Category: Press
Securities offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advice offered through IHT Wealth Management, a registered investment advisor and separate entity from LPL Financial.
The opinions voiced in this program are for general information only an dare not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.
Original Article
ByGlobeNewswire | 01/26/16 – 09:00 AM EST
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Jan. 26, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Leading retail investment advisory firm and independent broker/dealer LPL Financial LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA), today announced that Jeff Kocis, John Kinsella and Richard Rohlfing have joined IHT Wealth Management (IHT), an independent financial advisory firm on LPL’s broker/dealer and hybrid RIA platforms. Kocis, Kinsella and Rohlfing reported that, based on prior business, they collectively served more than $200 million of client assets*, as of Dec. 15, 2015.
Kocis, Kinsella and Rohlfing left their prior wirehouse firm because they sought to create a team structure. “In addition, by joining with LPL and IHT, we can provide our clients with objective financial advice that will allow us to find strategies tailored for their needs,” said Kocis, who has been a financial advisor for 14 years and began his career as a trader on the floor of an exchange. “This move will allow us to have access to enhanced support and resources that can help us further help our clients now as well as in the future.”
Kinsella – a silver and gold medal winner in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics, respectively, competing in 4 x 200 meter freestyle relay in which the relay team set a new world record – has 35 years of financial advisory experience. Rohlfing has been an advisor 5 years, having chosen the industry as his second career. The three advisors together will provide clients with portfolio and business management, retirement plans and comprehensive wealth management support.
Kocis, Kinsella and Rohlfing will be opening IHT’s newest office in Oakbrook, Ill. The Chicago-based IHT will now operate five offices with a total of 17 advisors. IHT joined LPL in 2014 and intends to continue its expansion efforts into 2016 with offices planned for both the east and west coasts.
Founded by Steven Dudash, IHT provides advisors the control and business ownership that comes with the independent model, while supporting advisors with day to day operations, including office management and back office support.
“IHT is the perfect landing spot for advisors like Jeff, John and Richard,” said Dudash. “They can own their book of business, but they will have the support and resources of IHT and LPL in managing aspects of their business, which will free them up to spend more time serving their clients.”
“We welcome Jeff Kocis, John Kinsella and Richard Rohlfing to LPL,” said Steve Pirigyi, LPL executive vice president, business development. “We have found that former wirehouse advisors are realizing the benefits of the independent model and specifically what LPL can provide in support of their businesses. With our tools and resources they are empowered to better address their business needs and also serve the best interests of their clients.”
*Asset numbers were reported by Jeff Kocis, John Kinsella and Richard Rohlfing based on prior business and have not been independently and fully verified by LPL Financial.
About IHT Wealth Management
IHT Wealth Management is a team of experienced wealth management professionals dedicated to the design and implementation of customized, comprehensive financial strategies for mass-affluent and high-net-worth investors. IHT’s disciplined, goals-based approach and its objective advice are focused on helping its clients create a financial plan that aligns with their vision for the future. The firm’s areas of specialty include wealth management, comprehensive financial planning, legacy planning, retirement planning, college planning, insurance and charitable giving. Founded by Steven Dudash in 2014, IHT is based in Chicago and operates five offices in the Chicago area. For more information, please visit www.ihtwealthmanagement.com.
About LPL Financial
LPL Financial, a wholly owned subsidiary of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA), is a leader in the retail financial advice market and currently serves $462 billion in advisory and brokerage assets. LPL is one of the fastest growing RIA custodians and is the nation’s largest independent broker-dealer (based on total revenues, Financial Planning magazine June 1996-2015). The Company provides proprietary technology, comprehensive clearing and compliance services, practice management programs and training, and independent research to more than 14,000 independent financial advisors and over 700 banks and credit unions, enabling them to help their clients turn life’s aspirations into financial realities. Advisors associated with LPL also service an estimated 40,000 retirement plans with an estimated $115 billion in retirement plan assets, as of September 30, 2015. LPL also supports approximately 4,300 financial advisors licensed and affiliated with insurance companies with customized clearing, advisory platforms, and technology solutions. LPL Financial and its affiliates have 3,413 employees with primary offices in Boston, Charlotte, and San Diego. For more information, please visit www.lpl.com.
LPL Financial, member FINRA/SIPC
Investment advice offered through IHT Wealth Management, a registered investment advisor and a separate entity from LPL Financial.
