Top Portfolio Products: Decker & Co. Launches With Focus on Southeast Asia

Decker & Co., a broker dedicated to the southeast Asia/frontier space, launched this week.

New products introduced over the last week include a suite of large-cap equity funds from Nuveen and four new corporate term bond ETFs from BlackRock.

Meanwhile, Vanguard added new interactive graphics to help retirement plan participants.

Here are the latest developments of interest to advisors:

1) Decker & Co Launches; Dedicated to Southeast Asia/Frontier Space

Decker & Co, the first U.S.-based broker to be fully dedicated to the southeast Asia/frontier space, announced recently that it is fully licensed and operational. The firm’s clearing partner is Broadcort, a division of Merrill Lynch. The new firm will offer U.S. funds access to local research and listed corporates through its partnership approach. In doing so, it will fully promote its partners’ brands regionally to help them build their own brand equity. It plans to bring handpicked corporates to the U.S. and will frequently visit Asia for that purpose. The firm will also arrange investor trips to Asia at least quarterly.

Mark Decker has more than 20 years’ experience in the region, including positions in Hong Kong with Bear Stearns/Lehman Brothers and CLSA in the ’90s. He was also director of equities at SCB Securities in Thailand, and was responsible for the opening of the west coast office of Kim Eng Securities in 2009. The firm’s team has relationships with funds focused on investing in southeast Asia. Its network includes broker partners in Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Pakistan and Cambodia.

2) Nuveen Asset Management Launches New Equity Strategies

Nuveen Investments has announced the availability of a new suite of large-cap equity mutual funds managed by Bob Doll, Nuveen’s asset management chief equity strategist and senior portfolio manager.

The series includes six newly created funds and three funds having recently transitioned to Doll. They are: traditional, Nuveen Large Cap Value Fund (NNGAX); Nuveen Large Cap Core Fund (NLACX); Nuveen Large Cap Growth Fund (NLAGX); specialty, Nuveen Core Dividend Fund (NCDAX); Nuveen Concentrated Core Fund (NCADX); Nuveen Growth Fund (NSAGX); and alternative, Nuveen Large Cap Core Plus Fund (NLAPX); Nuveen Equity/Long Short Fund (NELAX); and Nuveen Equity Market Neutral Fund (NMAEX).

3) BlackRock Expands iSharesBonds Suite of Defined Maturity ETFs

BlackRock announced recently that its iShares ETFs business has expanded its suite of iShares bonds with four new corporate term ETFs. These new products offer investors access to a diversified pool of investment-grade corporate credit securities with a defined maturity date, daily liquidity and price transparency. If iSharesBonds are held until maturity, investors can expect a yield that is similar to the yield to maturity of the underlying bonds held in the ETF. The four new iSharesBonds are as follows: iSharesBond 2016 Corporate Term ETF (IBDA); iSharesBond 2018 Corporate Term ETF (IBDB); iSharesBond 2020 Corporate Term ETF (IBDC); and iSharesBond 2023 Corporate Term ETF (IBDD)

4) Vanguard Offers New Tools for Retirement Plan Participants

Vanguard is offering new interactive graphics to help 401(k) retirement plan participants make key decisions about their retirement assets. Two examples of this new technology are the “Boost Your Savings” dial and its retirement analysis alerts. Both tools are delivered to participants based on their savings rate, investment mix, other retirement readiness indicators, and plan features. They are prominently displayed on the vanguard.com secure home page of targeted participants.

The savings booster is a spedometer-like gauge that displays a participant’s current savings rate and recommends a range of increases. Users can turn the dial to the number they want and in one click, submit a request to change their regular contribution amount. In a test of the dial, Vanguard recommended a 1%, 2% or 3% increase. Participants who used the dial between its rollout in December 2012 and May 2013 increased their savings rate by an average of 2%.

