I. Overview A written investment policy statement (IPS) provides guidelines and directions for the conscientious fiduciary. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) does not include a specific requirement that plans have a written IPS. The concept of a documented… Read More >
Making the Most of Year-End Giving
As the year comes to a close, you may be thinking of making financial gifts in addition to trying to buy a relevant gift for the picky tween in your life. Here are a few guidelines for both charitable gifts… Read More >
Municipal Market Update – August 2019
During August, the long end of the yield curve continued to decline and become more inverted, with the two-year US Treasury yielding more than the ten year. This is a negative signal on economic growth, likely due to the ongoing… Read More >
The Proposed SECURE Act and Your Retirement
Earlier this summer, the House of Representatives passed the SECURE Act (“Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement”) with bipartisan support and a nearly unanimous vote. As of the writing of this commentary, it stalled in the Senate, but reports… Read More >
Long Term Portfolio Returns – January 2019 Update
In order to make sound investment decisions today, we are forced to make long term projections of portfolio returns. The methodology, assumptions, and original inputs for our approach to predicting long term portfolio returns are originally documented in our white… Read More >
What It Means To Be A Fiduciary Under ERISA
Overview The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) sets out comprehensive standards of conduct for those who manage an employee benefit plan and its assets. In addition to a specific person being named in the plan document, a… Read More >
Planning for Charitable Giving
According to the National Philanthropic Trust,[1] approximately 90% of high net worth families give to charity, and in 2017, charitable giving accounted for 2.1% of gross domestic product. American families have historically given more money to charity than those in… Read More >
Recent Performance of International Stocks
International stocks have significantly under-performed US stocks, recently. Investors with allocations to international stocks have watched them perform so poorly on a relative basis that they might question why they own them in the first place. Since June 2008, US… Read More >
Financial Times Top RIA 2018
Porter White Investment Advisors, Inc. is pleased to announce that it has again been named as a Financial Times 300 Top Registered Investment Advisors for 2018. The list recognizes top independent RIA firms from across the U.S. RIA firms applied… Read More >
Long Term Portfolio Returns – January 2018 Update
In order to make sound investment decisions today, we are forced on making long term projections of portfolio returns. The methodology, assumptions, and original inputs for our approach to predicting long term portfolio returns are originally documented in our white… Read More >
Porter, White & Company Presents Five-Year Plan to City of Hoover
Porter, White & Company presented a five-year financial plan to the Hoover City Council at its regular meeting Monday night, April 2. The report addressed recent challenges that have emerged in Hoover finances as formerly robust revenue growth and operating… Read More >
Michael Stone Featured in Rotary Magazine
In the most recent issue, Michael Stone was featured in Rotary International’s magazine in the article, “7 Things You Don’t Know about Rotaract: Decoding the Secrets of their Success.” Michael, a Vice President for the firm who is active in… Read More >
The Monkey’s Advantage
The Wall Street Journal ran a periodic column a few years ago that compared the performance of some of the best stock pickers to that of monkeys throwing darts at a page of stock listings. After some time, the “monkeys”… Read More >
Effect of Stale Returns on Diversification Strategies
In an effort to manage risk and reduce volatility, investors often seek to diversify the holdings in their portfolio. Diversification is sometimes described as the only “free lunch” when it comes to investing. The idea behind diversification is that an… Read More >
Michael Stone Promoted to Vice President
Porter White & Company is pleased to announce the promotion of Michael Stone to Vice President. Michael joined the firm in January 2011 and is active in the investment banking practice, focusing on mergers and acquisitions (buy-side and sell-side), capital… Read More >
Benefits of a Donor Advised Fund
Each year around the end of March, I spend at least half a day tracking down my charitable contribution receipts in the hope of increasing my tax refund with a charitable deduction. There are plenty of tools to help me… Read More >
Q1 Economic Report Featured in BBJ
Porter White & Company (PWCo) releases its Birmingham Area Economic Report every quarter. The report highlights various economic trends impacting the Birmingham-MSA, the state of Alabama, and comparable cities across the southeast. In the Q1 2017 Economic Report, PWCo highlighted… Read More >
PWCo’s Jim White Featured in ABA Board Briefs
The Alabama Bankers Association included several expert sources in their May / June 2017 edition of Board Briefs. Contributors shared perspectives on commercial real estate, historic tax credits, financial regulatory reform and many additional topics relevant to the banking sector…. Read More >
