Wiser News Archive
5/11/2009 Casey Had his Article Posted at ETFMarketpro.com
Casey had his article about transitioning from Mutual Funds to Exchange Traded Funds posted at ETFMarketpro.com to view the article, click HERE.
5/5/2009 Kyle has International Bond ETF Article Posted at Index Universe
Kyle had an article in international ETFs post at Index Universe.com. Kyle’s monthly article for the index site focuses on International Bonds and why they should be in your portfolio. Click HERE to view the article.
4/29/2009 Casey Meets With Morningstar in Chicago
Casey a seven other advisors from around the country are meeting with Morningstar Thursday and Friday to discuss how they use Morningstar’s Office Edition Workstation. Wiser currently uses this web based software for portfolio billing, reporting, index research and for a new client web portal. The purpose of the group is to provide Morningstar feed back as how they can improve the software. Casey hopes that by making our biggest “tool” better it will allow Wiser to grow more efficiently.
4/13/2009 Cam Wilbur Speaks to Georgia Power Retirees
Today Cam Wilbur of Wiser Wealth spoke to a group of retired Georgia Power employees about the behavior gap in personal investing. The behavior gap is the difference between the markets real rate of return and the negative deviation from this return by poor investment decisions made by many investors. The key to long term investing is starting early, invest using a proper allocation and never attempt to time the market. The term “Behavior Gap” was coined by the behaviorgap.com.
4/9/2009 Wiser Wealth to Provide ETF related Articles to ETFMarketPro.com
Wiser Wealth Management has entered into an agreement with ETFMarketPro.com to provide ETF related articles for their site. ETF Market Pro is targeted to individual investors seeking knowledge about ETFs and ETNs. Wiser Wealth is now providing ETF market commentary to Index Universe, Seeking Alpha, ETF Market Pro and the Wiser Blog.
4/6/2009 Kyle Waller Posts His Monthly Article for IndexUniverse
Kyle Waller has posted his monthly article for IndexUniverse.com. This month he researched why two emerging market index funds have tracked their assigned indexes so differently. The two indexes under the microscope or iShares and Vanguard. Click here to see the article.
3/25/2009 Cam Wilbur Visits UGA’s Terry College School of Business
Cam participated in an Executive Panel at The University of Georgia Terry College of Business on March 25th. The panel focused on business ethics and the “do’s and don’ts” of the business world and the recent economic events. Cam spoke specifically about Wiser’s mission of providing great service at a reasonable cost. He also touched on lessons learned from the recent financial crisis, and how the fallout will impact financial firms long into the future. Cam is a graduate of the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business.
3/24/2009 Casey Interviewed by CNN Radio
Casey was interviewed by CNN Radio today. The topic was the credit crisis and how the banks reaction to personal debt is affecting individual credit scores. The largest lending institutions have lowered the lines of credit for many Americans, causing credit scores to be lowered and lines of credit to be unavailable when needed the most. Casey also added that American Express has left all of its line of credit members out in the cold by canceling the whole program. Casey made the point that right now cash is king. It is times such as these that many Americans need to use their three to six months of income saved in reserve. The only problem is most do not have such an account available.
3/27/2009 Casey Has Article Posted at Financial Advisor Match
Casey had his article on ETF’s Vs. ETN’s accepted and posted on the Financial Advisor Match.com website. You can view the article here. Financial Advisor Match is a free service to consumers looking for a financial advisor in there area.
3/17/2009 Casey Joins the Berry College Planned Giving Council
Casey Smith today met Will Enloe at Berry College to be accepted as a member of the Planned Giving Council. The Berry College Planned Giving Council, in partnership with Berry’s Advancement Office, is an appointed members’ network of alumni and friends whose goal is to enhance the identity of and membership in the Berry Heritage Society. The Heritage Society members’ are those alumni or friends of Berry who have decided to leave Berry College a gift through their trust, insurance and or will. Planned Giving Council members are drawn from a variety of professional and civic backgrounds including, but not limited to attorney’s, accountants, financial planners and trust officers. Casey joins 9 other members of the council.
3/13/09 Casey Speaks to Mt Paran High School Students
Today Casey participated in the Mt. Paran Christian High School’s career day. Casey talked about the difference between commission brokers and fee only independent financial advisor’s. He also covered why ETF’s are changing the world of investing. Casey stressed that a good academic career is important, but hard work is what separates the average from the best. He also stressed the importance of learning more about what the students are interested in as a career so that once they choose a path, they will be way ahead of their peers
3/9/09 Wiser Wealth Featured in the Marietta Daily Journal
The following article was in the Marietta Daily Journal today about Wiser Wealth and our recent talks about Exchange Traded Funds.
