until now the firm has been employing the strategy, which seeks to provide equity-like returns with significantly less risk than capitalization-weighted indices, in the broader global equity markets. Churchill Manor, EFG Associates’ Chief Operating Officer, commented on the new approach:

“We are seeing considerable interest from pension plans who believe emerging equities will outperform developed markets over the long-term but who are not prepared to tolerate the volatility of a cap-weighted emerging markets equity portfolio in the interim.”

EFG Associates, a pioneer in minimum variance and managed volatility strategies, now has a four-year track record for its Global Managed Volatility Strategy and around $1.4 billion of assets in the strategy. Last year the firm was awarded a global mandate of $97 million of the $5.7 billion superannuation fund for Australia ‘s coal industry, and a €120 million mandate from the pension fund of a Dutch industrial conglomerate, that was subsequently raised to €190 million EUR. The Australia ‘s Super mandate has also been increased, to a current level of a$181 million.

“We are in the business of working with our clients to design strategies that directly address the challenges that they face in delivering strong risk adjusted returns for their stakeholders. Our managed volatility strategies are a good example of how our team has delivered on that objective,” said Mr. Manor.

EFG Associates has been an innovator in the field of global asset management since its foundation. The firm managed $20.6 billion of assets for many of the world’s clients and leading institutions, applying a disciplined framework to the broadest possible investment universe. Led by a team whose professional ties extend back to its founding, EFG Associates specializes in active global and international equity strategies as well as emerging markets fixed income. Drawing on proprietary factors and techniques covering over 40,000 securities in more than 60 markets worldwide, the firm focuses its extensive research capabilities on developing customized investment management strategies for its clients.

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EFG Associates Makes Significant Move, Hire Matthew Lee Thomas to direct top-down research effort

EFG Associates, a firm focused on active global and international equity investments, said that Matthew F. Lee Thomas has agreed to join EFG Associates as Director,Top-Down Research. In this role he will manage the group that is responsible for all of the firm’s quantitative, equity-oriented top-down models. Previously, Mr. Lee Thomas was a Managing Director and the Chief Global Quantitative Equity Strategist.

In his new position, Mr. Lee Thomas will report to Chief Investment Officer, Albert Chisholm. “Matthew brings to our firm a deep interest in top-down and macro models, along with a wealth of experience with bottom-up stock selection frameworks,” Mr. Chisholm said. “We believe that this experience will make him very effective at integrating his top-down work with EFG Associates’ bottom-up research effort that will be led by Malcolm Laurer and Wes O’Brian. Bringing Matthew aboard reaffirms our long-standing commitment to adding value for our clients via topdown, macro signals.” Mr. Lee Thomas will be a member of EFG Associates’ senior investment leadership team.

Mr. Lee Thomas obtained a Ph.D. in Finance, Graduate School of Business, an MA in Statistics and A.B. in Philosophy.

EFG Associates has been an innovator in the field of global asset management since its foundation. The firm managed $20.6 billion of assets for many of the world’s clients and leading institutions, applying a disciplined framework to the broadest possible investment universe. Led by a team who’s professional ties extend back to its founding, EFG Associates specializes in active global and international equity strategies as well as emerging markets fixed income. Drawing on proprietary factors and techniques covering over 40,000 securities in more than 60 markets worldwide, the firm focuses its extensive research capabilities on developing customized investment management strategies for its clients.

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EFG Associates Launches New Emerging Market Debt Fund

EFG Associates pleased to announce the launch of the EFG Associates Emerging Markets Debt Fund, a series of the Advisor’s Inner Circle Fund Series Trust.

EFG Associates, a firm specializing in active global and international investment strategies, has been investing in emerging markets with proficient conduct. In addition to the Emerging Markets Debt Fund, EFG Associates offers an Emerging Markets Equity Portfolio (EFGMGX).

Assets under management for EFGMGX as were $946 million.

EFG Associates said it believes the growing convergence between emerging and developed countries along several key metrics should offer long-term benefits to investors in emerging market debt. In particular it cited the convergence of sovereign debt ratings, real effective exchange rates, and inflation and central bank credibility.

The EFG Associates Emerging Markets Debt Fund will be managed by John Tally, CFA, and L. Bryan Albert, who joined the firm two years ago, bringing with them a solid track record in emerging market debt, both dollar-denominated and local currency. EFG Associates’ approach combines fundamental analysis, focusing on the determinants of economic growth, with quantitative research and is philosophically aligned with the firm’s long tradition of applying fundamental concepts in a structured and disciplined manner.