Retirement analysis alerts are delivered in the form of a stoplight to encourage participants to use either of two investment advice services if offered within their plan. One is the personal online advisor (POA), which provides a personalized forecast and fund recommendations from Financial Engines. The other is the Vanguard managed account program (VMAP), powered by Financial Engines, which creates, implements and monitors a custom plan for a fee. For the year to date through May, nearly a quarter of the participants who received these alerts clicked on them. Of those who responded, 12% adopted POA and 6% chose to enroll in VMAP.

Read the July 5 Portfolio Products Roundup.

Consequences Of Maxing Out Your Credit Card

There are over 600 million credit cards held by U.S. consumers and the average credit card debt per household averages about $16,000 according to the Federal Reserve's February 2012 report on consumer debt. Just because your card company offers you a $5,000 limit, doesn't mean that you have to come close or exceed this amount. Some of this debt can be a reflection of carrying a high credit card balance or maxing out on credit card purchases. With the average credit card holder owning 3.5 cards, it's important to manage and keep track of purchases made with your card, so you don't go over your credit card limit or cap.

Consequences
If for some reason you are nearing your credit card limit or if you go over your limit, there are dire consequences. You should be aware and prepared for the penalties and fees that will incur. When you max out on your card, you owe a debt to the credit card company and you're expected to pay it.

There are various reasons why you shouldn't max out your credit card. First off, you won't be able to use your card at any time once you push your card to the limit.

You will need to pay off a portion of the balance in order for you to use the card again. Some companies will close or put a freeze on the account all together, requiring you to pay the entire amount in full in order to use the card again. You can bet on the fact that your credit score will be affected and will drop. The majority of you credit score is based on how much "available" credit you use.

Thirty percent of an individual's FICO score is affected by what happens on the card. If you had good credit before you applied for the card, that will surely change the course of things, when you max out your card.

If you try to refinance a mortgage loan, apply for educational loans or attain additional credit, the maxed out card will show up on your credit report which look bad on your part and can determine if you are a risk or not.

At the lender's discretion, they can charge a default rate if you max out. These rates can vary depending on the company and can rise as high as 30% or more depending on the balance, which could spell disaster for your repayment plans.

Depending on your credit cap, if you're paying the minimum balance, the repayment can take up to a few years. The balance can include finance and interest charges that accrue along with over-limit fees which can balloon your balance. Don't miss any payments or pay late under any circumstances. This may increase your minimum payment amount and the lender can raise your interest rates which will affect your overall credit score.

What you can do
You can always choose to pay the balance in full; again this is depending on how much the balance is. The best way to prevent going over your credit card limit is to stop the spending and create a budget in advance and establish where and when you want to spend your money. You can also sign up for email or text alerts to tell you when you're about to go over your limit.

Kaia Zawadi is a professional freelance journalist/writer/editor. She regularly writes stories about banking and personal finance for MyBankTracker.com

Copa Holdings: Panama Profits

There are always good operators in even the worst industries. Therefore, I am recommending a leading regional airline based in Panama, says Gavin Graham, contributing editor to Internet Wealth Builder.

Copa Holdings (CPA), operates a fleet of 83 modern aircraft, with an average age of 4.3 years, consisting of 57 Boeing 737-700s, and 737-800s, and 26 Embraer 190 jets.

From its base at Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, it offers the most destinations and international flights of any hub in Latin America, including eight destinations in the US as well as Toronto.

Tocumen's convenient location, excellent weather, and sea level altitude contribute to Copa's excellent on-time record and its ability to act as the centre of a major hub-and-spoke operation, allowing passengers to reach any destination within Central and South America with only one stop.

Copa has expanded rapidly in the last decade. After going public in 2005, it used the access to public markets to grow and modernize its fleet. Also in 2005, it purchased the second largest Colombian airline, and now operates an extensive schedule of internal and international flights in that country.

Copa carried 10.1 million passengers in 2012, a 17% increase on the previous year, and experienced a 24% increase in capacity as it added ten new Boeing 737 aircraft.

With its rapid growth and profitable track record, Copa has far outperformed the S&P 500, returning 170% over the five years to the end of 2012, compared to a 12% increase in the index.