Published 3/9/2009
By Marcus E. Howard
mhoward@mdjonline.com
MARIETTA – Wiser Wealth Management is a small investment advisory firm that is making a big splash beyond Marietta Square, where it is located at 127 Church St., Suite 360.
The fee-only firm specializes in investment management, estate planning, business retirement plans and tax planning and preparation. It has just six employees, including a research analyst, CPA, lawyer and office manager.
However, Wiser is gaining attention for its expertise in Exchange Traded Funds , which are an investment tool.
In February, the firm’s president, Casey Smith, spoke in Singapore at a major conference about ETFs. ETFs are relatively new in Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, China and Australia, where many of the attendees came from. Smith has also spoken at major conferences this year in the U.S.
“A lot of the Marietta advisers I meet are still commissioned-based and they talk about wanting to go to ETFs. What happens is when we sit down at a table and network amongst each other, it always gravitates back toward us and what we’re doing,” Smith said.
Smith, a 31-year-old Cobb native, said Wiser is easily one of the top firms in the country when it comes to ETFs.
“I think we’re about four to five years ahead of all of the other firms, partially because of our size. If you’re a smaller firm it’s easy to change the engine and direction in which you’re going.”
In 1993, the first ETF was introduced. ETFs were originally designed to be a tool to invest in the stock market, without having to choose a particular stock.
Smith said his company became involved with them in 2004 because the taxes associated with trading stocks were degrading the returns of its clients.
An ETF is a basket of stocks or bonds similar to a mutual fund, except unlike a mutual fund, an ETF must track or replicate the performance and holdings of a market index, such as the S&P 500.
Since ETFs are a basket of set stocks or bonds, they trade on the stock market like a stock, and charge a fraction of the cost relative to mutual funds, said Wiser.
“Instead of trying to beat it, which most people can’t do,” Smith said, “we just go out and buy the entire S&P 500 as a small portion of a portfolio.”
Presently, there are several hundred ETFs available to investors through the stock market, covering nearly every asset class from emerging market bonds to small cap stocks.
Among the main differences between an ETF and mutual fund, Smith said, is that an ETF reports its holdings daily as opposed to quarterly; you can buy during market hours instead of after closing; there are no fund managers with ETFs; and they have better tax efficiency than mutual funds.
“There’s no fund manager, you’re buying the entire basket of securities, there’s very low turnover, tax efficiency, there’s more liquidity and it’s very transparent,” Smith said of ETFs.
ETFs have gained considerable interest from financial advisors and institutional investors, said Kyle Waller, a research analyst with Wiser who has written extensively about ETFs.
He said on most trading days, popular ETFs will be in the top 10 stocks traded on the stock market by volume.
Wiser’s typical client is about 67-years-old, just entering retirement and has asked the firm to manage his or her pensions and 401K rollovers.
On average, the cost for Wiser’s clients to be invested in ETF portfolios is 0.25 percent plus management fees.
But, Smith said he realizes that some people are a bit leery of investing their money in the current financial market.
The best advice for investors, he said, is to stay invested in the market at a comfortable risk-tolerance, which can be achieved through portfolio diversification and keeping investment costs low.
To learn more about Wiser Wealth Management, visit http://www.wiserinvestor.com.
3/7/2009 Casey had an article posted at ETF Market Pro
Casey had his article about the risk of investing in ETN’s published at ETFMarketPro.com. This site is a new up and coming authority on Exchange Traded Funds and indexing. The article was posted on the home page at www.etfmarketpro.com.
3/2/2009 Casey and Kyle Return from Singapore
Casey and Kyle participated in the Indexing and ETF Asia conference in Singapore on February 23rd and 24th. Day one was Casey & Kyle leading the ETF Masters class on the advanced applications of ETF’s. The tweleve delegates that participated indicated that it was well worth their time. The class ran from 10am to 4pm. On day two Casey talked to the 150 delegates about the importance of understanding how ETF’s work and not to take things at face value. He also discussed the structure differences between an ETF and ETN. The 11 day trip also included a stopover in Tokyo, Japan.