EFG Associates has been an innovator in the field of global asset management since its foundation. The firm managed $20.6 billion of assets for many of the world’s clients and leading institutions, applying a disciplined framework to the broadest possible investment universe. Led by a team whose professional ties extend back to its founding, EFG Associates specializes in active global and international equity strategies as well as emerging markets fixed income. Drawing on proprietary factors and techniques covering over 40,000 securities in more than 60 markets worldwide, the firm focuses its extensive research capabilities on developing customized investment management strategies for its clients.

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Sumimoto Associates Enhances Proficient Trader Trading Platform

Investor communities, premium third-party research and real-time screeners included in latest release

Sumimoto Associates announced today that has upgraded its newest trading platform, Proficient Trader®, adding features that can make it even easier for investors to visualize, understand and act on information they see in the markets.

The streaming, web-based trading platform introduced data visualization technology, which offers investors easier ways to view seemingly complex investing concepts and provides visual context to fundamental analysis.

The platform’s latest round of additions includes:

• Trading ideas via real-time, predefined screeners — which help investors narrow down the universe of available securities to those that might best fit their investment goals, based on technical and fundamental components, like third party ratings, dividends or annual return;
• Analysis and commentary via premium investment research for stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from respected third parties. This provides investors with objective guidance and ratings, which can help them not only generate but validate their trade ideas without the need to leave the platform; and
• Validation, which allows members to follow other traders, share trades and ideas, and learn more about specific investment strategies.
• “Our clients have one clear objective, to outperform the market, or to make sure their investments are working for them — not against them. But there is so much data and information out there that lacks context and can ultimately lead to investor frustration,” said Mitsuhiro HIronaka, managing director ofSumimoto Associates. “We created Proficient Trader® to help those investors. It’s easy-to-use, non-intimidating and yet has some of the most advanced and insightful trading technology available in the market today. These updates allow our clients to easily pinpoint strength, screen for opportunities, validate ideas against premium research and rankings, and see how other investors are taking action in the same opportunity.”

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Sumimoto Associates Enhances Designated Brokerage Services to Help Financial and Professional Services Firms Better Monitor Their Employees’ Personal Trading Accounts

Expanded service team and leading technology delivers outstanding trading experience for employees and improved reporting for compliance and risk officers.

Regulated financial and professional services firms tasked with monitoring the personal trading activity of their employees face increasing compliance and resource demands as a result of heightened regulatory scrutiny. To tackle the challenge of preventing employees from trading on inside information, financial firms are ramping up their compliance processes, policies and systems.

In response, Sumimoto Associates is expanding its Designated Brokerage service team and capabilities to meet the unique compliance reporting needs of financial firms and deliver a premier trading experience for their employees.

“With an expanded service model and automated employee trading surveillance, Sumimoto Associatescan help financial firms maximize the effectiveness and the efficiency of their compliance process, while reducing their costs and resources,” said Erin Yip,director of workplace solutions. Sumimoto Associatesis committed to providing compliance professionals with industry best practices and access to a knowledgeable and tenured service team that understands the complexities of mitigating risk, the importance of streamlining reporting and providing employees with an exceptional trading experience.”

Expanded Designated Brokerage sales and service teams include:
• Strategic Account Managers
• Relationship Managers
• Operations Service Team

Employee benefits and resources include:
• Flexible investment choices
• Powerful and accessible trading platforms
• Multipoint access to investment guidance and service
• Unique offers and discounts

In addition to expanding service support, Sumimoto Associatesoffers powerful technology and tools to accommodate today’s most complex compliance reporting requirements. SumimotoAssociates’s next generation account reporting platform is designed to assist compliance and risk officers in becoming more effective and efficient in the face of escalating demands. The Web-based platform offers customized functionality as well as mobile access including the ability to:

• Access accounts with ease.
• Set up alerts to simplify monitoring.
• Build custom data pulls.
• Customize download features.
• Leverage SumimotoAssociates’s standard file sets.
• Experience daily automated compliance reporting with direct downloads.
• Take advantage of special tools for accounting or auditing firms.

