Holiday Reading for Financial Advisers: Books, Boys, and Bond, James Bond

Here are some of my top picks for financial advisers, in case you missed them.

Tax-Efficient Investing

• "2013 Tax Policies and Portfolio Construction" is more than just another white paper or article on the subject of taxes and investing: It contains helpful interactive tables that you can download and edit. (UCIrvine's Wealth Management Frontier)

Leadership

• While the benefits of reading are generally well understood, most people don't stop to think about the connection between reading and leading. Yet reading that is unrelated to business has far-reaching benefits for effective and successful leadership. (HBR Blog Network)
• According to former Navy SEAL Brent Gleeson, the difference between good and great leadership can be expressed in a single word: loyalty. (Inc.)

Retirement

• Are you dramatically underestimating your clients' retirement lifestyle expenditures when you use Monte Carlo software? Bob Veres contends that if you stop and look at a number of important assumptions hidden in the current models, you'll suddenly have a lot less confidence in the retirement plans you're mapping out for your clients. (Advisor Perspectives)

Investor Behavior

• State Street's Center for Applied Research recently released a white paper, "The Influential Investor: How Investor Behavior is Redefining Performance," based on the findings of extensive surveys of investors, asset managers, regulators, and intermediaries from around the world. The firm set out to understand the forces that will shape the future of the investment management industry over the next decade and, over the course of the research, hunted for answers to questions like: How are investors acting? Why are they behaving that way? And, is the industry delivering meaningful value? (State Street)

Financial Plans

• Here's a scary fact: According to the manager of the Ontario Public Trustee, which takes over the finances for people who are mentally unable to make financial decisions, not one of the 10,000 clients it took over had a financial plan. Now consider this: The author of the article (a CFP) reviewed the finances for about 2,000 families and found the same result — none of them had a proper, written financial plan. Which begs the question: Why don't more financial planners create financial plans? While the article is written from a Canadian perspective, it is a good question in the US and elsewhere. (Million Dollar Journey blog)

The Industry

• What does the Luminous-First Republic deal mean for the independent advisory industry? Is it a sign of things to come or the exit strategy high-water mark of the breakaway broker movement? (Family Wealth Report)

Philanthropy

• Here's one idea on how to have deeper, more meaningful conversations with your clients. Get smarter about philanthropy. (OnWallStreet)

And Now For Something Completely Different

• Which James Bond villain's plan made the most economic sense? Tyler Cowen, an American economist, academic, and writer, explores. (Marginal Revolution)
• And finally, a powerful, universal observation: Boys who are nurtured become men who thrive. David Brooks nails it in "The Heart Grows Smarter." (New York Times)

Please note that the content of this site should not be construed as investment advice, nor do the opinions expressed necessarily reflect the views of CFA Institute.

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