2/4-7/2009 Wiser Wealth Attends TD Ameritrade Conference
Casey, Kyle and Cam attended the 2009 TD Ameritrade Conference in Las Vegas. This annual conference allows Wiser to network with advisors from all over the country. This year there were over 800 attendees. The main speakers were Tom Bradley of TD Ameritrade, Carl Rove – Republican Strategist, Wesley Clark – Retired US General and T. Boone Pickens – Oil Billionaire. There were several break out sessions on marketing, portfolio management, compliance and business operations.
2/2/2009 Kyle Waller Posted His Monthly Article at Indexuniverse.com
In this month’s article for IndexUniverse Kyle takes a look a the currency risk when investing in foreign indexes.
We should also note that Kyle is becoming more and more followed for his investment research and commentary. There are many new financial products coming on line each month. At Wiser Wealth our investment objectives are to maintain diversified portfolio’s, keep investing cost low and always invest for the long term. Many of these new products try to reinvent the wheel. Part of Kyle’s job is to sort out the junk from the quality index tracking ETF’s. His recent “that a boy” from Index Universe only confirms that Kyle has great talent and is looking out for our investors.
Click HERE for the
1/23/2009 Casey Helps Prospective Berry Students Experience Berry College ”First Hand”
Casey Smith participated in Berry College’s “First Hand” campaign through the schools Campbell School of Business. Casey and Justin Neel from NorthWestern spoke to prospective berry students about their experience while at Berry and their accomplishments since graduation. Berry college’s First Hand campaign is designed to open the 28,000 acre campus in North Georgia to high school students and allow them to experience Berry “first hand.” You can learn more about Berry College at www.berry.edu.
1/24/2009 Casey Presents to the ASA Delta Connection Pilots
On Saturday January 24th, Casey will make the second retirement planning presentation to the pilots of Atlantic Southeast Airlines. The first workshop had standing room only and we expect a similar turnout for the final scheduled workshop. The main message of this workshop is to show the pilots how to select mutual funds to meet their risk tolerance and to reinforce the fact that this pilot group is responsible for their own retirement savings.
1/14/2009 Kyle Has Article Accepted at Investment Advisor Magazine
Investment Advisor Magazine is a written for financial industry professionals. Today we received notice that Kyle Waller, a Research Analyst here at Wiser Wealth has had his article accepted by the magazines editor. The full page article will appear on page 88 in the February 2009 issue of the magazine. In his article he addresses whether or not the S&P 500 is an appropriate benchmark for advisor’s and that maybe a better way to compare a diversified portfolio is to use iShares’ new asset allocation indexes.
Click Here to see the article.
1/12/2009 Casey Presents at the ETF Conference in Boca Raton
Casey Smith and Kyle Waller presented to the Inside ETF Conference today how Wiser Wealth uses Exchange Traded Funds in their clients portfolio. The conference took place in Boca Raton at the Boca Raton Resort and Club. Over 400 attendees were present for their presentation as well as several other speakers.
While this event does not add business directly to Wiser Wealth, it shows that this firm is being recognized for its achievements and allows it to stand out in the crowed investment advisory field.
12/31/2008 Kyle Submits Article to IndexUniverse
Kyle posted his monthly article for IndexUniverse.com. This months article is about the ETF provider Revenue Shares and how their indexing strategy differs from the S&P 500 structure. Click here to view the article.
12/19/2008 Wiser Wealth has Article Written About the Firm Moving to Marietta
Wiser Wealth had an article written about our moving to the Historic Marietta Square in The Bright Side Community News Paper. The article is on page 5. The newspaper serves Marietta and Powder Springs GA.
12/30/2008 Wiser Wealth Open House January 10th
On January 10th from 10am to 1pm Wiser Wealth will be hosting an open house at out new location for current and prospective clients . We will offer light food and a tour of Marietta on Uncle Ruban. Uncle Ruban, an early 20th century trolley, is run by the Historic Marietta Trolley Company. The narrated tour covers 33 sites including the National Cemetery, Western Atlantic Depot, and Kennesaw Mountain. The tour will take about one hour to complete. You have the choice of an 11:00am or 12:30pm departure. The Trolley station is conveniently located in front of our office. More information about the tour can be found at www.mariettatrolley.com.
Please RSVP to education@wiserinvestor.com or call 678-905-4450 ext. 2, by January 6th to ensure that we will be able to reserve the appropriate number of seats. We look forward to seeing you on January 10th.