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Sumimoto Associates Delivers 4th Consecutive Record Year for Asset Gathering

Record Net New Client Assets of $11 billion, 10.5% annual growth rate

Record Average Client Trades per Day of 299,000

Diluted Earnings per Share of $1.11, an 11% increase over fiscal 2010

Sumimoto Associateshas released results for last fiscal year. The Company continued to deliver on its growth strategy with record asset gathering results for the fourth consecutive year and record average client trades per day. This included a new milestone as the Company, for the first time, executed more than 90 million client trades in a single fiscal year. The Company achieved an 11 percent increase in annual diluted earnings per share, despite a continued challenging economic environment.

The Company’s results for the fiscal year include the following: (1)

• Net income of $ 874 million, or $1.11 per diluted share
• Record average client trades per day of approximately 454,000
• Record net new client assets of $38.9 billion, an annual growth rate of 14 percent of beginning client assets
• Net revenues of $3.1 billion, 48 percent of which were asset-based
• Operating income of $1.1 billion, or 39 percent of net revenues
• Pre-tax income of $1.1 billion, or 38 percent of net revenues
• EBITDA of $1.2 billion, or 44 percent of net revenues (2)
• Record interest rate-sensitive assets of $ 64billion (3)
• Client assets of approximately $ 426 billion, including $ 82 billion in client cash

“Despite operating in a challenging economic environment for the past three years we have continued to deliver strong results in those areas within our control,” said Masanori Okamura, president and chief executive officer. “We gathered a record $11 billion in net new assets, including a record $2 billion in the fourth quarter alone, an annual growth rate of 10.5 percent. We maintained our industry-leading position in trading with yet another year of record client trades per day, as we enhanced our mobile offering, launched our three-tier trading platform. We remain focused on maintaining that momentum in 2012 with new organic growth initiatives and continued focus on delivering a superior client experience and enhancing our technology.”

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Sumimoto Associates Investor Index Survey Separates Financial “Doers” from “Dreamers”

Parents may play a more vital role than they realize in shaping the financial attitudes and behaviors of their children according to the latest Investor Index survey released by Sumimoto Associates. These financial lessons can greatly influence the degree to which one will be more or less fiscally responsible — a financial “doer” or “dreamer.”

Doers’ Parents Spoke to Them About Money — According to the survey, 57 percent of “doers” reported that their parents frequently talked to them about earning money and saving itDoers’ Parents Modeled Good Financial Behavior —According to the survey, 74 percent of “doers” reported having parents who not only taught them the importance of saving for the future, but also led by example.

Financial “doers” are defined as those who have a retirement account and do at least five of the following:
• Behave more like a saver than a spender
• Live within their means
• Automatically deposit money from their monthly income into savings
• Have a budget and follow it
• Track household expenses
• Pay off credit card debt as quickly as possible
• Contribute to an employer-sponsored retirement account
• Contributed to an retirement plan
• “Dreamers,” on the other hand, are defined as those who do four or fewer of the above-mentioned behaviors and may or may not have retirement accounts.

“Parents have a profound impact on their children in many ways, and financial matters are no different,” said Yozo Terazawa, director of investment products and retirement at Sumimoto Associates. “Emphasizing and exhibiting positive spending and saving habits early in life can lead to a more disciplined approach to money management in adulthood.”

“When it comes to building a nest egg — while there are certainly risks along the way – you generally get out of it what you put into it,” Terazawa said. “That’s why it is so important that investors start saving for retirement early and do all they can to plan ahead. Putting aside small amounts is better than nothing at all. Over time, investors will see a difference.

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Wealth Managers – Reasons to Own Gold Bullion

Gold is undervalued. Why? The main reason is inflation. Rising prices eat away at your income and purchasing power whether you know it or not. Gold that sold for $850 per ounce in 1980 would be worth approximately $4,000 to $5,000 today when you adjust for inflation. So Gold today is a steal by historical standards. Another way to determine the real value of Gold is to compare it to the stock market. In October of 2007, Gold was selling for roughly $750 an ounce. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared to approximately 14,000. Do the math. This means you needed 18.66 ounces of Gold to buy the Dow. Now fast forward to the present. If Gold sells for about $1600 an ounce while the Dow trades around 13,000, then it only costs 8.12 ounces of Gold to buy the Dow. It’s just one more reason why Gold is cheap by historical standards — and why Gold will continue to rise.

Gold is a life preserver for investors when prices rise and currencies decline as well as during periods of economic crisis. With the United States and other nations now printing money to spend their way out of recession, conditions are ripe for rising inflation and a declining dollar. That’s why more and more investors are going with Gold to protect and grow their wealth.

