Rules….rules.

Yeah, well, don’t follow ‘em, you could just find yourself in a bit of tepid water.

In June, five registered representatives or brokers of The Securities and Exchange Commission were charged by the body with violating Best Interest Obligation regulations – known commonly as Regulation Best Interest or Reg BI, according to napa-net.org. The subjects include Nancy Cole, Patrick Egan, Andy Gitipityapon, Steven Graham, and Thomas Swan.

The issue stems from their recommendation and selling of an unrated, high-risk debt security known as L Bonds to retirees and other retail investors. Western sold an aggregate of $13.3 million of L Bonds from July 2020 through April 2021, alleges the SEC complaint. The kicker: many of the customers were on fixed incomes with moderate levels of risk tolerance, while the bonds were high risk, illiquid, and only suitable for customers with substantial financial resources stated the issuer, GWG Holding Inc.

Neither Western nor the registered representatives used reasonable diligence, care and skill to grasp the risks linked with L Bonds, claims the SEC. And it doesn’t stop there. Western also was charged by the SEC of violating Reg Bi’s Compliance Obligation, according to sec.gov/. Western’s policies and procedures were duplicated – and significantly so – from the SEC’s Small Entity Compliance Guide, the SEC charged. As for specific tailoring to Western’s particular business? It had none.

According to the findings of the Advisor Edition of State Street Global Advisors’ Inflation Impact Survey, the vast majority of investors who are currently working with a financial advisor, believe their advisors’ insight and guidance are valued more today during the current period of market volatility and rising inflation. The survey revealed that approximately three-quarters of investors have discussed inflation with their advisors and how inflation will impact their investment goals in both the short and long term. 90% say they value their financial advisors’ knowledge and guidance even more during uncertain times, and 86% believe their advisor has helped them remain confident during the current period of rising inflation and market volatility. The data follows the initial findings of State Street’s Global Advisors’ Inflation Impact Survey that showed inflation-induced stress and anxiety is influencing investor behavior with short-term budgeting and long-term financial goals.

Finsum:State Street’s Inflation Impact Survey revealed that investors are placing a higher value on their financial advisor’s guidance during times of heightened market volatility and inflation.

Relative Strength is an investment strategy based on the belief that winning securities will continue to outperform. It provides a way for advisors to identify leading stocks in sectors and other market segments based on their history of outperformance. The premise is that investors should only invest in the areas of the market that have shown the ability to outperform. Investors should stay with those securities as long as they continue to outperform and then sell when they begin to fade.

Since relative strength is based on price, and not on fundamental research or your gut, emotion doesn’t Companies, sectors, and other market segments can establish themselves as leaders and even remain as leaders for years to come. 

Relative strength can also identify areas of the market that have weakened and should be avoided. This can help your portfolio adapt to market swings. It can also help you to manage risk. However, you should note that relative strength will not be able to target a stock’s exact top or bottom as no investment strategy can be expected to do so consistently.  Plus, waiting for confirmation that a stock is in fact a leader, allows you to avoid stocks that are short-term winners, but fail to establish themselves long-term. 

Relative strength’s ability to deliver outperformance has been demonstrated by numerous academic and financial studies. Since relative strength is simply the comparison of price performance in a universe of securities, it’s not difficult to develop a rules-based system for investing in high relative strength securities.

Nasdaq Dorsey Wright helps advisors identify Relative Strength stocks and sectors for them to include in their client portfolios. Click here for a free trial of relative strength research and tools.

CAIS recently announced that Mariner Wealth Advisors selected the firm to provide a customized alternative investment platform solution for the firm’s rapidly growing network of advisors. CAIS is a leading alternative investment platform for independent financial advisors. It provides advisors with a broad selection of alternative investment strategies, including hedge funds, private equity, and more. Mariner Wealth Advisors is a privately held advisory firm with over $60 billion in assets under advisement. CAIS will offer Mariner’s advisors access to a broad menu of alternative investment funds and products, educational resources, end-to-end digitized transaction processing, and third-party reporting integrations. Mariner’s advisors will receive access to a curated menu of diversified alternative investment products across asset classes and qualification levels. CAIS will also assist in the launch of proprietary funds and multi-manager funds managed by Mariner Wealth Advisors and enable the firm to add its own sourced third-party funds to the platform for centralized monitoring, transacting, and reporting.

Finsum:Alternative investment platform CAIS was recently selected by Mariner Wealth Advisors to provide its advisors with a broad selection of alternative investment strategies.

Fidelity Investments is expanding its alternative offerings with a new private credit fund. According to Ignites, the company registered the Fidelity Private Credit Fund as a ‘40-Act fund structured as a perpetual-term business development company. The fund will be managed by Fidelity Diversifying Solutions, the company’s new alternative unit. The fund, which will focus on lending to smaller firms, is looking to raise between $100 million and $1 billion initially. The fund will allow investors who don’t necessarily meet the requirements needed to invest in private equity, venture capital, or hedge funds. However, it does require them to have a gross income of $70,000 per year or a net worth of $250,000. According to the fund’s prospectus, net fees for the fund will range from 4.89% for institutional shares to 5.74% for S-class shares. It will also have a performance fee of 12.5% each quarter exceeding 5% growth and 12.5% of cumulative realized capital gains from inception through each calendar year.

Finsum:Fidelity is expected to launch a new private credit fund for investors who typically don’t meet the requirements needed to invest in private equity or hedge funds.