12-18-2008 Casey Smith Featured in Inside ETF Conference Magazine
Casey Smith will be serving as a moderator at the Inside ETF Conference in Boca Raton this January. He will be leading a discussion on the piratical application of ETFs in portfolio management. The conference is put on by Financial Advisor Magazine and the Exchange Traded Funds Report. The magazine featured Casey’s picture and his role at Wiser Wealth Management.
12/13/2008 Wiser Wealth Management, Inc partners with Goodwin Investment Advisory
Wiser Wealth Management, Inc is partnering with Goodwin Investment Advisory to offer Goodwin clients tax preparation and estate planning services. Starting in 2009 Casey Smith and Kim MacConnell, CPA of Wiser Wealth will offer personalized tax and estate planning services to Goodwin Clients. Casey the President of Wiser Wealth and Tim Goodwin, President of Goodwin Investment Advisory both are graduates from the Berry College Campbell School of Business and share similar portfolio management strategies.
12/9/2008 Wiser Wealth Management accepted into Wiser Advisor Network of Professionals
Today Wiser Wealth Management, Inc was accepted into the WiserAdvisor.com network of professionals. The Press Release from Wiser Advisor is as follows:
WiserAdvisor Press Release
12/09/2008
WiserAdvisor announces that Casey Smith of Wiser Wealth Management, Inc has been awarded admittance as a member of its directory of financial advisors.
Financial advisors are granted admission into WiserAdvisor (www.wiseradvisor.com) based on their credentials and qualifications. All members offer their services to investors with a fee rather than solely with commissions, allowing them to assist investors with a variety of different investment options. All members are also properly registered with the SEC, FINRA or other regulatory organizations.
Since 2003, WiserAdvisor has focused on taking much of the guesswork out of finding a qualified financial advisor or financial planner. This is done both through the stringent admittance guidelines, as well as through the information provided to investors about each member advisor. All members must complete an extensive profile outlining their services, qualifications and credentials, including their education background.
Because of the strict standards that a financial professional must meet in order to become a member, WiserAdvisor only admits a select few high-quality financial advisors and financial planners. More than 600,000 professionals can provide insurance and financial advice. Less than 1% have been granted membership into WiserAdvisor.
Thousands of investors use WiserAdvisor each year to find local financial advisors and planners, and trust that WiserAdvisor will help them find the right professionals to meet their unique needs.
About WiserAdvisor.com
WiserAdvisor is an online service that connects investors to local financial advisors and financial planners. It is an independent and free service provided to investors, allowing them to find local professionals who can help them build their portfolios, plan for retirement, manage their estates, or to help them with other investment issues. More information about WiserAdvisor and its services can be found at www.wiseradvisor.com.
About Wiser Wealth Management, Inc
Casey Smith is a financial advisor located in Marietta, GA. Casey has over 8 years experience working with local businesses and investors.
More information about Casey can be found at http://www.wiseradvisor.com/advisor_profile_state~id~1832338.asp and at www.wiserinvestor.com
The Financial Planning Team
Email: enroll@wiseradvisor.com
(703) 259-4498
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Wiseradvisor is provided by Respond.com, a TEOCO Line of Business – All Rights Reserved. |
12/9/2008 Casey Writes Article for SeekingAlpha.com
Casey wrote an article for SeekingAlpha.com about two ETF’s that track the S&P 500. Click HERE to view the article.
12/1/2008 Kyle Waller Posted His Monthly Article For IndexUniverse
Kyle Waller of Wiser Wealth posted his monthly article on IndexUniverse.com. The article is about the new lifetime Exchange Traded Funds offered by Ishares. You can click here to view the article.
11/26/2008 Casey Smith Speaks to the Berry Investment Group
On December 5th at 5pm, Casey of Wiser Wealth Management will be speaking to the Berry Investment Group (BIG) at the Campbell School of Business, Berry College. BIG is a student run investment group that Casey was the second president of while attending Berry College. Casey will be speaking on various investment topics. You can learn more about BIG at http://clubs.berry.edu/big/
11/19/2008 Wiser & ALPA partner to offer investment workshops to 1700+ ASA Pilots
Atlantic Southeast Airlines (Delta Connection) Airline Pilots Association and Wiser Wealth Management have verbally agreed to partner together to offer investing workshops to its pilot group. The workshops will focus on the advantages of investing in the ASA 401K plan and how to evaluate the plans options.
