In a financial world where clients have become mere account numbers, and the new emphasis rests on mass-marketing investment products and gathering “Assets Under Management,” we continue to deliver the attentive personal service of a knowledgeable and dedicated family advisor.
We believe that we are better investors because of our heritage as advisors to families and the long-term perspective it requires, and we are better family advisors because we possess the deep understanding and experience of real-life, active investing.
My investor education started in my grandma’s kitchen. Unpacking groceries, she would say: “It doesn’t have to be the cheapest thing you find, but it has to be good value.” I think we all instinctively know a good value in our everyday life, but we somehow forget it when it comes to investing our precious savings.
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When I think of forever versus for now, I can’t help but picture Bill Murray’s 1990s movie, “The Groundhog Day.” I learned over the years that this innocent comedy has proven to be quite controversial. Some either love it, others the opposite. His character, Phil, a Pittsburgh weatherman, has to endure a work trip to report on the groundhog tradition in the town of Punxsutawney. The groundhog appears, and its shadow predicts earlier or later spring. Phil’s least favorite day repeats every morning, though, and his tolerable “for now” seems to have become his increasingly unpleasant “forever.” In investing, it pays to be able to tell the difference between what could be forever and what’s just for now.
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It’s been a long while since I watched any financial news channel. That changed last week, though. I was sitting on a plane (still a rare occurrence these days). The screen in front of me was split to accommodate half a dozen talking heads. Stock quotes were running in multiple lines at the bottom and headlines on the right with some charts. I didn’t have the right headphones with me, and I couldn’t listen to it, but I felt that this silent screen was screaming at me, desperate for my attention.
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What are “phantom losses?” --- In investing, we have gains and losses, but how many types of both are there? Last summer, I wrote a short article about two types of gains. Some recent conversations with clients, colleagues, and fellow investors made me realize that there are more than two types of losses. There are realized losses, unrealized losses, and apparently also “phantom losses.” I like to learn new things, and this was definitely a bit of a discovery. I felt compelled to share it with you, so here it is!
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