Investors Pulling More Money From Actively Managed U.S. Stock Funds
Traders says outflows have exacerbated the sharp declines in the stock market in 2016
By Corrie Dreibusch
January 13, 2016
Investors yanked more money out of actively managed U.S. stock funds in 2015 than in any prior year.
The outflows represent a stark change in investor attitude toward stocks. After nearly seven years of a bull market, many investors faced their first year in 2015 of negative portfolio returns, a fact that has distressed them, financial advisers say.
More than $169 billion left actively managed U.S. stock funds last year, the most money to be pulled in any year ever, according to data from Morningstar Inc.
“The tone is definitely different (among clients),” said Steve Dudash, president of IHT Wealth Management in Chicago. “For the first time in a long, long time, clients are really concerned. I mean, calling at 6:30 in the morning, wanting to talk about the markets type of concerned.”
These outflows have exacerbated the sharp declines in the stock market in 2016, traders say.
Stocks tumbled around 6% last week, posting their worst first five sessions of any year. Even if money managers were inclined to buy dips in the broader indexes, they have less money to do so.
Money has been flowing out of actively managed U.S. stock funds for years as the rise in popularity of passive funds, such as exchange-traded funds, has grown. But recent years’ flows are dwarfed by the amount of money pulled in 2015. In 2014, investors pulled a net $84 billion, and in 2013, investors took out a net $4.7 billion from actively-managed U.S. stock funds, according to Morningstar. The last year of net inflows to actively managed U.S. stock funds was 2005.
To be sure, some of the money pulled out of these mutual funds likely found its way back into stocks through exchange-traded funds or other passive stock funds. Traders and money managers also say some went to bonds and other remains in cash.
Stock and Mutual Fund investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss.
An investment in ETFs involves additional risks such as not diversified, price volatility, competitive industry pressure, international political and economic developments, possible trading halts, and index tracking errors. Not suitable for all investors.
IHT President Steve Dudash featured on the cover of WSJ’s Market Section; See original article
By Steven Dudash
October 9th, 2015
Chinese stocks suffered an epic collapse, absorbing losses of nearly 27% during a nine-day stretch at one point in August. This, along with concerns that the broader economy in China was beginning to cool, sparked widespread contagion fears, spooking investors and roiling worldwide markets. The tremors continue to be felt today, with the Fed declining to raise interest rates last month in part due to concerns over China.
Still, China has forecasted 7 percent growth this year, a figure that has raised eyebrows among many economists, especially in the wake of a recent report indicating that Chinese imports are off nearly 14% from last year and are expected to plunge again in September. Amid waning demand, is it possible to grow the economy at that rate?
Dubious forecasts are nothing new. There have long been questions about the validity of Chinese government’s numbers, since how it calculates its economic data has always been a mystery, which is hardly surprising given that much of what happens there is shrouded in secrecy. In the past, when growth seemed unending, this lack of transparency was easier to overlook. Now that the environment is souring, other countries whose economies are more interconnected with China than ever before are starting to feel the residual pain and will eventually demand greater openness and transparency.
The problem is that China doesn’t care what the rest of the world wants and is very unlikely cave in to international pressure to conform to accepted accounting and disclosure requirements. However, what the Chinese people want is another thing. Chinese officials are far more sensitive to internal pressure than most realize, especially on economic matters.
In recent years the government has taken a series of steps to encourage more and more of its citizens to become active in equities markets, including encouraging brokerage houses to increase margin lending and investing directly in state-owned companies to artificially prop up valuations. With those markets now floundering, the public – which now has more to lose by the government fudging its numbers – could begin to pushback more forcefully, potentially resulting in less ambiguity.
So what would a more open and transparent China mean for investors? Short term, probably very little. Longer term, though, it could prove to be an enormous benefit to beaten down energy companies. One of the big reasons behind the decline in the price of oil has been concerns over the Chinese slowdown.
The problem is no one really knows for sure how bad the environment really is, and whenever there is uncertainty human emotion tends play an outsized role. In part, that has led to the huge oil selloff. There could be tremendous opportunity in the near future to snatch up beaten down energy stocks, such BP and Exxon, which have the capital to withstand prolonged downturns and now are trading at a steep discount to historical valuations, even after rallying from lows last month.
Large banks, meanwhile, present another opportunity. There is very little question that the pullback in China affected the Fed’s decision to hold off on rate hikes, which has squeezed bank profits, as margins remain thin due to artificially low rates. Bank stocks, as result, have suffered.