Wiser Wealth is offering these workshops at no cost to the pilots, company or union. We are very excited to have the opportunity to encourage people to take charge of their retirement goals.
11/12/2008 Casey Smith Accepts Invitation to Speak at the ETF Asia Conference in Singapore
Casey Smith of Wiser Wealth Management today accepted an invitation form the sponsors of the ETF Asia Conference to attend as a guest speaker. The conference will be held in Singapore in February 23 – 25, 2009.
Casey will be speaking at the full day pre conference workshop on constructing ETF portfolio’s. He also will be speaking on day one about Exchange Traded Notes and the risk involved in investing in these types of investments
11/7/2008 Kyle Waller Quoted in article at IndexUniverse.com
Kyle Waller of Wiser Wealth is quoted in an article at IndexUniverse.com about small cap international ETF’s (Exchange Traded Funds) vs. a newly reopened Vanguard actively managed mutual fund.
Click Here to see the article.
11/5/2008 Kyle Waller Writes 1st Monthly Article for Index Universe
Kyle Waller wrote his first monthly article for IndexUniverse.com. His article is a look at what has happened to the emerging market bond market in 2008. This article shows the research that Wiser Wealth puts into its investment selection and how we monitor the investements going forward. Click Here to view the article.
11/4/2008 Casey Smith Writes Article for SeekingAlpha.com
Casey Smith submitted an article to SeekingAlpha.com titled “You Can’t Keep the Markets Down.” The article was accepted by and posted on the Seeking Alpha website on November 4th. Click here to access the article.
10/31/2008 Happy Halloween
This Wiser Halloween Pumpkin was designed by Angela Smith.
10/28/2008 Wiser Wealth Selected to Write Articles for IndexUniverse.com
Wiser Wealth accepted an invitation from Murray Coleman, editor of IndexUniverse.com, to write a monthly article for the Index Universe.com website which also publishes The Journal of Indexes.
Once again we are very honored to be included in this industry leading publication.
10/27/2008 The Magnolia Club has lunch at the Swan Coach House
Well… Thats the best name we could come up with for now!
What is the Magnolia Club? At Wiser Wealth if you are a widow over the age of 65 and are a investment client at Wiser Wealth, you are in the Magnolia Club.
My wife and LaTrelle, our office manager, treated this group of our clients to an excellent lunch at The Swan Coach House Restaurant in Buckhead, GA. The food was exceptional and I think even a bigger hit, the extravagant gift shop. No sooner than when the valet was returning our cars, I heard “when are we going to do this again?”
It was a great honor to treat these ladies to lunch.
Hopefully next time we will remember the camera!
10/24/2008 Wiser Wealth Quoted in an article about Small Caps
Casey Smith and Kyle Waller were asked by Murray Coleman of IndexUniverse.com our opinion on the performance of small cap stocks. Mr. Coleman wrote about our opinion in his article.
10/23/2008 Casey Smith invited to 2nd annual ETF Conference as a Moderator
Casey Smith, the president of Wiser Wealth Management, Inc has accepted an invitation from the organizers of the Inside ETF Conference to be a Moderator in a session discussing the practical applications of Exchange Traded Funds.
The Inside ETF Conference is designed exclusively for financial advisor’s. Leading practitioners, ETF issuers, and Index providers to discuss logistical and tactical issues as they relate to building an ETF portfolio. This Conference will be held in Boca Raton, FL January 11th – 13th, 2009. 400+ attendees are expected.
Other speakers at the conference are:
Don Shula – Pro Football Hall of Fame
Gus Sauter – Chief Investment Officer – The Vanguard Group
Tom Lydon – Editor – ETF Trends
Don Phillips – Managing Director – Morningstar Inc
Dr. Ed Yardeni – Yardeni Research, Inc
This is a great opportunity for Wiser Wealth to network with the ETF’s industry leading professionals.
10/22/2008 Wiser Wealth Quoted in Article about Municipal Bond Funds
Casey Smith and Kyle Waller received a phone call a few weeks ago from Murray Coleman, the editor of IndexUniverse.com he had learned about Wiser Wealth through a web posting Kyle had done about our company being an all index firm. Mr. Coleman asked our opinion about Municipal Bond Exchange Traded Funds. In this area we actually use a Vanguard Mutual Fund. He covered why we use the Vanguard product in his article.
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