Economist Fritz Meyer Offers Prudent Investment And Economic Ideas For 2013 Hot

In the two years that I’ve been working with Fritz Meyer, I’ve grown fond of him because he’s wonderful to work with. But during his visit to New York this week, I came away with a greater appreciation for his knowledge and dedication.  

Fritz Meyer doesn’t have to work. He can retire and live well. But he is on a mission to educate advisors and their clients about what’s he’s learned during his 35 year career in the financial world.
 

Meyer believes it is folly to for advisors to think they can time pick the next hot sector, asset class or investment style. He believes in broad diversification and Modern Portfolio Theory. Having once managed large actively managed mutual fund portfolios, Meyer’s comes to this conclusion after decades of experience, deep thought, and analysis.  

When Meyer spoke at an event held at the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday that was organized by TD Ameritrade Institutional and Croesus Finansoft, the advisors in the room witnessed his conviction and passion. He used charts and math and made a well-reasoned case showing why asset allocation and broad diversification is the most prudent course managing portfolios for RIAs.

Yes, the discipline during 2008 was hard to stick with, he acknowledges. Convincing clients to “stay the course,” is not easy after they just lost 25% of their life savings. But the discipline has worked!

Advisors have a difficult job. Managing other people’s money for a living is a big responsibility and can be pressure-filled. It’s easy to abandon the prudent, boring long-term buy and hold strategy for a sexy market-timing methodology that is back-tested, believable, and promises to steer you clear of the worst of the market’s risk. Fritz Meyer’s research and collaboration with Advisor Products is a counterweight to the noise and nonsense being pitched to your clients.

While Fritz was in New York, we made the little video embedded above. A few points about it:

1.       You can make videos like this. You need a big screen TV ($2500 to $3500), studio lighting ($400), and a video camera ($300 to $1000). Video editing software for a PC will cost about $400 (Camtasia Studio.) The quarterly slides and scripts are available from Advisor Products for $1200 a year and are prepared by me and Fritz Meyer. You can do this.

2.       Fritz Meyer Client Appreciation Events. Fritz will come to your town and speak before your clients and prospects at a seminar or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. He’s charging just $1,500 plus expenses. Those who saw him in action on Tuesday will attest to the value of hearing him. (A friend of mine, who has been on Wall Street for close to 40 years, told me Fritz gave the best financial presentation he ever saw.)  

3.       Reinforce The Message. Amazingly, it is so easy to stop believing in MPT and broad diversification when markets turn ugly. To counter this human foible, advisors and their clients need to be reminded constantly of the wisdom of sticking with the discipline. Advisor Products sells you Fritz Meyer’s slides for $25 a month and provides monthly updated articles and videos based on Fritz Meyer’s research in FINRA-reviewed articles and videos and an integrated social media content stream that can be added to any website for as little as $110 a month.