Brevity – The Soul of Wit
In the 1600’s Blaise Pascal said “I have made this letter longer because I have not had the time to make it shorter.” Of course, with our wits about us and the knowledge that many are enjoying vacations and not holed up reading a quarterly missive, we are going to do our best to make this brief. The market is up nearly double digits per the S&P 500i, 13.81% internationally (MSCI EAFEi), 4.99% in small cap (Russell 2000i), 16.61% in healthcare (Morningstar US Healthcarei), 14.07% in technology (Nasdaq Compositei), and down 13.59% in energy (Morningstar US Energy Cappedi). Growth has outperformed value this year by double digits, so the value sector that outperformed last year, has not looked as hot recently. The good news here is that our value and growth names have both outperformed their respective indices. Additionally, our international, tech and healthcare names have also lifted returns. Alas, we are not perfect as our energy exposure has been hurt this year, but the good news is, we gained nearly 30% in energy last year before this year’s dip. The financials that we added last year are up nearly 35% over the past twelve months, but are only up 6.12% this year. We still find this sector attractive as many financials are near book value with much improved balance sheets.
Of course, the real reason for the brevity of our letter is that we need to take care of administrative tasks that are on the horizon. We are moving to Overton Park on August 18th. We are a little sad about leaving our old location, as many of us have enjoyed being in roughly the same area for 20 plus years. On a lighter note, hopefully we can provide a convenient excuse to come see an Atlanta Braves game at the Battery, after a review of your investment portfolio. Please keep our move in mind around August 18th, as we have been assured the move will be seamless, but none of us have ever moved and not experienced a few hiccups in the process. In other words, if you call in on August 21st, please be patient with your friendly Creative Financial Group associate.
Additionally, we are rolling out a new financial planning tool, eMoney, which will display your entire financial portfolio – including loans, liquidity, investments and much more, all in one private portal. There are many benefits to this non-transactional portal that has a 256-bit socket layer encryption. eMoney will allow you to:
If you are interested in setting up this portal, please contact us and we will send you a link to get the process started. The link is time sensitive and must be activated within seven days or it will deactivate; hence the reason we have not sent a mass mailing out to clients.
Keeping with the short but sweet motif, let’s wrap this up. Teaming up with you over the past twenty years has been our pleasure. We will be in the shadow of “America’s Team” in Cobb County next quarter, but we think our squad can hold its own against anyone. We look forward to many more years ahead with you in our new location.
P.S. With all due respect to Shakespeare, we are a little partial to Ray Bradbury’s quote “Digression is the soul of wit” but that is a digression for another letter.
General Compliance Disclosures
Statements made via this letter are the opinions of Creative Financial Group (“CFG”) and its advisors, and are not to be construed as guarantees, warranties or predictions of future events, portfolio allocations, portfolio results, investment returns, or other outcomes. None of the information contained is intended as a solicitation or offer to purchase or sell a specific security, mutual fund, bond, or any other investment. Readers should not assume that the considerations, suggestions, or recommendations will be profitable, suitable to their circumstances or that future investment and/or portfolio performance will be profitable or favorable. Past performance of indices, mutual funds, or actual portfolios does not guarantee future results. Future results may differ significantly from the past due to materially different economic and market conditions; investments in securities or other financial products involve risk and the possibility of loss, including a permanent loss of principal. Investments are not FDIC insured and have no bank guarantee.
Creative Financial Group (“CFG”) is a division of Synovus Securities, Inc (“SSI”), member FINRA/SIPC. Prior to
January 1, 2011, CFG was a separate registered investment adviser affiliate of SSI. Investment products and services are not FDIC insured, are not deposits of or other obligations of Synovus Bank, are not guaranteed by Synovus Bank and involve investment risk, including possible loss of principal amount invested. Synovus Securities, Inc. is a subsidiary of Synovus Financial Corp and an affiliate of Synovus Bank.
Investment products and services provided by Synovus are offered through Synovus Securities, Inc. (“SSI”), Synovus Trust Company, N.A. (“STC”), GLOBALT, a separately identifiable division of STC and Creative Financial Group, a division of SSI. Trust services for Synovus are provided by Synovus Trust Company, N.A. The registered broker-dealer offering brokerage products for Synovus is Synovus Securities, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Investment products and services are not FDIC insured, are not deposits of or other obligations of Synovus Bank, are not guaranteed by Synovus Bank and involve investment risk, including possible loss of principal amount invested.
Synovus Securities, Inc. is a subsidiary of Synovus Financial Corp and an affiliate of Synovus Bank and Synovus Trust. Synovus Trust Company, N.A. is a subsidiary of Synovus Bank.
Pursuant to rules adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission governing federally registered investment advisors, we request that you take time to compare your account balances and statements issued by National Financial Services, who acts as the custodian for your account(s). We request you contact us immediately if you do not receive these statements or if the values reflected are materially different.
Cost basis reporting
If you buy and sell a security in a taxable account on or after the effective date, NFS will report cost basis for the sold security to you and the IRS on Form 1099-B. If you have a mix of covered and uncovered positions in the same security, NFS will report cost basis to you and the IRS for any covered position that is sold. NFS will apply the FIFO (First In, First Out) default method unless you inform us of a different method. Your cost basis method for all transactions must be final by settlement date. If you choose to change the default method, you can do so by notifying your Financial Consultant.
Use of Indexes
iThe investment return and style information and comparisons employ a variety of popular indices, and the index contents and strategies are the property of their respective companies (e.g., Dow Jones, Standard & Poor’s, Morningstar, Barclay Capital, Russell). Although the data is believed to be reliable, CFG makes no warranty with respect to the contents, accuracy, completeness, timeliness, suitability, or reliability of the information, which is represented here for informational use only and should not be considered investment advice or recommendation. None of the indices can be invested directly, and the return figures for these various securities indices are reported without management fees, trading costs, or other expenses subtracted from the returns, and are shown on a total return basis that assumes reinvestment of applicable capital gains and dividends. Components of indices may change over time. Small capitalization stocks are represented by the Russell 2000 Index. Mid Capitalization stocks are represented by the S&P Mid Cap 400 Index. Foreign stocks are represented by the MSCI EAFE Index and emerging markets are represented by the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.
Copyright © 2011 Creative Financial Group
All rights reserved.
Creative Financial Group (“CFG”) is a division of Synovus Securities, Inc (“SSI”), member FINRA/SIPC. Prior to January 1, 2011, CFG was a separate registered investment adviser affiliate of SSI. Investment products and services are not FDIC insured, are not deposits of or other obligations of Synovus Bank, are not guaranteed by Synovus Bank and involve investment risk, including possible loss of principal amount invested. Synovus Securities, Inc. is a subsidiary of Synovus Financial Corp and an affiliate of Synovus Bank. You can obtain more information about Synovus Securities, Inc. and its Registered Representatives by accessing BrokerCheck