The Difference Between a Financial Advisor and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™?

Today, I want to stress the importance of understanding the difference between a financial advisor/consultant and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™...

First of all, anyone who even just completes the basic entry requirements into the finance field can call themselves a financial advisor.  This means they might just have there series 6/7 license or maybe even the Series 63/66.  If they only have there Series 6 license I would be very cautious as they can't even sell securities products.  At the very minimum the Series 7 gives you the ability to sell investment products.  However, in my case I have decided to dump the Series 7 after so many years and start my own RIA firm and just maintain my Series 66 license, which is the state securities Investment Advisor Representative qualification.  Taking it a step farther you have those individuals who have gone out and achieved the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ mark.  These folks have met four additional standards: Education, examination, experience, and ethics.

First, you must have achieved a college level program of study in personal financial planning or an accepted equivalent through the CFP board.  Also, you must earn a bachelor's degree from an accredited university.

Second, you must pass a 10-Hour two day exam displaying your current understanding of the various financial planning situations.

Third, you must have three years of professional experience in the financial planning field.  

Fourth, you must adhere to the high standards of ethics and practice outlined in the CFP Board's Standards of Professional Conduct.

Lastly, CFP® professionals must complete 30 hours of continuing education every two years.

As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PROFESSIONAL™ I can tell you there is a difference and to make sure that you check the qualifications of the person who is going to be helping you in managing your family finances.

Eric Marvin, CFP®

Time to review 401(k) Asset Allocation?

There was some shocking news late last week that bond guru Bill Gross had decided to leave Pimco a firm he started well over 30 years ago.  Normally, as a Financial Advisor with assets invested with Pimco I would do a review of the incoming manager(s) and determine if the right thing to do is buy, sell, or hold?  Well, the same should probably be done if you have assets invested in your 401(k) or IRA with Pimco.  Most 401(k) participants that have any exposure to fixed income in general have some form of an allocation to Pimco either through them directly or via a fund of funds that invests in a basket of other managers.  The demise of the firm may have started a few years back when Gross decided it was the right time to take big directional bets.  This has led to an already steady outflow of assets as his thesis has been wrong so far and individuals and institutions become frustrated with waiting.

So, the moral of the story becomes please do your own due diligence or sit down with your financial advisor and determine whether or not you need to make a change to your own asset allocation.


Signing off for now...

Eric Marvin

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.  Please always consult your financial advisor with questions pertaining to your specific situation.

Tough Day in the Markets

Today was a tough day across the board for the major indexes as investors weighed the coming realization of the end of quantitative easing.  Also, the markers were a bit spooked by the fact of Russia potentially looking to seize foreign assets.  However, even more importantly is the fact that the S&P 500 blew through the 50-Day moving average with relative ease, which leaves it kind of in between a rock and a hard place.  Some will be fast to point out that we are still only 3% off of our highs, but for the better half of the year we didn't even hardly drop below the 21-Day moving average.  Behind the surface there was a fairly substantial rotation out of small caps and into large caps.  It is yet to be determined whether this is just a seasonal issue and a sector rotation or the beginning of a deeper and long awaited market pullback.

There is an old saying--"The trend is your friend," and one day certainly doesn't make a trend, but today is a good example of what I like to call a day to take notice.  High Yield bonds were also spooked by some comments out of one of the Fed presidents leading to a fairly substantial movement lower.  However, the safe haven of Treasuries turned out to be one of the few places to hide today along with some of the metals.

Tomorrow we get GDP numbers, which should be stronger than last quarter.

It's days like today that really make you want to understand what you own in your portfolio and how market conditions effect different asset classes.  We are always here to provide a complimentary second opinion of your portfolio.

Until the next time...

Eric Marvin

M&M Wealth Management, LLC
CEO & Co-Founder
239-288-6542

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.  Please always consult your financial advisor with questions pertaining to your specific situation.

Welcome to the M&M Wealth Management, LLC Blog!

Hello, and welcome to our first blog post as M&M Wealth Management, LLC.  Creating my own firm has always been a goal of mine and it is so exciting to begin this new chapter.  My good friend and I Guiseppi Morabito (Co-Founder) both reached a point with our practices where joining forces and creating our own firm was the right thing to do for our clients.  We now have access to anything and everything that we can offer in terms of supporting ones finances.  M&M Wealth Management, LLC has big plans for the future...

The goal of this blog will be to discuss various financial planning concepts and ideas and to talk about the markets as a whole.  Our ideas and concepts are meant to get you thinking outside the box.

We can be reached at 239-288-6542 for all of your financial related questions.

www.mandmwealthmanagement.com


Best,


Eric Marvin, CFP®, CRPC®