Webinar: Elections & Your Money
How will the election affect your financial life? In this webinar, learn how financial markets might react and how you might be tempted to respond.
What Are You Waiting For? | Financial Perspectives
This week, Kent Kramer discusses how the upcoming election is influencing financial decisions, with 63% of Americans deferring choices until after the results. Despite political uncertainty, markets have shown resilience, highlighting the importance of optimism and staying informed for navigating uncertain times.
Chart of the Month – October 2024
Is stock market growth a thing of the past? Headlines making predictions about this have come and gone, some turning out to be spectacularly wrong. Let’s take a look.
Understanding Mortgage Rates: A Conversation with Todd Smith of Bank Iowa | Financial Perspectives
This week, Matt Moklestad has a conversation with Todd Smith, the Mortgage Director at Bank Iowa, as he breaks down the complexities of mortgage rates. With nearly 30 years of experience in the banking and mortgage industry, Todd shares insights on how mortgage rates are determined, the factors that influence them, and tips for securing the best rates.
Understanding ETFs and Factor Investing with Blackrock’s Bob Hum | Financial Perspectives
This week, Kent Kramer sits down with BlackRock’s Bob Hum to explore the intricacies of ETFs and factor investing. Gain valuable insights and practical tips on how these strategies may enhance your investment portfolio and help you navigate today’s market complexities.
Chart of the Month – September 2024
Do you wonder why we invest in equities? Equities are an attractive investment for their growth characteristics, but they have also served as a hedge against inflation.
How Should a Nonprofit Allocate its Investment Portfolio?
Let's review two industry studies, the NACUBO Study of Endowments and the Association Investment Policies, Practices and Performance. Each organization is different and has its own set of unique goals and challenges. Although this is the case, learning how other nonprofits invest can help ignite a meaningful conversation within your own organization.
Are You Getting the Top 4% of the Market? | Financial Perspectives
Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles
How many stocks does it take to really move your portfolio? It's a surprisingly small number. This week, Kent Kramer is joined by Foster Group's Director of Investments, Michael Westphal, to help answer this question.
Predictable Mistakes
Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles
We believe that investors increase their chances of success by avoiding predictable mistakes, those practices that sound like they should work but have been shown time and again to have very low probabilities of success.
How Should a Nonprofit Allocate its Investment Portfolio?
Let's review two industry studies, the NACUBO Study of Endowments and the Association Investment Policies, Practices and Performance. Each organization is different and has its own set of unique goals and challenges. Although this is the case, learning how other nonprofits invest can help ignite a meaningful conversation within your own organization.
Are You Getting the Top 4% of the Market? | Financial Perspectives
Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles
How many stocks does it take to really move your portfolio? It's a surprisingly small number. This week, Kent Kramer is joined by Foster Group's Director of Investments, Michael Westphal, to help answer this question.
Predictable Mistakes
Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles
We believe that investors increase their chances of success by avoiding predictable mistakes, those practices that sound like they should work but have been shown time and again to have very low probabilities of success.
ROMO: Regret Over Missing Out | Financial Perspectives
Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles
In the first six months of 2024, NVIDIA has seen its stock price appreciate by just under 150%, which represented about 1/3 of the total gain of the S&P 500 in the same period. For those investors who did not own NVIDIA, they are likely experiencing ROMO. This week, Kent Kramer analyzes concentration of value and performance of the global stock market.
Chart of the Month – July 2024
Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles
International Stocks – Are they necessary?
Whenever Possible, Don’t Do Dumb Things | Financial Perspectives
Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles
We believe that investors increase their chances of success by avoiding predictable mistakes -- those practices that sound like they should work but have been shown time and time again to have very low probabilities of success. This week, Kent Kramer examines different studies to help inform our fifth investment principle.
Chart of the Month – June 2024
No one can time the market and determine when those best months will occur. The best months are surprisingly random. More important than timing the market is time in the market.
Is Investing a Science Project? | Financial Perspectives
Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles
A wise investor will advance with science to increase the probability of good investment outcomes. This week, Kent Kramer shares examples of how advances in finance and economics have impacted investor experience.
Value vs Growth – What does that Mean?
Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles
Have you heard the words, “value” and “growth,” when it comes to investing? Let’s face it: These words are often misunderstood and poorly utilized.
The Older & Wiser AI: The Market’s Aggregate Intelligence
Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles
Has Artificial Intelligence been causing you anxiety, or made you wonder about the trustworthiness of investment markets? Be reminded that “educated optimism is an antidote for anxious uncertainty”.
The Market: The Original AI | Financial Perspectives
Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles
The acronym “AI” has become synonymous with Artificial Intelligence. But what is Aggregate Intelligence -- "AI"? This week, Kent Kramer explains how trusting markets and harnessing their power and prices is a fundamentally sound way to invest.
Chart of the Month – May 2024
While cash may offer stability and security in the short term, the DFA Returns Web chart from 1926 through February 2024 suggests that the growth potential in stocks offers a higher rewarding investment opportunity in the long run.