Episode 169

In this episode, Mark talks about tax loss harvesting and offsetting losses with gains. The only way to be a successful investor is to have a proven process in sell discipline, when to put your money to work. People expect their investments to drive their financial plan. The PLAN should always drive the investments - you should never wait to start investing! Cash is an investment! Be available to buy into dividend businesses and take advantage of opportunities during corrections. The question now is: what happens next?

March 13, 2017

Episode 168

In this episode, Mark talks about how there is a lack of common sense in the financial services industry. When you have the ability to see every activity with your money, the trust factor is there. Do you know how the investment decisions are made when it comes to your money?Most people don’t. but they will say “I trust my advisor”. When their portfolio is down they then question if their advisor even knows what they are doing. A good discussion begins at a place where client has understanding. The problem with young investors is they try to use too much academics and support for decisions that it confuses the client.

March 8, 2017

Episode 167

In this episode, Mark talks about the lack of clarity in the financial industry - it makes it sound like people don’t need a financial advisor. Everyone's financial situation is different, having someone you trust with you helps you maximize income, lower taxes and take advantage of opportunities. Investors will go and buy a stock and do not understand the impact it has on the portfolio overall. Think of your portfolio as a machine, every stock is a working part that does something for the portfolio. Nepsis loves great brands and great economic moat (businesses ability to maintain a competitive advantage in order to control is market share). Remember, it's time in a stock, not timing a stock.

March 7, 2017

Episode 166

In this episode, Mark talks about how buying individual stocks is not about buying the actual individual stock - it's about how that particular asset allocation affects the allocation of your portfolio. Owning individual stocks is less risky because you know what you own and why you own it. An appropriately allocated portfolio has 20-40 companies in it. There's so much focus on cost and fees, but no one talks about paying fees as an investment. The more transparency, the more clarity, the more you understand the more it should enable you to be successful. 

March 6, 2017

Episode 165

In this episode, Mark talks about Snapchat hitting the market. For long-term investing, snapchat doesn’t seem like the best investment. It's a questionable way for the app to monetize. Just because you make more money doesn’t mean the stock is going to go up in price. Proven investment philosophy and strategy is important when it comes to the companies you invest in. He also talks about Growth At a Reasonable Price (GARP). If you’re going to make an investment in something how much should you pay for it? If you’re happy with what's going on and you’re happy with your advisor, then your investments are doing the best they can.

March 2, 2017

Episode 164

In this episode, Mark talks about how the economy has so much demand and over-regulation., The S&P 500 is up 7% already. He also discusses how most financial advisors don’t manage the money even though they are wealth managers. They guide you with the investments you have and then they hire someone to manage the money for their clients. Should you hire a financial advisor? Not everyone needs financial advisor. There are different kinds of advisors that offer different levels of expertise dependent upon the client. Mark also talks about the Dal bar study of 2015. The reason investors are not successful isomer behavioral in nature than it is imperial. In 9 out of 12 months investors guessed right about the market direction the following month. Despite guessing right 75% of the time the average MF investor was not able to keep pace with the market and timing of fund flows. Long term investing is not putting all your money in US stocks, even though US has performed better than EM or international. It gives you flexibility for rebalancing the portfolio. 

March 1, 2017

EPISODE 163

In this episode, Mark focuses on: 

• Risk Adjusted Returns: A metrics designed to reveal how much risk was taken to achieve a return, incorporating volatility, sensitivity to overall market moves, and other measures.
  • Refines an investments return by measuring how much risk is involved in producing the return you’re getting on your money
  • Applied to individual securities, investment funds and portfolios

February 15, 2017

EPISODE 162

In this episode, Mark focuses on: 

• The importance of rebalancing your portfolio: Rebalancing is the act of bringing your portfolio back to its desired asset mix by taking profits out of certain outperforming investments and re -investing those returns in underperforming assets.  

  • Rebalancing on a periodic basis helps align your investments with your goals.

  • It imposes discipline on investing and prevents you from trading based on emotions.  

  • It is a risk-minimizing strategy.  

  • Rebalancing the portfolio periodicaly helps tide over volatility and often delivers superior returns 

  • Regular rebalancing provides clear gains in portfolio value over time.  

February 14, 2017

EPISODE 161

In this episode, Mark focuses on: 

• The benefits of SMAs (Separately Managed Accounts): 
  • Provide investors with greater control than a managed fund, while still benefiting from the expertise of a professional manager.
  • Individual portfolio holdings are visible in real time, unlike managed funds where performance details are typically only available periodically.
  • Potential for lower transaction costs through blending and netting proceeds.
  • Investors are beneficial owners of the underlying securities, rather than owners of units in a pooled trust.
  • Investors do not inherit embedded capital gains and are not subject to the redemption activity of other investors.
  • SMAs may be an effective tax management tool, enabling investors to off-set capital losses against capital gains.

February 13, 2017

EPISODE 160

In this episode, Mark covers:

• Investment Process: Successful investing requires an informed and well-developed strategy based on a empirical component (philosophy & strategy) coupled with the behavioral component (flexibility & transparency). Understanding these four tenets of investing can help an investor to maximize their portfolio's expected future returns. 

