Can’t Trust’em Posted on September 18, 2018August 17, 2026 By Matthew Garrott It pays to be skeptical of financial product pitches. Investments that are sold rather than bought are often inferior and loaded with fees. Marketing (even for good funds) is filled with cherry-picked data, but that’s the job of the marketing folks – make the product look good. However, sometimes a… Read more
Rising Rate Pitch Posted on July 24, 2018August 17, 2026 By Matthew Garrott Rising interest rates have been a market bogeyman for almost a decade. During that time we’ve gotten pitched all sorts of products that claimed to protect against this. They never seemed to do well, mostly because rates never went up! A couple of years ago that changed. The Federal Reserve… Read more
How Funds Are Sold As Seen on TV Asset Allocation Posted on July 14, 2017August 17, 2026 By Matthew Garrott I want to saw a boat in half, then tape it back together and take it out on the water. I didn’t know I wanted to do this until I saw a commercial that runs during Cleveland Indians games. The spokesperson could be the dad on any sitcom, straight out… Read more
How Funds Are Sold It’s a Major Award! Posted on June 22, 2017August 17, 2026 By Matthew Garrott Walk into certain advisors’ offices and you’ll see plaques lining the walls with titles like ‘Chairman’s Roundtable’ . Have they been honored for their investment prowess? Perhaps their trustworthy nature? It certainly sounds important – like a major award. In reality, it’s a sales award. That’s not something you’d generally… Read more
How Funds Are Sold Outsourcing to an Absentee Investment Committee Posted on June 13, 2017August 17, 2026 By Matthew Garrott They say there’s no such thing as a stupid question. They are wrong. Ask stupid questions, get stupid answers. The Let Me Google That For You website is the perfect passive-aggressive answer to many stupid questions. Rather than simply answering the question, LMGTFY provides a link that walks through the… Read more
How Funds Are Sold Posted on May 22, 2017August 17, 2026 By Matthew Garrott When it comes to money manager due diligence, some flags are redder than others. Investment process and expense ratios are important, but making sure your money manager didn’t just settle with the federal regulators for $5 million and get barred from trading by the futures industry FOR LIFE is probably… Read more
A Note on Structured Notes Posted on April 15, 2017August 17, 2026 By Matthew Garrott What happens to all the investments we say no to? We are acutely aware of how our invested money performs, but it can be difficult to keep track of the investments that just didn’t make the cut. Did we dodge a bullet? Or did we miss out on a shooting… Read more
Don’t Buy the Next Amazon Posted on March 28, 2017August 17, 2026 By Matthew Garrott THIS STOCK COULD BE LIKE BUYING AMAZON IN 1997! So reads the ad disguised as a headline on Yahoo Finance. Here’s the thing: you don’t want to buy the next Amazon. Clicking on the ad takes you to a wall of text. The performance is stellar. The method is so… Read more
How Funds Are Sold Cacti and Poison Ivy Posted on February 3, 2017August 17, 2026 By Matthew Garrott You don’t have to be a botanist to know not to jog naked through a cactus grove. Even an idiot can see the danger in that. People like to think that identifying investment dangers is just as easy. You’ll know when someone is taking advantage of you or a loved… Read more
How Funds Are Sold Don’t Invest Like an ASS Posted on January 13, 2017August 17, 2026 By Matthew Garrott ProTip: Don’t invest like an ASS. That is, don’t give in to the temptations of investments that are Aspirational, Signalling, or Sexy. I didn’t plan it this way, but like all great concepts, the acronym is there. It sounds silly, but these can be serious portfolio killers. Aspirational Investments Aspirational… Read more