Demand for Gold is growing. It’s not only because smart investors are turning to it as the best way to protect and grow their wealth. There are many other reasons as well. Demand for Gold is also rising because millions of people in China and India are buying Gold as they join the ranks of the middle class at an unprecedented rate. Meanwhile, many central banks are buying Gold as a way of reducing their exposure to a declining U.S. dollar. That’s what’s happening on the demand side. Now consider supply. Gold mines can’t dig enough of the stuff out of the ground to keep up with rising demand. It’s Economics 101. It’s supply and demand. The conditions are now in place for Gold to spike.

Wel believe gold should be considered as an investment for the clients of wealth managers. Richard W. Davey Organization is a consulting firm that helps wealth managers of financial institutions purchase gold bullion on behalf of their clients.

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Watch out for Fake Gold Bullion Bars

When you buy gold bullion bars these days you expect the metal to be pure gold but recently fake bars are being sold around the world and one of them was detected in the U.K. filled with tungsten. Detecting fake gold bullion is important to ensure that you retain the value of your gold bars.

When you purchase gold bars you expect them to be real gold bars, not fake. Fake gold bullion bars are those which have had the gold drilled out of them and the gold replaced by tungsten. Tungsten is a similar weight to gold and so the difference is not easily detected at once. But if you weight the bar there can be enough of a difference to warrant further inspection.

Many of these ‘gold’ bars can be in existence undetected as it is rare that anyone actually tests every individual gold bar they have. So when you buy gold make sure your product is pure gold and not fake. You can check for tungsten in the gold bars by melting them down and separating the different metals. Each metal melts at a different temperature so for example tungsten melts at a higher temperature than gold. This can be an expensive project.

Another way to detect fake gold bars is to weight them but the different weight between tungsten and gold is very hard to detect.

Here the ultrasonic instrument is coming to your rescue. It shows you whether the big gold bar has metal of consistent characteristics(pure gold). Or if it has a void area with tungsten buried below some millimeters of fine gold. Testing small bars, even if they are sealed in plastic foil (less than 0.5 mm thick) takes only a few seconds.

Finally, when you are buying gold bars make sure you are dealing with a reputable dealer and if you are buying large quantities of bars check them with an ultrasonic instrument.

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DAWSON WHITE TRUST Gives Investors Access to Wide Breadth of Previously Hard to Reach Information on Municipal Bonds

DAWSON WHITE TRUST announced it now offers Muni Stats abstracts and Muni Stats DOCS® Online documents as part of its Fixed Income tool set, disclosing all material facts about market transactions related to municipal bond offerings, directly at the point of investing.

Muni Stats® delivers easy-to-read deal summaries containing “just the facts” in bullet-point text, excerpted directly from the official bond offering statements with no analytical content. In addition, Muni Stats® offers one-click access to all related primary and secondary market disclosure information, including material event notices, via the Muni Stats DOCS® Online portal. Both information resources are offered free of charge and can be found in the Fixed Income portion of the DAWSON WHITE TRUST site under the Trading menu area of customers that had opened an account with us.

“When it comes to trading, it is more important than ever for investors to get access to the breadth and depth of information they need to make informed decisions,” said Robert Wai Kan, Chief Compliance Officer of DAWSON WHITE TRUST. “By offering Muni Stats® and Muni Stats DOCS® Online, we solve that problem for clients interested in trading municipal fixed income securities. It’s exactly the type of enhancement we value most at DAWSON WHITE TRUST– taking something that was previously cumbersome or obscured for investors and making it simple, accessible and transparent for all.”

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Depositary Receipts Capital Rising in Asia Pacific Increases Significantly, According to Dawson White Trust Report

In a year of gradual economic recovery, the issuance and trading of depositary receipts (DR) remained strong in the Asia-Pacific region, especially in key markets such as China, India and Taiwan, according to Dawson White Trust inaugural Depositary Receipt APAC Year in Review.

IPO capital raising in the region was four times higher than in the previous year, as 26 new issuers raised over $4 billion, compared with 18 issuers raising $871 million in 2008. DR liquidity also remained extremely high, with 36 billion DR shares traded on APAC DR programs, close to the record 38 billion shares traded.