February 8, 2017

EPISODE 159

In this episode, Mark covers:

• Defining Your Investment Strategy:  The first thing any investor should do before committing any money to financial markets is develop an explicit investment strategy.  This means establishing investment goals and making a plan to achieve those goals.  Key factors include your time horizon, willingness and ability to take risk, and personal financial situation. Having an investment strategy will help you discard many potential investments that may perform poorly overtime or that are not right for the investment goals you are looking to achieve. There are many different strategies that apply to different investment objectives, the key is pairing the right strategy with the right objectives.

• February 7, 2017

EPISODE 158

In this episode, Mark covers:

• Transparency: There is a lack of information when it comes to trading mutual funds. What you are buying (or selling) within the fund is not always transparent and some information is even delayed. This creates a challenge when you need fund information to make investment decisions.

• SMAs (separately managed accounts): SMAs allow you to take complete control with  how your money is being managed. The benefit of SMAs is that the investor retains beneficial ownership of the underlying securities and often has better transparency with regards to those securities.

February 6, 2017

EPISODE 157

In this episode, Mark covers:

• Mutual Fund & ETFs: How they can be Over-Diversifying your Portfolio
• Correlation Factor: What it is and Why it Matters for your Portfolio

January 31, 2017

EPISODE 156

In this episode, Mark covers:

• Planning Decisions for Your Retirement: Things You Need to Consider Before Making Investment Decisions
• Evaluating Your Portfolio: How the Media is Training Investors to Compare their Portfolio Performance Inaccurately

January 30, 2017

Episode 155

In this episode, Mark discusses how investing is a process. If you want to diversify, you buy multiple variations stocks. If you want to asset allocate, you buy international, emerging markets, etc. The US has continually performed better than international and emerging markets. Do not sell your emerging markets and international positions. Proper asset allocation is paramount.  "Just hold onto the bond until maturity”. When rising interest rate bond goes down, decreasing interest rate the bond goes up. It's great to own cheap until it's under performing or not doing well. “You actually won the market” when investing in big funds. Some investors make larger bets on some of their positions to hopefully create bigger returns for the portfolios. It's a guessing game. Mark also talks about strategic cost averaging vs. dollar cost averaging. Keeping the balance of the overall portfolio in check and allocated correctly is important.

January 19, 2017

Episode 154

In this episode, Mark asks, what is the value of clarity? It's what you are actually paying for for your money management! It's very difficult to quantify risk adjusted return when it comes to emotions of investors usually caused by noise in the market. Who decided which bench mark we should or have to follow? People choose the benchmark they want to use to evaluate how their portfolio did. What's the value of an advisor? It's different for everyone! He also talks about product business as opposed to a process business. The process is different for everyone! You can not put people in a box.

January 18, 2017

Episode 153

In this episode, Mark talks about Modern portfolio theory: Risk adverse investors can construct portfolios to optimize or maximize returns based on a given level of market risk. He says to minimize capital gains as much as you can and you diversify amongst an asset allocation. Owning a mutual fund is NOT asset allocating. It is diversifying within. Volatility on a certain level can create a level of risk. Risk is relative - it is different for everyone. He also talks about the correlation factor: how are different assets correlated to each other. As stock prices go up, bonds go down. How much can you handle your portfolio going down by? How much pain can be endured? During periods of stress investors don’t always stick to the plan.

January 17, 2017

Episode 152

In this episode, Mark talks about how it's not the size of the portfolio that matters. Investors get dragged alongside greed, returns, and they chase the shiny things. The value of working with Nepsis: the ability to get a greater handle on what you own and why you own it. Where are you now, where do you want to go and how will they get there using the resources they have. Finally, in 'Headline vs the Bottom Line', Mark discusses, “Are the bulls running out of gas?” 

January 11, 2017

Episode 151

In this episode, Mark talks about how the stock market is filled with individuals who know the price of everything, but know the value of nothing. Different ups and downs this year have had varying long term impact on portfolios. We have seen many markets around the world performing differently and yielding different returns, which is why comparing your portfolio to a benchmark is a mistake. The industry continues to focus on short term returns and fees. Comparing your portfolio to a benchmark or index gives the investor the misinterpretation of the quality of their portfolio - all portfolios are not created equal. You should own emerging stocks, those percentages are based on your portfolio over time and goals.

January 10, 2017

Episode 150

In this episode, Mark talks about how you would not consider making decisions based on charting a function of investing - it's a function of speculation. You either use qualitative or quantitative processes that help make investment decisions. Make sure whatever you are using is proven.  Focusing on returns will distract investors from making good, long term decisions. There is nothing wrong with speculating, but it's highly risky. Sometimes it works out other times it doesn’t. He also talks about when do you should take a profit or completely sell a position and what kind of impact it has on the portfolio? You must have a balance of where you’re getting your information from. And always be prepared for a correction!

January 9, 2017