solutions that work

Anyone with a teenager or young adult in their family has probably at least heard of Venmo (a PayPal company), a person to person/peer to peer (P2P) payment network, where all you need is one simple piece of information such as a person’s email or cell phone number to initiate a payment. Venmo is the

This week Cetera Financial Group, one of the country’s largest independent broker-dealers, announced a pilot program for a new client profiling tool called Decipher. In the announcement, Decipher was described as a “unique, interactive technology that transforms the client discovery process, providing enhanced insights into client needs and concerns.” Decipher works by combining facial recognition

                    “If you don’t read past this first paragraph, remember just two things: You almost never move up a learning curve, only down. And the steeper the curve, the easier the learning.”      –Computerworld Magazine Thank you, Computerworld, for clarifying what a learning curve is all about.

This week, Morningstar released its annual U.S. Fund Fee Study. Findings show that, on average, investors in long-term mutual funds and ETFs last year paid lower fund expenses than ever before. As the chart below shows, average fund fees have been steadily dropping since 2000, hitting a record low average expense ratio in 2016 of

A recent article about what would seem to be the most mundane and non-digital of products illustrates how the digitalization of the world affects all businesses. The article was by Ravin Gandhi, CEO and Founder of GMM Nonstick Coatings (GMM), one of the world’s largest suppliers of nonstick coatings to such companies as Calphalon, Farberware,

A study in 2015 revealed (or confirmed) that former high school athletes have a much greater chance (about 45% greater) of joining the ranks of upper management in later life than their less athletic peers. A useful finding for employers seeking high achievers. Maybe not so useful for parents of high school students. Have these

One can argue whether Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing leads to better investment outcomes, but one fact that is irrefutable is that assets are on the rise. According to the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investing (US SIF), at the end of 2016, there was approximately $8.7 trillion invested in assets using ESG factors,

JD Power just released the results of its 2017 U.S. Full Service Investor Satisfaction Study. The survey measures the satisfaction levels of 6,500 investors who access services through advisors. Rankings cover six areas including product offerings, fees, website, advisor quality, account info and performance. As the table below shows, perennial winners USAA (although not technically