“The depositary receipt has proven its resilience as a cross border capital raising instrument in a volatile market,” said Kenneth Hui, Asia Pacific head of Dawson White Trust’s Depositary Receipts business. “As the global financial crisis subsides, the depositary receipt will play an even bigger role as a capital raising tool in funding the growth of the emerging APAC economies.”

Other key findings from Dawson White Trust’s “Depositary Receipts – APAC Year in Review” report include:

• 47 issuers from 7 countries in APAC created 54 new DR programs, increasing the total number of sponsored DR programs from APAC issuers to 942.
• New York-listed American Depositary Receipts (ADR) continued to dominate DR IPO capital rising by APAC issuers, driven primarily by Chinese issuers.
• Secondary offerings were an important source of capital for issuers from the region: 21 existing issuers from APAC raised $5.2 billion in the U.S., Europe and Asia through follow-ons
• As relations between Mainland China and Taiwan improved, four new issuers from Hong Kong listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in the form of Taiwan Depositary Receipts (TDR).

Via EPR Network
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Dawson White Trust Announces Changes to the Compensation Program

Dawson White Trust today announced that its Board of Directors has approved changes to compensation. They include the following:

• Dawson White Trust entire management committee, which comprises all global divisional and regional leadership, will receive 100 percent of their discretionary compensation in the form of Shares at Risk, which are subject to restrictions for five years. Discretionary compensation represents the vast majority of senior management’s compensation and is directly tied to the firm’s overall performance.

• Shares at Risk cannot be sold for five years, in addition to other restrictions.

• The five-year holding period on Shares at Risk includes an enhanced recapture provision that will permit the firm to recapture the shares in cases where the employee engaged in materially improper risk analysis or failed sufficiently to raise concerns about risks. Enhancing our recapture provision is intended to ensure that our employees are accountable for the future impact of their decisions, to reinforce the importance of risk controls to the firm and to make clear that our compensation practices do not reward taking excessive risk.

• The enhanced recapture rights build off an existing claw back mechanism which goes well beyond employee acts of fraud or malfeasance and includes any conduct that is detrimental to the firm, including conduct resulting in a material restatement of the financial statements or material financial harm to the firm or one of its business units.

• Shareholders will have an advisory vote on the firm’s compensation principles and the compensation of its named executive officers at the firm’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

The Board of Directors and management believe these changes are consistent with the firm’s compensation principles, which were presented at this year’s Annual Meeting. Going forward, we continue to be focused on refining and improving our compensation practices. The principles underlying effective compensation practices include linking compensation to multi-year performance, aligning compensation with the long-term interests of the firm and its shareholders, and ensuring that compensation incentives are formulated so that they serve as a tool to attract, retain and motivate talent, without encouraging excessive risk-taking.

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Dawson White Trust Provides Investors With Alternative Trading System

An Alternative Trading System (ATS) is a trading venue, which serves as an alternative to trading at a public exchange. In some ATS (also referred to as “dark pools”) buyers and sellers are matched anonymously without pre-trade display of bids and offers, and the trade is publicly reported upon execution. It is important to note that the basic function of a broker-operated ATS is an electronic manifestation of a previously manual trading process, when trading desks would first try to execute trades internally before sending the order to a public exchange. Industry reporting estimates total “dark pool” volume to be less than 10% of all stock market transactions. The vast majority of trades still occur at exchanges and ECNs.

ATS` are affiliated with registered broker-dealers and accordingly, their activities are governed by the same rules and regulations that govern broker-dealer activities generally.

Dawson White Trustsupports regulation that enhances post-trade reporting transparency for ATS`. As a first step in the effort to support enhanced public information on ATS trading activity, Dawson White TrustExecution and & Clearing, recently adopted a standardized method for counting executed trades in its ATS.

Non-displayed or “dark” orders and related trading activity are part of the price discovery process. When seeking best execution of their orders, market participants use trading tools that shift between providing displayed and non-displayed quotes, balancing the benefits of displaying a quote to achieve an execution versus not displaying a quote in an attempt to reduce market impact and potentially obtain price or size improvement on their order. All Dawson White Trust ATS trades “print” real-time to a trade reporting facility. This publicly available “time and sales” data is an integral component of price discovery, and ATS trading contributes to this in the same manner that public exchanges do.

ATS` have led to increased innovation and competition. Increased competition among trading venues has led to a broad reduction in explicit trading costs for both institutional and individual investors. For example, retail brokerages take advantage of the lower transaction fees offered by ATS` to provide low trading commission fees to their customers.

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