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May 07 - Mellon |
Chris Holmen and Ted Schlazer, Vice Presidents, Mellon Private Wealth Management Group Chris reviewed the performance of the five major asset classes over the past 20 years, showing the importance of diversification for an investment portfolio. He discussed sector rotation, reviewed the best and worst performing sectors over that time period, and showed how proper diversification lowers overall risk. He then discussed annual returns for various equity and bond mixes, and how to manage overall risk with proper allocation. That led to Ted Schlazer's presentation on Bonds in a Retirement Portfolio. Ted had an extensive career on Wall Street in bond trading and development of bond instruments (such as the zero-coupon bonds). Ted explained duration and risk of bonds, and then went into the most informative part of the presentation --- how bond trading takes place, and the hidden costs in buying and selling bonds. The unseen spreads can add significantly to the cost of owning bonds, in the order of 1- 3%. Ted gave some insights into the questions to ask your bond trader to ensure that you are being charged the least possible amount in your bond transactions. This presentation was very well received by all, and there was extensive Q+A following the presentation 102 attendies |