With its new membership in the Star Alliance beginning in mid-2012, Copa should benefit from increased traffic from members of other airline loyalty schemes in the alliance, especially the merged United Continental. As well, it has added new US destinations, such as Las Vegas in 2012, and Boston in 2013.

With the widening of the Panama Canal in 2016 forecast to add substantially to trade and visitors to Panama, and with the boost to its capacity through adding seven new Boeing 737-800s in 2013, it is reasonable to expect Copa's traffic to continue rising over the next few years.

Assuming that the airline keeps its costs competitive, and maintains its conservative policy of fuel hedging to offset the risk of higher prices, Copa should be able to maintain its margins at their present levels, and remain a profitable and successful airline, benefiting from the rising demand for air travel from the growing Latin American middle-class.

With earnings of $11-$11.50 per share projected for 2013, Copa is selling at around 12-times forecast earnings. It pays around 30% of its earnings as a single annual dividend in June of each year, giving it a yield of 1.7%, although it paid a dividend early in December 2012, to beat the change in US dividend tax law.

Copa Holdings is a buy for investors, willing to put up with the volatility inherent in airlines, as a play on growing air traffic and rising incomes in Latin America and the Caribbean.

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Is Sears Just Doomed?

With its stock down nearly 14% on Friday in response to poor earnings, it looks like a lot of investors threw in the towel on Sears Holdings (NASDAQ: SHLD  ) last week -- but not Fool contributor Rich Smith.

He threw in the towel on this stock five years ago, when the company had a chance to remake itself as the Made in the U.S.A. store -- and blew it. Now Wal-Mart's (NYSE: WMT  ) stolen a march on Sears and promised to put $50 billion worth of American-made goods on its shelves over the next 10 years.

For Sears, this looks like the final blow, but it all started with a blown opportunity.

To learn about two retailers with especially good prospects, take a look at The Motley Fool's special free report: "The Death of Wal-Mart: The Real Cash Kings Changing the Face of Retail." In it, you'll see how these two cash kings are able to consistently outperform and how they're planning to ride the waves of retail's changing tide. You can access it by clicking here.

Starbucks Appoints Chiquita Exec As Supply Chain Executive VP

Starbucks  (NASDAQ: SBUX  ) has appointed Deverl Maserang to lead the company's Global Supply Chain Organization, the company announced Thursday.

 

Beginning June 3, Maserang will become executive vice president responsible for supply chain operations worldwide, which encompasses responsibilities from manufacturing and engineering to procurement and inventory management. Maserang joins Starbucks from Chiquita Brands International and brings more than two decades of experience in supply chain leadership positions. In leading the Global Value Chain for Chiquita and Fresh Express, he oversaw about 20,000 employees. Before Chiquita, Maserang worked in supply chain positions at Pepsi Bottling Group, United Parcel Service, and several start-ups.

 

Maserang will report to Starbucks CFO Troy Alstead, who is also the company's chief administrative officer, and be a part of the company's Senior Leadership Team. Maserang's appointment follows other recent, senior leadership appointments by the company. After its first-quarter report, Starbucks moved around five people in its Senior Leadership Team.

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Why young advisers need mentoring

If financial advisers want to build a strong and sustainable business, they need to develop a mentoring program for young employees.

“I've seen a lot of great people wash out of the business in their first two or three years,” Christine Gaze, TD Ameritrade Institutional's director of practice management, said during InvestmentNews' NextGen Virtual Career Fair on Friday. “Our research shows that firms with junior associate programs results in 44% greater income for the owner.”

(Pershing's Dellarocca: Opportunities for NextGen financial planners are growing rapidly)

Guided support helps NextGen advisers find clients in their early years, she said, adding that seasoned advisers should consider taking their junior associates to client meetings to take notes and run analysis until they develop the confidence to take on their own clients.

“The expectation that the junior adviser should be beating the pavement from Day One is inconsistent with advisers' need for succession planning with the next generation,” Ms. Gaze said. “The typical transition to a successor requires 10 years.”

