This notification for the week of 6/27/2017 is part of an ongoing series of updates intended to keep you informed about the changes occurring in your 4Thought Financial Group separately managed accounts (SMAs) each week. The information is broken into the constituent model portfolios we use to manage client investment advisory accounts. Please contact your advisor(s) directly for any more in-depth information related to your personal portfolio or for clarification on which models/strategies apply to you. Occasionally we may provide general commentary, as well as planning techniques and ideas. Make sure to discuss with your advisor whether these are applicable to your situation before taking any actions with regards to your financial plan or investment portfolio.

4Thought Separate Accounts rank in top 25% for 7 out of 16 strategies offered and top 50% for 14 out of 16 strategies offered (As of 3/31/17)

4Thought Separate Accounts rank #1 and #2 in Morningstar’s “World Stock” category for 2016, Top 25% for 10 out of 18 strategies offered (As of 12/31/16)

Why is this Topic Important to Wealth Managers? This blogticle represents a special series regarding advanced investing with ETFs. Recently there has been much discussion in the marketplace on the use of these tools and thus we present this topic for wealth managers who may consider these investment vehicles for their clients.

The Move Towards Absolute Return in Parts of the Institutional Investing World

During the period from 2007-2009 much greater attention has been paid to the use of hedge-fund-like “absolute return” strategies amongst institutional asset management portfolio managers. The phrase “absolute return” is used to differentiate the concept from the more traditional “relative return” mandates.

Human vs. Robot: Winner Take All?

Nope (at least not for a while).There is a big discussion in the investment management and financial planning world about the disruptive impact of technological advances on the industry, and in particular, the possibility of the “robo-advisor” supplanting the traditional human advisor as the primary deliverer of financial services to the end user. For the unfamiliar, robo-advisor is the preferred term of the financial media to describe a variety of digitally-delivered online services that leverage technology to attempt to automate the bulk of (if not all of) the investment advisory services process for retail investors, and in some cases parts of the fee financial planning process. These services purport to provide a low-cost technology-dependent approach to personal financial life, with the early adopters having primarily come from the millennial demographic cohort.

Why is this Topic Important to Wealth Managers? This blogticle represents part two a special series regarding advanced investing with ETFs. Recently there has been much discussion in the marketplace on the use of these tools and thus we present this topic for wealth managers who may consider these investment vehicles for their clients.

The saying goes that “the best way to gain money is to avoid losing it.” It is also said that “nothing is certain in life except death and taxes.” If there is truth to either of the above kernels of wisdom, a logical conclusion is that the most assured way to avoid losing money is to minimize, defer, and eliminate taxation to the greatest extent possible. This article begins a 3- part article series that will briefly outline some of the most common and effective means of limiting the over-taxation of the individual investor’s portfolio. The techniques described here will be most beneficially applied if diligently overseen and executed through a competent financial planner and portfolio manager.