Gaddock,

Tell us what you really think .

Reality is most people in this business don't have the balls to run their books raw to the market.  (Not saying the present audience of RR forum folks - but the bulk of the business).  Look at how many Series 6 insurance hacks there are out there who call themselves advisors and spin up lovely portfolios of mutual fund asset allocations to sell with riders galore.

Most advisors even in Series 7 land are not able to either look for opportunities, or have the ability to sell the opportunities they see when they see them, or the courage to pull the trade.  RISK and REWARD.

Even the ones with the courage are struggling in this market to make money. Many have no strategy and if they stumble on something, aren't likely to share.

Yet, for someone who differentiates and can stay on in the business without being a bank broker pitching structured products and annuities, the people who are awake are the ones that will be your clients. They will like how you run your book. The old adage rings true "Birds of a feather flock together." The ones who believe in you politically and financially will be your clients and will be loyal.   There may be fewer advisors who will run their book their way, and fewer clients willing to work with this way, 

Because you run your book in a more rarified air than most advisors are willing or able to, find a few people on the board with a trading strategy and communicate and play chess with them.

Leave the checkers game to everyone else.

Kicking and Taking.

I think you are on to something.  I think the lack of discussion about how to make money in the market is a product of a couple of things:  (1) most registered reps are financial salespeople and not investment experts.  Most know how to keep themselves from slashing their wrists after 300 cold calls, but have no clue as to how to value an asset, so how can they possibly hope to beat the market?  They need to be spoon fed their investment "ideas"; (2) the majority of financial advisors who might otherwise have the skills have been conditioned to believe that no one can beat the market over the long run and if they say they can, they are frauds.  Never mind the fact that individual investors have been proven to consistently underperform the market and, given that truth, it stands to reason that the flip side, consistent outperformance, is not only possible, but likely for the few that hit on the right strategy; and (3) the market crash has everyone running for the cover of "safety" (when have annuities ever been this popular) without regard to returns and the growth that most people need if they have a shot in heck of meeting their financial goals.

This is my second career after being in corporate finance for 18 years, so I am not just a salesperson, and I do spend quite a lot of time thinking about how to outperform the market, and I do think I am onto something that is modestly successful - like 2 points a year better than market on average.  And while the results are certainly not breathtaking nor is the strategy entirely original, I am not prepared to broadly share that with the public forum.  What do I get out of that?  Even with potential clients, I don't make this a prominent part of my value proposition.  After all, I can't guarantee I will beat the market, but I can guarantee that I will offer great service, optimize their portfolio for risk/return. etc.

So I guess the lack of discussion around investing is regrettable, but understandable.  Mostly, I spend my time on this forum to understand the mindset of the competition and it is great for that!

I think you are on to something.  I think the lack of discussion about how to make money in the market is a product of a couple of things:  (1) most registered reps are financial salespeople and not investment experts.  Most know how to keep themselves from slashing their wrists after 300 cold calls, but have no clue as to how to value an asset, so how can they possibly hope to beat the market?  They need to be spoon fed their investment "ideas"; (2) the majority of financial advisors who might otherwise have the skills have been conditioned to believe that no one can beat the market over the long run and if they say they can, they are frauds.  Never mind the fact that individual investors have been proven to consistently underperform the market and, given that truth, it stands to reason that the flip side, consistent outperformance, is not only possible, but likely for the few that hit on the right strategy; and (3) the market crash has everyone running for the cover of "safety" (when have annuities ever been this popular) without regard to returns and the growth that most people need if they have a shot in heck of meeting their financial goals.

This is my second career after being in corporate finance for 18 years, so I am not just a salesperson, and I do spend quite a lot of time thinking about how to outperform the market, and I do think I am onto something that is modestly successful - like 2 points a year better than market on average.  And while the results are certainly not breathtaking nor is the strategy entirely original, I am not prepared to broadly share that with the public forum.  What do I get out of that?  Even with potential clients, I don't make this a prominent part of my value proposition.  After all, I can't guarantee I will beat the market, but I can guarantee that I will offer great service, optimize their portfolio for risk/return. etc.

So I guess the lack of discussion around investing is regrettable, but understandable.  Mostly, I spend my time on this forum to understand the mindset of the competition and it is great for that!