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Short Interests: Seeing green amid the pink slips

With so many wealthy, qualified and bewildered ex-dot-comers out of work, so-called pink-slip parties are all the rage in such cities as San Francisco and New York. But a soiree at Hush in New York Thursday turned into a meet-and-greet for financial planners.

Knowing that personal finances are a primary concern for the unemployed, Liz Davidson, founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Financial Finesse, made herself and another certified financial planner from the financial planning seminars firm available for free advice. The basic message: Keep squirreling away some funds, but keep funding your Cobra medical benefits.

Valerie Adelman, a CFP with Chestnut Financial in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, had encountered pink slipdom for the first time. “There weren’t many people asking financial questions, but the ones that did asked a lot about retirement,” she says.

Michael B. Cooper, a vice president of investments at Salomon Smith Barney in New York, buttonholed a partygoer recently laid off from a media company after 12 years of service. Mr. Cooper says he exchanged numbers with the prospective client, who was seeking advice on what to do with his 401(k) rollover and retirement options. To Mr. Cooper, the atmosphere might have been “too relaxed. They tried to make light of [being laid off], but it is a serious topic because these people have to pay rent,” he says.

Analysis paralysis

At 9 o’clock, local time, last Saturday morning, tens of thousands of investment professionals – and plenty of wannabes – around the world took the six-hour chartered financial analyst exam.

Perhaps some InvestmentNews readers remember the experience. Candidates are tested on topics including professional ethics, portfolio management, asset valuation and the analysis of financial statements. The exam has three levels, with 58% of the candidates taking the first level.

This year, more than 86,000 hopefuls at 210 sites around the globe signed up to take the test, run by the Association for Investment Management and Research in Charlottesville, Va. That’s up from the 73,700 who signed up last year.

Advice shortage In 401(k) field

Talk about a lack of advice where it’s needed most.

The majority of those investing in 401(k)s – which is how the masses are saving for retirement – have no access to investment advice through their workplace, according to new research from the Spectrem Group, a consulting firm in New York.

Despite the widespread availability of 401(k)s through the workplace, the study found that just 16% of participants have an investment advisory service available to them through their plan.

Basically, companies are slow to offer the services for two reasons: One, they worry about their liability if an employee is unhappy with the investment results after taking the advice. Two, they worry about the cost of offering those services.

But some participants are seeking advice outside the workplace. Of the 25% of participants who use outside help, independent financial planners help 40% of them, mutual fund representatives help 20%, and stockbrokers help 18%.