Third Quarter 2020|Jim Williams| Looking back at the year 2020, and forward to year end, we can be sure that this is one for the history books. By almost any measure, 2020 has been a year to test one's resolve as an investor. In times of market turmoil, investor resolve is clearly the difference between success and failure.
Fourth Quarter 2019|Jim Williams| It has been two years since the change of control of the J. F. Williams Co., Inc. In December of 2017, Matt and I completed a transaction which resulted in Matt owning the majority interest in the firm. In the two years, as well as before, we have maintained a stability of firm values and character while making significant progress in improving systems and processes.
Third Quarter 2019|Jim Williams| This month, a fairly comprehensive rewrite of the Certified Financial Board of Standards Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct went into effect. Some of the changes in the new Code and Standards are stylistic and some of the changes are more substantial. We think they are a positive for the Financial Planning profession and the changes raise the value of the CFP® mark for the public.
Second Quarter 2017|Jim Williams| The Department Of Labor (DOL) Fiduciary rule, which has been addressed here previously has gone into effect, but the ultimate future of the rule remains mired in the political crosswinds. Whether the rule is retained or not is only of minor consequence at this point. The rule is deeply flawed in that it only addresses certain "accounts" and doesn't address other "accounts". Most consumers have no clue as to the subtleties of how the rule may or may not apply. The rule does not really clarify the underlying relationship between client and advisor.
Fourth Quarter 2016|Jim Williams| The landscape for personal financial planning will change this year. It is highly likely we will see changes in the income tax and estate tax areas. There has grown up, to the extent it did not exist before, a cottage industry in prognostication about where things are headed. Of course, like almost all prognostications, most of these will turn out to be wrong and as always we recommend you treat prognostications with a good dose of skepticism. They are guesses. No more, no less. One subject of interest is whether the recently promulgated DOL (fiduciary) rule, which I discussed in our 1st Quarter 2016 letter, will be repealed or otherwise vacated.
First Quarter 2016|Jim Williams| You have probably heard that the Federal Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued a new set of rules that prescribe a standard of conduct for those advising retirement account (including IRA account) holders. The rules provide that advisors, (more particularly brokers and annuity salespeople) can no longer earn commissions and other forms of conflict creating compensation from these advisory arrangements unless the advisors agree to do so pursuant to a Best Interests Contract (BIC) which binds the advice provider to a fiduciary standard. The new rule does little to clarify or rationalize the already bewildering landscape of rules of conduct for financial advisors. While it is well-known in the financial services industry that trust is at the heart of the relationship between financial advisor and client, it is also well known that most clients have little clarity as to what ethical standards may apply to their advisor.