MutualFundWire.com
The insiders' edge for 40 Act industry executives!
an InvestmentWires' Publication
an InvestmentWires' Publication
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MutualFundWire.com
The insiders' edge for 40 Act industry executives!
an InvestmentWires' Publication |
|
Monday, November 11, 2013 Schwab Tells Advisors to 'Stand Up. Stand Out' in Washington, D.C. Stand Up, ladies and gentlemen. Stand Out. That was one of the big takeaways of Schwab's IMPACT 2013 conference, held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington D.C. from November 10th to the 14th. Thousands of advisors, and the fundsters who would court these advisors, flocked to the 2.3 million square foot convention center in Mt. Vernon Square. As usual, the event was Disney World, designed for middle-aged kids in blue suits. The exhibit hall is an amusement park in white and blue, and with Wi-Fi, with hundreds of distribution booths featuring the latest in mutual fund excitement and technology interspersed with food stations, cell-phone rechargers and cozy little tables, glass or white, for doing deals. In the center of it all, a visual artist builds a giant tower of cards. The event started yesterday with a general session featuring Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist for Schwab [profile], and Greg Valliere, chief political strategist for the Potomac Research Group. Valliere, asking attendees "not to shoot the messenger," updated the audience on the big changes going on in Washington, and the not so big changes. Firstly, he assured attendees that there will not be another government shutdown. Politicos on both sides of the Congressional aisle realize that the public won't stand for it. Moreover, Valliere said that the Federal Reserve will continue to be dovish for at least another two years, maybe three. "We have a very, very dovish Fed, there is no reason for that to change," he said. One of the primary reasons why the Fed will wait before tapering QE, Valliere said, is worry over (surprise) low inflation. With unit labor wages so low, low inflation is a big concern and Fed officials won't be dissuaded before they see evidence of greater job growth. "You never fight the Fed," he said. Valliere also noted that the Fed deficit is plunging, now at around 3 percent of GDP, and will continue to plunge over the next two years, possibly reaching break-even in 2016. "There is no new spending. Absolutely none," he said. Also, Washington now faces a new political dynamic in terms of a lame-duck president (President Barack Obama seeing roughly 40 percent of public support in the polls), and a Republican Party that is at war with itself, with Tea Party insurgents in gorilla warfare with the established leadership. The final big theme Valliere noted was the growing mood of isolationism, which he argued has led to a few troubling developments. For example, in Valliere's view, Russia's Vladimir Putin has become the most powerful person in the world in terms of geopolitical clout; Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu feels isolated because the U.S. doesn't want to get involved in any more diplomatic or military disputes in the Middle East, and the Ayatollah leadership in Iran has become emboldened. However, Valliere said that despite the various brouhahas and trends, he advised the advisors to ignore the press and all the hype, and relax a bit. "If people look at the big themes, the big themes look just fine," he said. Afterwards, Schwab chief investment strategist Sonders outlined her reasons for believing that the country's secular equities market is going well, and may in fact be starting yet another cycle. Her reasons included the country's rapid emergence as an independent energy source and the country's industrial Renaissance. She also expressed strong belief that companies were valued cheaply given their strong fundamentals. She also noted that private-sector hiring is hitting a new high, the U.S. is now considered the fourth most welcoming country to business in the world, the commodities super-cycle is over and that the Fed Reserve will remain dovish for a while (in line with Valliere's previous declarations). Sonders also noted the pronounced lack of irrational exuberance in the market. "There are a lot of grudging investors out there. There are a lot of underinvested bulls," she said. During Monday's keynote sessions, executive vice president Bernie Clark unveiled a number of new goodies to advisors and the collaborative futurist Don Tapscott, author and chief executive officer of the Tapscott Group, outlined for attendees how the Internet Revolution was forever changing the industry now. Tapscott described the now-of-business as one in which everyone is collaborating and contributing to change every institution we are accustomed to, from businesses, to governments, to education. Of course, he noted the growing importance of the Echo Boomers, the 80 million subset of the American populace, and children of the 79.5 million Baby Boomer generation, who grew up with digital technology and expect to make a difference with it. Noting revolutions across the globe, the growing emergence of idea exchanges and creative sharing and public collaboration on everything from research and product development to filming epically funny new Super Bowl ads, Tapscott said that the businesses that will thrive will be based on five principles: collaboration; openness and transparency; the willingness to share intellectual property; interdependence; and integrity. To make his point, he noted that the heavily decentralized Chinese motorcycle industry is now primarily composed of small shops banding together to build motorcycles. He also cited Goldcorp., a company that was able to grow in value to $30 billion by going public with its geological information, and offering a $500,000 prize to the person or group that could best use the data to find out where the company's gold could be found. The audience, Tapscott said, has a chance to join in a beautiful now. "Let's do this," he said. Printed from: MFWire.com/story.asp?s=46708 Copyright 2013, InvestmentWires, Inc. All Rights Reserved |