News
The financial planning and wealth management team at Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo, LLC regularly contribute to financial discussions in the news media and within the financial planning profession. The following represents a sampling of these timely perspectives and some notable events.
Recent Highlights
Fitzgerald Featured in Money Expose' of Indexed Annuities
Moisand Leads Financial Planning Delegation to China
Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo, LLC Again Named to 3 "Top Firm" Lists, Profiled by Wealth Manager
MFT Staff Recognized For High Quality Work
Older Items Of Note
Fitzgerald Receives Prestigious Award, Featured in Orlando Sentinel
Tamayo Speaks With Smart Money
Fitzgerald Visits Tallahassee
Moisand In Time
Tamayo Shapes Journal of Financial Planning content
Moisand Named Among Most Influential
Fitzgerald Conducts Review for USA Today
Fitzgerald Featured in Money Expose' of Indexed Annuities - The January 2011 issue of Money magazine contains an 8 page spread on Indexed Annuities. Our firm has been critical of these products for being too expensive, too restrictive, and too complex. We believe it unlikely that the products will produce the results often touted by the sales people. The story quotes our Charlie Fitzgerald among many other experts and agrees with our assessment. Click here to read the story. Index annuities are a safety trap
Moisand Leads Financial Planning Delegation to China - Following the success of the financial planning delegation he co-lead to Russia in 2008, the Financial Planning Association (FPA) asked Dan Moisand to lead a similar delegation to China in 2011. The trip ran from May 23-June 4th bringing the delegates to Beijing, Guilin, and Shanghai. Says Dan, “I couldn’t believe the hospitality we received from FPSB China (FPA's sister organization). They moved their annual conference from October to include our tour and simulcast our speeches from Beijing to planners across China. I did two television and five print interviews. They were as excited to meet with us as we were to meet with them. On the tourism side, the highlights for my wife and I were the Wall (it really is great), the visit to a rural elementary school, the $20 one hour full body massages, and the food." Read an article Moisand wrote for the Maitland Observer that includes some of the photos he took here
Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo, LLC Again Named to 3 "Top Firm" Lists, Profiled by Wealth Manager - The Summer of 2010 brought lists of top firms to the pages of the Orlando Business Journal, Financial Advisor magazine and Wealth Manager magazine. For the fourth year in a row, Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo (MFT) made all three lists. Each list is compiled based on varying quantitative data. Wealth Manager ran profiles of only 10 firms in the country and we were happy to be one of those firms. They interviewed Charlie on a wide variety of topics. When asked about the keys to the firm’s success he cited: “the importance of keeping client service and care at the very center of everything we do; do all we can to take care of our staff and associates; and …. three partners who are equally committed to all of this working harmoniously.” Speaking about the firm's status as a completely independent fiduciary Fitzgerald said the firm is, "able to easily separate ourselves from all of the problems surrounding Wall Street." He continued, "We view ourselves mostly as the CFO on our client’s board of directors. We are here to advise and assist,” adding that the firm also manages all client investments “consistent with their unique financial plan, and certainly their investment policy statement.”
MFT Staff Recognized For High Quality Work - We know we have a terrific staff at Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo but it is always nice when others notice this too. The most recent testament to the quality of our staff came in the form of an invitation from Investment News for Dan to be a panelist for an April 27, 2010 program called "Hiring Great Advisory Firm Personnel." He shared insights on a variety of topics that included screening, training, and development of employees. As the publication pointed out, "Attracting and retaining the right people — whether advisers, other professionals or support staff — is central to a firm's success."
Fitzgerald Receives Prestigious Award, Featured in Orlando Sentinel - The Financial Planning Association (FPA) has awarded our own Charlie Fitzgerald a Heart of Financial Planning Distinguished Service Award for his work in forming and leading the FPA of Florida, a cooperative of the nine FPA chapters in the state. The award presentation was held during the closing General Session on October 12th at FPA's 2009 national conference in Anaheim, California. The announcement prompted the Orlando Sentinel to run a profile and Q&A style interview with Charlie for their August 17th edition. Our favorite quote: "The last thing a client needs in a time of crisis is a panicked financial adviser." According to the FPA, the awards recognize "those who contribute to the public and the financial planning community through their extraordinary work while demonstrating a commitment to FPA’s Core Values: Competence, Integrity, Relationships and Stewardship." That describes Charlie and his efforts to a tee.
