Right office décor shows caring environment

I read the article “Office décor can color bottom line,” which appeared in the Nov. 30 issue, and I couldn’t agree more about how much this matters.

We have a women’s financial services division within our investment and wealth management firm. This division markets to and provides individual financial services for wealthy women.

We specifically help women deal with life-altering transitions such as a divorce or the death of their husbands. These types of clients need to feel the comfort and sense of a caring environment when they first come into our office.

In most cases, they are coming to us with more emotional than immediate financial concerns. We need to create an environment in which they can feel confident about who is helping them.

We specifically acquired furniture and accessories, and designed our main entrance and waiting area, to appeal to a woman’s taste. This was a decision made by the management when we relocated our offices some three years ago.

We constantly hear from our visitors that the atmosphere is very appealing and provides a means of assurance that we care about their emotional concerns as much as we do to the advisory and planning services.

I just wanted to pass this along because I feel that what we did here has been very meaningful with respect to building the identity for who we are and with whom we want to work.

Michael J. Dixon

Director of planning and wealth management

Carl Domino Inc.

Palm Beach, Fla.

Column on climate change needs a counterpoint

Why would you allow Joseph F. Keefe, president and chief executive of Pax World Management Corp., the investment adviser to Pax World Funds, to present his political views in the Viewpoint opinion column “U.S. Chamber of Commerce stance on climate change is all wet,” which appeared in the Jan. 4 issue?

If you chose to publish that view, why did you not present the other side in a point/counterpoint approach?

Why not follow with a disclaimer that Mr. Keefe profits (through his Pax mutual funds) from the promotion of these political views?

And would it not have been insightful and perhaps cautionary to publish his mutual funds’ three, five- and 10-year records, versus their benchmarks’?

Bruce E. Porter

Partner

SMB Financial Services

Lake Oswego, Ore.

Fed is a cartel and has devalued our currency

Regarding your editorial in the Dec. 7 issue, “Fed should be left alone on money decisions,” are you kidding me?

Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, is right on target.

The “cartel” known as the Federal Reserve is neither federal nor does it have any reserves. It has issued “fiat” money with the compliance of President Barack Obama and an oblivious Congress.

The Fed has devalued our currency, which will result in rampant inflation and gives the federal government the right to pay back its debt with devalued paper. This is outright theft from the taxpayers.

To fully understand how bad and fraudulent this is, one should read “The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve” (American Media Inc., 2002). The author, G. Edward Griffin, does a fabulous job tracing the history and roots of money, and pointing out the only direction in which our current fractional reserve currency system can take us.

Not only should the Fed be audited, we should be pushing for a gold standard to save us from the certain fate that awaits us — absent a commodities-backed currency. We can only hope Mr. Paul succeeds.

Stephen N. Mathieu

President

Investment adviser representative

Legacy Financial Solutions Inc.

Manchester, N.H.

Small-business owners should be left out of debate

The Viewpoint opinion column “U.S. Chamber of Commerce stance on climate change is all wet” is hogwash. Since big business isn’t much different than big government, do us all a favor: Leave us small-business owners alone. We aren’t the ones who have caused all these problems — we just have to pay for it.

John J. Barada III

Regional sales director

Woodbury Financial Services Inc.

St. Louis

Simpler VA products may shortchange consumers

The article “Slimmer VAs attract thin following,” which appeared in the Jan. 11 issue, raised some important points, as it relates to recent changes in variable annuity product design.

In the past few months, the annuity market has seen an influx of “simplified” products that have been positioned as the next evolution in retirement income planning.

Granted, when simplification is motivated by transparency and ease of understanding for the consumer, it can be helpful. But when product simplicity is motivated primarily by the provider’s need to “derisk” its offerings, a healthy dose of skepticism is warranted.

Simplified products supposedly deliver greater consumer value by virtue of their uncomplicated design.

In reality, however, these stripped-down products are designed to reduce the insurance company’s risk, because they are easier to hedge.

The insurer’s reduced risk often comes at a price to the -consumer, primarily in the form of fewer options and minimal flexibility.

Some financial advisers have been led to believe that when it comes to annuities, more options only complicate things.

The argument is that simplicity can alleviate concerns about suitability, but I would counter that too much simplification can actually create more compliance problems than it solves.

At the heart of the suitability issue is the concept that each individual’s needs are different.

However, some simplified products offer such limited options that they make it very difficult for advisers to construct solutions that are tailored to each client’s specific investment goals.

As a former adviser, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of customization when it comes to constructing a client’s retirement income plan.

Just as architects create custom designs for their clients’ unique needs, advisers need to examine the myriad objectives each client has for his or her investment portfolio and react accordingly.

For example, here are just a few of the needs a client may have: lifetime income now, lifetime income later, the ability to start and stop an income stream, income growth guarantees, the potential for asset growth, providing a legacy for heirs, and the preservation of premium.

Given the range and dynamic nature of each of these issues, it is doubtful that a single product with limited investment options and no flexibility would be the best solution for those clients for whom an annuity would be appropriate.

On the other hand, a product with a variety of features and investment options — plus the ability to customize those options according to individual client objectives — could provide a viable solution set that effectively addresses the retirement income riddle.

I also want to address the implicit assumptions that simplified offerings make about an adviser’s ability to translate product options and features into layman’s terms.

Many in the mainstream consumer media, for example, seem to have embraced the notion that advisers aren’t capable of understanding features and benefits that are the least bit sophisticated, arguing that “complex” options often create confusion for both the adviser and the investor.

In my experience, however, the best advisers are intelligent people who devote a great deal of time and effort to developing their expertise.

These advisers don’t take a product off the shelf and hand it to the client; rather, they embrace customization and control over asset allocation because that is how they demonstrate their value.

At the end of the day, these advisers recognize that financial planning isn’t a transaction; it is a process in which they work with their clients to overcome specific challenges and achieve individual goals.

In today’s economic environment, there is no place for “one-size-fits-all” retirement income solutions. Going forward, it is my belief that advisers will turn to those companies that give them the freedom to develop the customized investment programs their clients deserve.

In the hands of the sophisticated adviser, choice and flexibility should ultimately prevail over simplification.

Asa O. Wood

Vice president of annuity marketing strategy

Jackson National Life Distributors LLC

Denver

Related Topics: Letters To The Editor