[JC419]

Does anyone use Cebert Wealth Management for investments? We are considering signing on with them and wanted to see what others think.

thank you!

[JourneyOfLife]

I don't know anything about that firm.

But if I were considering using any Brokers, Brokerage Firms, Investment Adviser Representatives or Investment Adviser Firms... I would look up both the firm and the adviser to check out their credentials at FINRA's website (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority). FINRA has an online brokercheck tool.

I would also check that tool to see if there are any disclosure events (i.e., complaints, regulatory actions, etc).

FINRA also provides a lot of educational material that should be helpful.

[billethkid]

you may already know this but how they make their money is a very important factor.
Fee for service or commission on sales just to name the two most likely.
Are they independent or a franchise?
Etc.

btk

[Paperboy]

Morgan Stanley advisors LIKE to sell U Morgan Stanley products since they make the MOST $$$ off them. Been there, done that. How about getting a fee based advisor, they are unbiased.

[baileysdad]

Interviewed them 3 years ago when I was moving my accts. Was not that impressed with the plan they put together for me. It was not more than the rest of "cookie cutter" advisors had put together. I was looking for wealth managers vs. stock traders.
My final decision was to go with Fross & Fross. Very satisfied with performance and communication.

[l2ridehd]

I personally do not see the logic in paying someone 1% to 1.5% a year to manage my money. I know they all will claim they beat the market every year, but 85% of them do not. And take it out to 5 years and 95% of them do not. Why? Because they can't beat it enough to cover their fee's.

Just put your money in Vanguard Moderate life strategy and add some additional total bond market to get it to an asset allocation you want. Moderate Life Strategy is a one fund stop with a 60/40 AA. It holds 42% total stock market, 18% total international stock, 32% total bond and 8% international bond. And they re-balance your account daily to those %. All for an annual expense ratio of .0016%

[billethkid]

boy I must be in that very small minority whose wealth managers have eraned their 1-11/2 % and I never missed it one bit in my usual double digit gains annually over the last 25 years.

I am not sure where you got the statistics but they just do not sound right....I personally do not know.

Just happy that I have and had what I have!!!

btk

[JC419]

Thank you all for the information. Lots to do now.

[l2ridehd]

Originally Posted by billethkid

boy I must be in that very small minority whose wealth managers have eraned their 1-11/2 % and I never missed it one bit in my usual double digit gains annually over the last 25 years.

I am not sure where you got the statistics but they just do not sound right....I personally do not know.

Just happy that I have and had what I have!!!

btk

You must be in the very small minority. You can find it just about anywhere from many reliable sources. Google active vs passive investing. Active money managers don't beat the market. Even the very best, Peter Lynch, who ran Magellan fund gave up after 14 years because he admitted he could no longer beat the returns provided by a portfolio of diversified index funds. So if you have one who has done it for 25 years then you are extremely fortunate.

However I do suggest you should compare sometime. Use Morningstar and compare the returns of a 60/40 stock/bond portfolio using your returns and the returns of a total stock/total bond index funds re-balanced annually. And I improve on that by adding international, small cap and REITs, again all very low cost index funds. And read some books on passive investing. Bernstein, Swedroe, Ferri, Bogle, Shiller and French, and others. They all provide documented examples of how passive index fund investing beats almost all active managers.

Yale University has managed its multiple billion $$ portfolio using just index funds, even has a recommended portfolio it publishes, for many years and has been one of the most successfully managed endowment funds ever. Here is a good article on the Yale fund.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickferr...he-yale-model/

Be very happy to sit down and discuss it with you sometime, maybe we would both learn something.

[NJblue]

Originally Posted by l2ridehd

You must be in the very small minority. You can find it just about anywhere from many reliable sources. Google active vs passive investing. Active money managers don't beat the market. Even the very best, Peter Lynch, who ran Magellan fund gave up after 14 years because he admitted he could no longer beat the returns provided by a portfolio of diversified index funds. So if you have one who has done it for 25 years then you are extremely fortunate.