Ms. Gaze took note of Cerulli Associates Inc.'s research showing that the average age of an adviser is 52 and that 26,764 advisers are expected to leave the industry between 2012 and 2017. In light of those statistics, TDAI offers NextGen scholarship and grant programs to attract top talent and promote young advisers.

Getting Rich from Military Technology, Part II

The Russian and the Frenchman

First, let's return to Mendeleev and his missing elements. Why were there gaps in his table? Did the Russian scientist make errors in arranging the elements? Or, based on the gaps, were these apparently "missing elements" key to another aspect of chemistry?

Mendeleev was perplexed, but he also anticipated that something novel would happen. Back in those days, chemistry was a fast-evolving field of science, with many great minds applied to the hardest challenges. (It still is, actually.) Somewhere, someone would figure out the reason for the gaps in Mendeleev's table.

Mendeleev left space in his table of the elements. He predicted that the missing substances were likely somewhere out in nature, but yet to be discovered and isolated. Indeed, in 1871, Mendeleev postulated the existence of a yet-undiscovered element. He named it "eka-aluminium" (using the Russian form of spelling) because of its proximity to aluminum on his proto periodic table.

A few years later, in 1875, a French scientist, Paul Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, discovered the substance that had eluded Mendeleev and named it gallium — after Gaul (Gallia, in Latin), the ancient Roman name of what is now France.

De Boisbaudran had a hard time isolating his first samples of gallium. In one of his early efforts, de Boisbaudran used nearly 700 pounds of zinc-bearing sphalerite ore from the Pyrenees mountains to isolate about 1 gram of gallium. It was quite a messy, complex process.

Gallium Today

Since the 1870s, isolating gallium has become an easier task. Today, gallium is produced as a byproduct of aluminum and zinc production. Aluminum and zinc are — no surprise to the chemists out there — atomic neighbors of gallium on our modern periodic chart. Gallium is also right next to two other elements with intriguing properties, indium and germanium.

Still, gallium is not at all a common element these days. It's scarce, and its uses are high-end. Such as? Well, there's a compound called gallium arsenide (GaAs), which is a semiconductor. And now allow me to get technical for a moment.

Basically, semiconductors conduct electricity, but not in an open manner, such as how copper wire conducts electricity to, say, a light bulb. With a copper wire, electricity moves like a car driving down a smooth street, with no bumps. It's just a nice, clean ride through the wire. Put another way, nothing interesting happens to the electrons as they move.

But with semiconductors? It's like driving down a street covered with speed bumps interspersed with potholes. You bump up, you bump down. You feel the ride. That's sort of what happens to electricity in a semiconductor as well, except it's a good thing for electrical and electronic engineers that the ride is so bumpy. That's the trick, in fact.

Semiconductors move current through things called "holes," or charge carriers. Basically, you can fill a hole with an electron or leave it empty. Got that? It's full or empty. Or consider a light switch that's on or off. Mathematically, it's a one ("1") or a zero ("0"). Do you see where this is going?

Actually, it's going into the realm of quantum physics, but for our purposes, let's just understand that semiconductors control binary digital computing. Semiconductors wind up in all manner of computer chips, microwave frequency integrated circuits (ICs), monolithic microwave ICs, infrared light-emitting diodes, solar cells and lasers. Most of the world's semiconductors are made out of silicon, but not all.

Optical Electronics in America

Back in the 1980s, a brilliant scientist named Geoffrey Taylor worked at Bell Labs in New Jersey. Among other things, he researched optical systems and semiconductors, including the above-noted gallium arsenide. It's a long story, but Dr. Taylor left Bell Labs and took a job at the University of Connecticut, at Storrs.

Along the way, Dr. Taylor scrounged much of his former equipment from Bell Labs and hauled it to Storrs. He also picked up all manner of equipment from other corporate and government labs when they downsized during the serial tech crashes of the past two decades. In essence, Dr. Taylor has a full-up semiconductor materials research lab and fabrication center at UConn. (I've been there.)

