"Where do you think the next big Ponzi scheme will occur?" That's what I asked Harry Markopolos, author of No One Would Listen, during the Q&A following his March 30 talk to Boston Security Analysts Society (BSAS).Markopolos isn't too worried about seeing another big Ponzi scheme soon. He gave two reasons.- Markets are down. That's what triggered the redemptions that brought down Madoff and others.
- The SEC is now making Ponzi schemes a high priority.
However, most Ponzi schemers don't register with the SEC, said Markopolos. That helps them to stay hidden from the SEC. Markopolos said the SEC typically finds out about Ponzi schemes through tips. The many poor-quality tips submitted to the SEC make it hard to sort out the good from the bad. If you'd like to learn more about Markopolos' perspective, check out his book. Many BSAS members lined up after the talk to have him sign their books. He's a hometown favorite and past president of the BSAS.Related post* Tweets on talk by Harry Markopolos, Madoff whistleblower____________________
The next session of "How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A Five-Week Teleclass for Financial Advisors" will start in April. If you can't attend this session, sign up to receive "Information on upcoming classes, workshops, and other events" as well as my free monthly newsletter.Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved
Here are my tweets on today's talk to the Boston Security Analysts Society by Harry Markopolos, the Madoff whistleblower and author of No One Would Listen. - "This case was a global tragedy" said Markopolos. "It was beyond evil."
- Madoff case is only in its 2nd innings, said Markopolos. There'll be more arrests due to cooperating witnesses.
- CFA# Code of Ethics is important to Markopolos. "It's about investors and doing the right thing," he said.
- CPAs, is this true? CPA code of conduct lacks affirmative duty to report fraud.
- Lesson #1 for Madoff victims: 0-25% is proper allocation to hedge funds, said Markopolos
- Lesson #2 for Madoff victims: Never put all of your eggs in one basket, said Markopolos
- Markopolos book is a good road map for conducting due diligence, said Sam Jones of the CFA Institute's board of governors.
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The next session of "How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A Five-Week Teleclass for Financial Advisors" will start in April. For more information, sign up to receive "Information on upcoming classes, workshops, and other events" as well as my free monthly newsletter.Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved
"I'll connect on LinkedIn if my clients ask me, but I don't see the value of LinkedIn because my compliance officer won't let me do anything."If this is how you feel about LinkedIn, this article is for you.Even if you can't post more than your name and company affiliation, you can benefit from LinkedIn in two big ways. First, your listing makes you more easily located in an Internet search. That's the focus of this article. In Part II of this article, I will address more active, yet compliance-friendly, strategies you can apply.
It's easier for clients, prospects, and referral sources to find you You want clients, prospects, and referral sources to find good information when they Google your name. LinkedIn profiles tend to rank high in such searches. 
Just make sure you've made your profile public by clicking on "Edit Public Profile Settings" and checking "Full View" instead of "None."You can increase the ease with which you're found by creating a custom URL for your LinkedIn profile, so the URL reads http://www.linkedin.com/in/YOURNAME. Simply edit the Public Profile URL at the bottom of the "Edit My Profile" page.
Your LinkedIn profile also offers the advantage of presenting yourself as you'd like to be seen, within the confines of what's permitted by your compliance department.
Another factor to consider: Many LinkedIn users will look for you using the site's search box. If you're not on LinkedIn, it's almost as if you don't exist.So, hurry and put your profile up on LinkedIn. If you're already on LinkedIn, stay tuned for my article on compliance-friendly ways to use LinkedIn. Related posts * My most popular blog posts of 2009* Guest Post: "How to Use LinkedIn When Your Compliance Department Says No"* Twitter to the rescue of my colleague with an RFP dilemma* How to publicize your white paper using LinkedIn
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The next session of "How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A Five-Week Teleclass for Financial Advisors" will start in April. For more information, sign up to receive "Information on upcoming classes, workshops, and other events" as well as my free monthly newsletter.
Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved
You can use technical analysis in combination with your firm's fundamental equity analysis to help decide when to buy or sell stocks. This is the message I took away from "Applying Technical Analysis to a Fundamental Investment Strategy," a March 23 presentation to the Boston Security Analysts Society by David Keller, who oversees technical analysis as a managing director of research for Fidelity Investments. Technical analysis is not voodoo science, throwing darts at a board, or even a prediction of the future, said Keller. Rather, it's a way to analyze supply and demand using patterns, he said.Fundamental research and technical analysis tackle different parts of the decision to trade a stock. Here's how Keller described them.- Fundamental research analyzes the company for the what and why of buy and sell decisions.
- Technical analysis analyzes the stock, looking purely at market activity for when and how to buy or sell
These two approaches overlap, in the opinion of Keller and the Fidelity portfolio managers who use his team's research. Technical research helps to identify the best time to execute a fundamental strategy, he said. You can think of technical analysis as a trigger, he said. When the results of technical analysis diverge from those of fundamental research, portfolio managers should pay attention, according to Keller. He referred to point and figure charts as "a gut check on how I look at individual stocks."Relative strength indicators are among the most important technical indicators, Keller said. They can be warning signs, he added.Keller's message was warmly received by members of the audience, most of whom raised their hands when asked if they regularly consulted technical indicators. Related post* Fidelity's head of technical research addresses "Where will the stock market go from here?" ____________________
The next session of "How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A Five-Week Teleclass for Financial Advisors" will start in April. For more information, sign up to receive "Information on upcoming classes, workshops, and other events" as well as my free monthly newsletter.Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved
It's tough to separate investment communications from technology, especially given the strict retention guidelines of the SEC and FINRA. That's why my ears pricked when an investment manager said that client portals can't retain emails sent through them. I took that as a challenge. I discovered that at least one client portal, FamilyOfficeNetwork (FON), satisfies this retention need. "FamilyOfficeNetwork does retain messages sent within our portal and they meet the SEC's retention requirements. We can also have any notification email sent from our system BCC to any email address a firm desires," wrote FON's Aaron Pickett in response to my inquiry. Bill Winterberg, I must thank you again for helping me find an answer to a technology question.____________________
The next session of "How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A Five-Week Teleclass for Financial Advisors" will start in April. For more information, sign up to receive "Information on upcoming classes, workshops, and other events" as well as my free monthly newsletter.Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved
Will the bull market continue? Investment professionals are always curious. So naturally the question came up during a Q&A session with David Keller, who oversees technical analysis as a managing director of research for Fidelity Investments. The question followed Keller's March 23 presentation to the Boston Security Analysts Society on "Applying Technical Analysis to a Fundamental Investment Strategy."The bottom line: It appears that the market is in an uptrend and the offensive sectors will outperform their defensive peers. However, Keller framed his comments cautiously, saying that there is little evidence that the stock market is not in a sustained uptrend. Nor does he see evidence that the market is overbought."I can't say," replied Keller, when asked to identify his favorite sector. He's looking at groups that are traditionally considering offensive. "But it's not as clear cut as in the past," he said. ____________________
The next session of "How to Write Blog Posts People Will Read: A Five-Week Teleclass for Financial Advisors" will start in April. For more information, sign up to receive "Information on upcoming classes, workshops, and other events" as well as my free monthly newsletter.Copyright 2010 by Susan B. Weiner All rights reserved
