The New School of Asset Allocation

While everyone can agree that asset allocation is an important part of an investment strategy, not everyone is willing to employ it. Many investors would rather spend the bulk of their time searching for the latest hot investment. Why?

Asset allocation can be boring. It does not provide extravagant returns quickly. Also, the process itself can be quite daunting. There are more investment choices now than ever before and factors such as world economics, currency fluctuations, and income taxes need to be considered before making your selections. In addition, most individuals have their assets spread out among various accounts in different locations, making asset allocation even more complex.

To further complicate matters, once a portfolio is finally assembled to your satisfaction, it is usually recommended that the allocation mix be reviewed and rebalanced at least once a year. Despite all this, asset allocation is worth the effort. It provides a disciplined approach to diversification and eliminates the need to time investment decisions.

Fee planning is the new school of asset allocation.

Additional licensing may be required before you can offer fee planning programs. You must register as an Investment Adviser Representative under the umbrella of an RIA or register as an RIA yourself. Depending on your state of residence, regulations require that you obtain the Series 65 or 66 (Uniform Investment Advisor) license or a CFP^®, ChFC^®, PFS, CFA, or CIC designation to register.

Let's use H.D. Vest Advisory Services as an example of typical program offerings and how these programs can be incorporated into your practice. Making the decision to partner with the management team of H.D. Vest Advisory Services (HDVAS) frees your clients from the day-to-day responsibilities associated with managing their portfolio and gives you the flexible customization you want in a fee-based solution.

If you decide to affiliate with HDVAS in a fee-based capacity, you will have access to H.D. Vest's training, support and supervision, as well as its robust fee-based offering including three distinct types of money management solutions:

• VestPremiere^®
• VestAdvisor^®
• Overland Select^® program

With VestPremiere, the Advisory Consultant (you) serves as the primary relationship manager, helps the client establish investment goals and objectives and performs quarterly client reviews. HDVAS serves as the primary investment strategy manager, performing fund selection, rebalancing and day-to-day portfolio management.

With VestAdvisor, the Advisory Consultant and the client work together to design a portfolio adhering to the client's goals and objectives. Based upon these findings, the Advisory Consultant selects the appropriate investments, makes necessary ongoing adjustments and monitors performance. HDVAS provides sales support, reporting, compliance and tools to manage your portfolios.

Investing with H.D. Vest Advisory Services means your clients get active account management tailored to their specific investment goals. This ensures that the portfolios retain the asset allocation that will help your clients pursue their long-term goals. Investment progress is reported to you and your clients on a quarterly basis with easy-to-read color reports, which detail transaction history and performance.

Asset allocation does not assure or guarantee better performance and cannot eliminate the risk of investment losses.