Dr. Taylor then put together a team based on optical technologies through which to pursue his research.

A Busted Solar Power Play

A few years ago, they began to work on solar power systems using gallium arsenide. Basically, with solar, the sunlight hits the panel and the photons — the light particles — go into the semiconductor material. The photons stimulate electricity, which is why solar panels generate power. Light goes in, electricity comes out. So far, so good.

It's a long story, but you likely know that the solar space has developed a reputation for uneconomic business efforts — Solyndra and all. So it wasn't too long before Dr. Taylor and colleagues realized that they were barking up the wrong tree, businesswise. In terms of making things work, the solar business is just too competitive for some cutting-edge ideas just now, what with the Chinese flooding the world with super-cheap materials and equipment. Still, the team had their gallium arsenide material and they learned a few things from the solar research.

Hey, a Laser Beam!

Like what, you wonder? Well, forgive me if I oversimplify it, because — I assure you — it's truly complex quantum science. Instead of the "light goes in, electricity comes out" pathway, what if you reverse the flow? That is, put electricity into the gallium arsenide and out comes light. Hey, that sounds like a laser beam. And what a laser beam!

Fast-forward to now. The team has evolved the idea by a country mile. But the truth is that the team is still more in a research mode.

This is a seriously high-tech idea, with all the issues and risks that come with such things.

Using Light for New Purposes

They've developed a next-generation gallium arsenide semiconductor device, incorporating a technology called POET (Planar Opto Electronic Technology). POET allows the integration of optics and electronics on a single chip, which is the breakthrough.

So what are we talking about? With conventional semiconductors, like silicon, you can move electrons, but not photons (light particles), which are much smaller. But by developing the ability to handle photons, with gallium arsenide, you're opening up entirely new capabilities.

First, with photons, you can now move down truly to the level of quantum computing — literally at the atomic level. This is important, because modern computing is at the edge of capabilities with electrons and bulky old silicon. If you know what "Moore's law" is — long story — we're about to see the last chapter written. So gallium arsenide is the next great leap for technology, setting computing up for the next 50 years or so.

According to Dr. Taylor, POET is a "disruptive technology" within many commercial and government markets. It overcomes critical problems for all manner of tasks, starting with the physical size and energy limitations of silicon chips.

In fact, the benefits of POET are analogous to what occurred with the first silicon integrated circuits, except now we see the improvement down at the atomic level, versus the much larger scales of silicon technology.

In practice, POET eliminates connectors, solder joints, assembly and multiple packaging steps. It decreases the size of a computer chip, as well as cost, complexity and power consumption. How about dramatically smaller supercomputers, which don't require air conditioners the size of a railway car?

At the same time, POET technology is versatile. It's possible to integrate POET with incumbent silicon tech. Thus, while POET is revolutionary, it's also compatible with much of the world's existing capabilities. In other words, POET does not require a brand-new "tech ecosystem" if it is to gain market traction.

Military Apps — Even Vampire-Killers

POET immediately addresses the requirements of numerous military development and procurement programs for improved sensors, faster and more secure communications, improved memory and storage and overall computing power. There's no end to the transformation in computing power, imaging, target definition, signals intelligence and more that we could see from this.

What else? Well, looking out into the future, POET chips can generate coherent light beams — like laser light — with very small inputs of power. So imagine, say, a ship with a phased array radar that can lock onto a fast-moving object while a "smart skin" on the hull literally weaponizes and emits laser light precisely onto the target. Star Trek, anyone? Well, we're not there yet, but people are working on it. It's a vampire killer. Eventually.

Mendeleev's "missing element" now forms the foundation to a host of new breakthroughs that can revolutionize the world of digital computing and change the nature of weaponry and war.

The tech is so new that, as I've described, it's scarcely out of the lab. Where will it go? Well, if you had asked that question about, say, silicon chips, back in the 1960s or 1970s, could you have envisioned what is happening today? This idea can go anywhere, and I suspect that means it will go far.

