AAII Pittsburgh Chapter
Saturday Seminars

Active Investment Management — Yes, you can

Presented by Bert Ward,
Ward Capital Management, Inc.

Many individual investors grasp the basic ideas of classical investment theory and modern portfolio management.  Translating principles into practice is often quite another matter.  Why is it that so many private investors bail out of the market at exactly the wrong times?  Is the only recourse to hire a professional money manager?

Bert Ward will discuss an alternative approach that balances potential returns against inevitable risks.  Such a managed-risk investment program, he asserts, is within reach for any investor willing to spend a modest amount of effort and attention.  Using a few, simple, managed-risk strategies, Bert will illustrate how such a program works, how to practice its execution, how to incorporate failsafes, and how to develop realistic performance expectations.

Finally, he will show how to personalize an investment program that balances risk and reward among strategies, rather than among assets, and why such a program stands a better chance of surviving as today's low-interest environment unwinds.

How to Avoid Bear Markets … and Catch a Bull

Presented by Ian Abbott,
Abacus Financial Services, LLC

Large numbers of people lost significant amounts of their retirement nest eggs when the market dropped 40% in 2008.  The problem, however, was neither “unforeseen” nor “contained.” The 1930s witnessed a similar scenario, and it was not a single event, but rather a chain reaction of crashes and minicrashes that continued for over a decade.

Are we now at the precipice, at the brink of yet another collapse?  Can you afford to watch the markets disintegrate without a plan to protect your assets from such threats? Trusting your nest egg to luck or blaming a “bunch of crooks” won’t solve the problem.  Learn the critical skill of reading the signs that indicate market health and direction.

Is it over yet?

Presented by Bill Barack,
Barack Capital Management

Where is the market going?  Individual investors are frustrated, asking:  “Isn’t this recession thing over yet?  I’m anxious to get my retirement back on track.

Bill will read the economic and technical “tea leaves” in a top-down look at what may be in store for our investing future.  His thesis:  If we get the current macro view right, then we can more accurately plan for our future.

Attend this meeting and learn

• What are the pitfalls and problems in traditional asset allocation?
• How to improve your results significantly with Active Investment Management
• Causes of the meltdown and why it will happen again
• The important distinction between investment salesmen and fiduciary advisors
• How active management saved nest eggs by cutting losses during the meltdown
• Nine specific indicators that can warn you before the next collapse
• The current investing perspective from “40,000 feet”
• A likely future scenario for today’s investors

About Bert Ward

A Certified Financial Planner since 1980, Burt Ward has applied Active Investment strategies to manage select client portfolios since 1999.  In 2002 he established Ward Capital Management, a Registered Investment Advisor in Michigan, after a 30-year career in Operations Planning with General Motors.

Burt holds an undergraduate degree in economics and finance and completed professional CFP training in taxes, estate planning, and passive asset allocation.  Since 1999, he has served as Technical Advisor to his local FastTrack group.  He lives outside Detroit, where his other interests include competitive bridge, tennis, golf, and waterskiing.

About Ian Abbott;

Ian Abbott owns Abacus Financial Services, an Ohio wealth-building firm that concentrates on active investment-management and tax issues for individual clients and small businesses. Abacus has achieved superior long-term performance through dynamic asset-allocation and sector rotation and by applying tax-saving strategies.  Before starting the company in 1991, Ian was abroker/financial planner with WS Griffith Securities, Merrill Lynch, and American Express. He also worked with H&R Block and the IRS Collection Division.

Ian graduated magna cum laude from Cleveland State University and has completed postgraduate work in finance, taxation, and accounting. A Registered Investment Advisor, he became a member of the National Association of Active Investment Managers in 2000. Ian shares his market outlook at the Cleveland AAII Chapter’s Mutual Fund Technical Analysis SIG and in his monthly “Abbott Investment Advisory”

About Bill Barack;

Dr. Bill Barack formed the portfolio-management company Barack Capital Management in 2000 and started Lindisfarne Investments in 2009.  Previously he worked for 30 years in engineering, serving as Engineering Manager for Calphalon Corporation and consulting with various Fortune 500 companies for Morrison Knudsen. He also spent 20 years with General Electric designing products ranging from jet engines to light bulbs.  Bill currently stays involved in the business world, serving on Boards for several manufacturing companies.  Dr. Barack lives in Cleveland, where he enjoys long walks by Lake Erie with his wife Susan and their two golden retrievers.

Meeting Details

Location:
Radisson-Greentree Hotel Pittsburgh
101 Radisson Drivebr>Pittsburgh PA 15205

Mapquest directions  

Registration
Registration/Social: 8:30 to 9:00

Fees: $10.00 by Monday, 25 October, 2010 or $14.00 at the door, space permitting.

(Sorry, no refunds)

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