However I do suggest you should compare sometime. Use Morningstar and compare the returns of a 60/40 stock/bond portfolio using your returns and the returns of a total stock/total bond index funds re-balanced annually. And I improve on that by adding international, small cap and REITs, again all very low cost index funds. And read some books on passive investing. Bernstein, Swedroe, Ferri, Bogle, Shiller and French, and others. They all provide documented examples of how passive index fund investing beats almost all active managers.

Yale University has managed its multiple billion $$ portfolio using just index funds, even has a recommended portfolio it publishes, for many years and has been one of the most successfully managed endowment funds ever. Here is a good article on the Yale fund.

The Curse of the Yale Model - Forbes

Be very happy to sit down and discuss it with you sometime, maybe we would both learn something.

Maybe I missed it, but it didn't seem that the Yale model was a simplistic set of index funds. Rather, the article seems to say that the problem that the other universities had when they tried to replicate the Yale model was that those who served on these other boards lacked the investment knowledge that the Yale board had. For these non-investment savy boards, it would have been more beneficial for them to just invest in index funds. I didn't see where the author stated that the Yale board, with their investment savy, would also do better with the more simplistic approach. Hence, the author left open the possibility that investment savy funds could indeed beat the market.

[rubicon]

Well folks arguing investment strategy is like arguing politics or religion. Two recent Nobel winners in Economics argue opposite points of view. Eugene Fama is responsible for the efficient market model while Robert Shiller states that stock fluctuate more than can be explained by changes in dividends. so that it is now believed that high prices relative to earnings mean lowering earnings and of course the reverse so that a patient investor should be able to beat the market.

So people either believe a wealth management company can make them wealthy or they believe strongly in index funds. Pick your poison

But remember the devil is in the details so perhaps when you click on the investing website and see the bottom line total it may not be the entire story.

further you may have an investor who works fees only. However many so call fee only investors happen to have a brokerage license in their back pockets and are paid to sell certain products.

When it is all said in done like the meat cutter at the meat department in your grocery store the stock broker is taking home the prime cuts first and the rest is put on display counters for customers

Bon Appetit'

[l2ridehd]

The Yale investment model portfolio.

Vanguard Total Stock market index fund ....... 30%
Vanguard REIT index fund ........................... 20%
Vanguard TIPS index fund ........................... 15%
Vanguard Long Term Treasury index fund ....... 15%
Vanguard Developed Markets index fund ......... 15%
Vanguard Emerging Markets index fund ........... 5%

This model is used for 85% of their over $20 billion in endowment funds. Yes they have another $3.5 billion in a whole lot of other cats and dogs funds. Mostly because that is how they were donated to them. However as they can liquidate and migrate those funds based on the rules they received them under, they move them to the above model.

I attended high school with one of their leading investment model managers (Not David Swenson, but a person who works for him) and have discussed this model with him many times. I personally do not follow this exact model. I don't own REIT's as I own rental property. And I believe a small cap value index fund adds a better rate of return. I also use total bond and international bond in place of the TIPs and Treasuries.

[OurHappyHome]

I have a great Morgan Stanly man from Miami. We do everything by phone. We are actively working the account buying ETFs and selling covered calls. If you are an appropriate person for this the returns are great. I have averaged 10-12 % a year. Even in the crash I was back to normal in less than 2 years. I am very happy. If interested send me Private Message

[rubicon]

Obviously the value of paying for a stock picker comes during a bear market meaning that hopefully your guy positioned your portfolio so that you didn't take too much of a licking. The last few years in my view have been strange because the government's interference kept the market from springing back. and now we find that the government (Fed) is fueling a market bubble.

[villagetinker]

I use Ameriprise, up 20% this year! When market crashed, my loses were only about 1/3 of the market. Made up all of my loses and much more. Very happy with my Pennsylvania advisor whom I am keeping in TV. Check them out.