Tamayo Speaks with Smart Money - The “Street Smart” section of the February 2009 issue of Smart Money magazine describes the conditions in the bond market and fears of massive defaults as ”…. a stark and scary reality. The financial crisis has spooked even the savviest investors. Fearing the economy will get worse, some go for safety even if the cost is minuscule yields on their money in government bonds.” Ron Tamayo, CFP® offers a different viewpoint, suggesting there are many good values for forward thinking investors. “..today’s yields are more ‘fear-induced anomaly’ than an indicator of future double-digit defaults.”
Fitzgerald Visits Tallahassee - On September 14th and 15th, 2009, Charlie Fitzgerald, CFP®, who helped establish the Financial Planning Association of Florida, joined colleagues for meetings with several officials from the governmemt of the State of Florida. The first week of October 5-11 was declared "Financial Planning Week." The photo below depicts Charlie receiving the Proclamation from the Cabinet on behalf of the FPA of Florida. In August 2008, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink appointed Charlie Fitzgerald, CFP® to the Financial Action Team (FACT Team) of stakeholder experts to maximize Florida's share of the billions in available federal dollars to help Floridians weather the housing crisis and to educate Floridians about how to take advantage of these resources. From left to right is Attorney General Bill McCollum, Governor Charlie Crist, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson, our Charlie, and Secretary of FPA Florida Claudia Sachs..
Moisand In Time - The October 13, 2008 issue of Time magazine was full of anxious material so much so that the cover photo was of a Depression era soup line and the headline read “The New Hard Times.” Inside, writer Dan Kadlec encouraged readers to not panic or overreact. The final paragraph read, “You should always have your savings spread among large, medium and small stocks, bonds and some cash in safe short-term securities. It's more important now than ever before to include in this mix some foreign stocks and bonds. If this crisis deepens, the costs could prove so staggering to the U.S. government that the dollar might plunge or interest rates might rise. Foreign holdings won't be immune to such fallout. But they will at least offer a buffer. 'Give up the ability to hit a home run to make sure you don't strike out,' says Dan Moisand, a financial planner in Melbourne, Fla. That sounds pretty good right now.”
Tamayo Shapes Journal of Financial Planning Content - After 2 years of service on the Advisory Board for the Journal of Financial Planning, Ron Tamayo, CFP® will continue to influence content as a member of the Journal’s Editorial Review Board. According to the Journal, the board “…plays an essential role in evaluating manuscripts being considered for publication. Members of the board contribute their expertise on varied financial services topics, assessing submissions for technical accuracy, soundness of research, pertinence and benefit to Journal readers. “
Moisand Named Among Most Influential - For the second consecutive year, in its May 2007 issue, Dan Moisand, CFP® was named to Investment Advisor magazine’s “IA 25,” a list of the most influential people surrounding the financial planning profession. He received similar recognition from Accounting Today in 2006 and 2007 and Financial Planning magazine in 2003. Moisand once again joined the elite lists of financial professionals that have included: Christopher Cox, then chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission; Mary Schapiro, current Chair of the SEC; and Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. Moisand was selected based on his accomplishments as a financial planner, including his leadership within the Financial Planning Association (FPA). The article also noted Moisand’s two Journal of Financial Planning writing awards and his dedication to providing unbiased financial advice to his clients. “Dan Moisand has done a great job quietly and consistently driving home all the points that the D.C. District Court of Appeals seemed to agree with… Moisand has carefully crafted the FPA's argument to focus on clearly defining the best way to meet the needs of consumers, not surprising for this 39-year-old client-centric planner….’This certainly brings to the forefront yet again the idea of what an appropriate standard of care is when dealing with the public,’ he argues in discussing the court decision, and since ‘we are talking about people's life savings, the standards should be appropriately high."
Fitzgerald Conducts Review for USA Today - In the January 7, 2007 issue of USA Today, Charlie Fitzgerald, CFP® reviewed an Orlando couple’s portfolio. He advised them it would be wise to be less aggressive over time by adding bonds to their portfolios and that diversifying would be a good move. The couple owned only a few individual stocks and Charlie especially cautioned them about adding to their real estate holdings. From the article, "I want to help them realize that their experience over the last five years is a very unique moment in time," Fitzgerald says. "These (gains) are a once-in-50-to-60-year occurrence."