The Truth about Traditional Investing

What's happening to my money?

Margaret Wittkopp Investment Advisor Representative

You may know that I founded Veritas (Latin for truth) after many years of working in the financial industry. It was not an easy decision, but I had to make a change because I had discovered that much of what financial advisors are taught is not the whole truth.

Are you investing with a traditional firm? Or if you are a Veritas client, have you shared with others that you have found a more efficient way to invest?  Here are some things for you to consider (or for clients, things to ask your investor friends and family):

• Many retail financial products, mutual funds and/or other actively-managed funds involve high turnover rates. Each turnover involves a fee. Do you know how often the holdings inside your mutual funds are changed? Do you know the amount charged each time this happens?

• Did you get out of the Market when things looked bad and wait till things looked good before getting back in (the opposite of “buy low—sell high”)?

• Are you, your advisor, or your mutual fund manager attempting to find the next “hot” stock?

•Is your advisor attempting to pick stocks or mutual funds by past performance (checking the 10 year, 5 year or 3 year history of a fund’s returns)? Past performance has ZERO correlation with future performance.

• Do you know what is in your mutual fund? Many people, upon taking a look “under the hood” of their portfolio, discover that they have lots of overlap which means even though your portfolio may have lots of “stuff” it is not really diversified.

The most successful investing strategy involves:

• Appropriate asset allocation and true diversification

• Disciplined decision made on academic research, not just the latest hot stock or complicated retail product

• Consistently capturing market return

• Reducing fees and hidden costs

Would you like to learn more? Or are you looking for a way to help other investors? Email me at margaret.wittkopp@veritasinvesting.com or Jeremy Burri at jburri@veritasinvesting.com or call us at 920-893-5262. 

If you are in the area, don't forget that we offer at least two classes each month on topics related to successful investing. Click on the "Learning Opportunties" link above to see a schedule of classes.