Porter White & Company is pleased to announce that Emma Begley has joined the firm as a Research Analyst/Financial Analyst. Emma supports the Investment Management division by researching academic literature in the areas of finance and economics, utilizing historical and… Read More >
Are a Few Low-Cost Investment Options Enough?
Some 401k Plan Sponsors have taken the approach of providing a broad range of investment options hoping that providing a few, low-cost index funds would fulfill their fiduciary duty to monitor fees and expenses of their plan. The logic here… Read More >
Should I Check the Per Stirpes Box?
Many people save for retirement in a defined-contribution retirement plan (like a 401k) or an individual retirement account (traditional or Roth IRA). It is important to designate beneficiaries for accounts. The forms, often seemingly simple to fill out, have hidden… Read More >
Effects of Automatic Enrollment in Plan Design
In our recent investment commentary, we highlighted research regarding plan design and plan participants. The research clearly highlights the effects that plan design can have on plan participants and retirement outcomes. While the study largely confirms that automatic enrollment has… Read More >
PWCO Announces New Financial Analyst Hire
Ross Walker has joined the firm as a Financial Analyst primarily supporting the firm’s Investment Management practice. Ross assists the investment management team with analysis, portfolio management, and client services. Ross is a recent graduate of Wofford College where he… Read More >
PWCO Announces Grace Weitkamp Achieves Certified Public Accountant License
Porter White & Company is pleased to announce that Grace Weitkamp has been awarded the CPA certificate and license after having passed the Uniform CPA Examination®. In addition to passing each of four parts of the exam, candidates in Alabama… Read More >
PWCO Promotes Brooks Blair to Vice President of Investment Management
Brooks Blair has been promoted to Vice President, Investment Management. Brooks joined the firm in February 2016 as a financial analyst. With this promotion, Brooks has assumed more responsibility with individual clients in addition to the firm’s 401k and institutional… Read More >
Reflections on Markets During the Pandemic – 2Q 2020
While following events closely during the second quarter of 2020 when our society shut down for almost a month and then started reopening, a few important investment themes emerged. I. S&P 500 Recovered but Rates Stayed Low. While the equity… Read More >
Brooks Blair Awarded AIF® Designation
Porter White & Company (PW&Co) is pleased to announce that Brooks Blair has been awarded the Accredited Investment Fiduciary® (AIF®) designation from the Center for Fiduciary Studies®, the standards-setting body for Fi360. The AIF designation signifies specialized knowledge of fiduciary… Read More >
The SECURE Act
The SECURE Act of 2019 (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement) is a wide-ranging act, spanning nearly 40 provisions It is the most comprehensive retirement savings package to become law since the Pension Protection Act of 2006, and seeks… Read More >
Considering Employer Match Suspension
As businesses reopen and employees return to work, employers are wrestling with how to handle cash flow in unprecedented circumstances. If you are considering suspending the employer match in your company’s retirement plan, you are not alone. Can you suspend… Read More >
The Importance of an Investment Policy Statement
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 >
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 >
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 >
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 >
