We all learn a lot from others, and it's good to "give props".
Thanks to Soy Chu and Jeff Benjamin for giving me my first career-oriented job at New Year Tech. I didn't know what I wanted to do or how to do anything in particular then, but they let me grow into some things and taught me a lot. And Soy, the owner, kept me on even during the hard times.
Thanks to Rich Kotite and Todd Stayin for getting me into the corporate telecom world at Winstar. That was a great ride and I learned a ton. Todd got me in the door and took me under his wing when Rich hired me, and Rich made sure I had what I needed to learn the business and make contributions right off the bat. And there is where I met Joe Thompson. JT set me straight ("you're good, and we promoted you to Manager, but you gotta find something you love and do that; you like telecom okay and all, but find your passion and do it."), and that was huge. It prompted me to consider taking a shot at what I always really wanted to do, which leads me to this...
Thanks to Bill Waggoner of Morgan Stanley in Menlo Park for giving me a shot ten years ago.
Thanks to Greg Davis of Morgan Stanley for letting me transfer my business to his MS office in Tysons Corner when I wanted to move back home; thanks, also, to Greg for helping me understand my strengths and weaknesses in various investment areas.
Thanks to Loren Evans of A.G Edwards & Sons (then Wachovia Securities, and now Wells Fargo Advisors) for opening my mind and practice to the idea of tactical adjustments within a long-term strategy (the genesis of my Flex portfolio methodology).
And thanks to Deana Arnett, Certified Financial Planner extraordinaire, for teaching me how to be a real financial advisor, not just an "asset gatherer" (can't help anyone if you don't "sell" and bring in the business, but then ya gotta make sure you're really helping people).
I have a few young go-getters who have thanked me recently for helping them get going in their careers, and that prompted me to reflect on those who've helped me. Pay it forward, and don't forget to pay it back!
An investing and financial strategies blog offered by Gary Partoyan, veteran financial advisor and owner of Potomac Wealth Strategies, LLC.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
Flex Portfolio Performance Through August 2011
It has been a volatile time for the stock markets. This is a quick blog entry to share the performance data for the three most commonly-used portfolios in my practice.
For August 2011:
S&P 500: -5.4%
80 Fidelity: -5.8%*
For 2011q3 (7/1 through 8/31):
S&P 500: -7.4%
80 Fidelity: -7.1%
For the 10-yr period ending 8/31/11**:
S&P 500: 2.6% per year
80 Fidelity: 4.7% per year
* 80 Fidelity is a portfolio of very popular and widely-available index funds from Fidelity Investments allocated in a 80% stocks, 20% bonds strategy similar to that of the 80 Flex portfolios, and I want to compare the two; the 80 Fidelity portfolio uses a style-pure, buy-hold-rebalance method, while the 80 Flex portfolio allows for a great deal of tactical adjustments within the 80% stock long-term strategy.
** Not all Flex III funds were available for the full 10-year period, but all Flex II funds were.
An important aspect of my Flex portfolios is their ability to tactically shift allocation within the long-term strategy; why stay put if you are pretty sure it's going to be rough and you have a better idea at the moment? Right now, the Stock-Bond-Alternatives-Cash allocation percentages are approximately:
80 Flex III: 48-9-17-26
60 Flex III: 36-17-14-33
40 Flex III: 24-24-12-40
For long-term investors, staying the course with a global/flexible portfolio is probably a lot better than trying to time the market. Please contact me with your questions or thoughts. Thank you!
--Gary
(FYI, my own retirement portfolio is mostly in 80 Flex III—I have a pretty strong risk tolerance and plan to be working and saving for the next 25 years.)
Garo Linck Partoyan
Financial Advisor
Potomac Wealth Strategies, LLC
(703) 746-8195
Garo.Partoyan@PotomacWealthStrategies.com
www.PotomacWealthStrategies.com
For August 2011:
S&P 500: -5.4%
80 Fidelity: -5.8%*
80 Flex III: -2.0%
60 Flex III: -1.7%
40 Flex III: -1.4%
For 2011q3 (7/1 through 8/31):
S&P 500: -7.4%
80 Fidelity: -7.1%
80 Flex III: -0.4%
60 Flex III: -0.2%
40 Flex III: -0.0%
For the 10-yr period ending 8/31/11**:
S&P 500: 2.6% per year
80 Fidelity: 4.7% per year
80 Flex II: 11.5% per year
60 Flex II: 10.9% per year
40 Flex II: 10.3% per year
* 80 Fidelity is a portfolio of very popular and widely-available index funds from Fidelity Investments allocated in a 80% stocks, 20% bonds strategy similar to that of the 80 Flex portfolios, and I want to compare the two; the 80 Fidelity portfolio uses a style-pure, buy-hold-rebalance method, while the 80 Flex portfolio allows for a great deal of tactical adjustments within the 80% stock long-term strategy.
** Not all Flex III funds were available for the full 10-year period, but all Flex II funds were.
An important aspect of my Flex portfolios is their ability to tactically shift allocation within the long-term strategy; why stay put if you are pretty sure it's going to be rough and you have a better idea at the moment? Right now, the Stock-Bond-Alternatives-Cash allocation percentages are approximately:
80 Flex III: 48-9-17-26
60 Flex III: 36-17-14-33
40 Flex III: 24-24-12-40
For long-term investors, staying the course with a global/flexible portfolio is probably a lot better than trying to time the market. Please contact me with your questions or thoughts. Thank you!
--Gary
(FYI, my own retirement portfolio is mostly in 80 Flex III—I have a pretty strong risk tolerance and plan to be working and saving for the next 25 years.)
Garo Linck Partoyan
Financial Advisor
Potomac Wealth Strategies, LLC
(703) 746-8195
Garo.Partoyan@PotomacWealthStrategies.com
www.PotomacWealthStrategies.com
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