Best,
Byron King

Don't panic after Bill Gross exit

Is Bill Gross' future at Janus really that bright? Only time will tell. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) The bond king has left the building. Should investors run for the exits too?

Investors with money at Pimco are understandably queasy after legendary investor Bill Gross shocked the financial world by jumping ship on Friday.

Some are already yanking their cash from the $2 trillion pile that Pimco manages. Others may even follow Gross to Janus Capital (JNS) where he's poised to manage a new bond fund.

But Morningstar is warning investors to avoid overreacting.

"Now is the time to reassess, but not panic. Yes, Bill Gross -- one of the world's greatest living investors -- is leaving. But there's a deep bench behind him," said Scott Burns, global director of manager research at Morningstar.

Not telegraphed: It's clear Gross's departure caught many people off guard -- even the experts.

Morningstar placed all 50 rated Pimco funds under review on Friday to give it time to weigh the news.

"Fund managers leave but it's rare it happens at such a flagship like this. It's always better for investors when it's deliberate, planned and telegraphed," said Burns.

He said it's possible hundreds of billions in Pimco funds may leave the firm with Gross.

Of course, that's nothing new for Pimco, which has been rocked by 16 straight months of client outflows at its flagship Total Return fund. The Total Return fund is up 3.6% this year, but that's trailing its benchmark, according to Morningstar data.

Pimco's outflow problems weren't helped by the surprise departure earlier this year of former CEO Mohamed El-Erian. His exit triggered a wave of negative stories suggesting Gross's erratic behavior was to blame.

It's possible Pimco could benefit from fewer distracti! ons now that Gross is gone.

Deep bench: Morningstar stressed that Pimco has a number of capable fund managers it can rely on to fill Gross' shoes, including deputy chief investment officers Dan Ivascyn and Mark Kiesel.

Ivascyn was named fixed-income fund manager of the year in 2013 by Morningstar and Kiesel won the prestigious award the year before.

"There's a lot of depth at Pimco. It's not like his departure has left the cupboard bare," said Burns.

It's also worth remembering that Gross secured his reputation as a legend in finance after decades of success. The 70-year-old who founded Pimco back in 1971 isn't exactly a rising star anymore.

"One way or another, this was coming to an end," said Burns.

Jump to Janus? Gross's arrival at Janus is already generating serious excitement. The asset manager's shares surged 38% on Friday as Wall Street bets the blockbuster news will translate to greater profits.

It's too early to say whether mutual investors should move their money to Janus. The release revealing the Gross move was short on details and the relatively young fund he's going to manage isn't even reviewed by Morningstar.

Nor is it clear what strategy Gross plans to implement at Janus. Investors should also beware of the transaction fees that go along with moving money from one fund manager to another.

"He's not even in the saddle yet," said Burns.

CoreLogic: Gain in Home Prices Less Robust in May

Lynne Sladky/AP WASHINGTON -- U.S. home prices rose in May compared with a year earlier, but the gains have slowed. Data provider CoreLogic (CLGX) said Tuesday that prices increased 8.8 percent in May compared with 12 months earlier. The pace of gains has slowed as more homes have come onto the market, according to CoreLogic. On a month-to-month basis, prices rose 1.2 percent from April to May. But CoreLogic's monthly figures aren't adjusted for seasonal patterns, such as warmer weather, which can affect sales. Prices increased the most in Western states, including Hawaii, California and Nevada. Home sales began to stall in the middle of last year after double-digit price increases and higher mortgage rates made real estate less affordable for many people. But sales rose last month as price gains have moderated and mortgage rates have dipped. Sales of existing homes climbed 4.9 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million homes, according to the National Association of Realtors. However, sales are down 5 percent year-over-year. The Realtors forecast that sales of existing homes will decline 2.8 percent this year to 4.95 million, compared with 5.1 million in 2013. Sluggish sales, in turn, will slow annual price gains this year to roughly 5 percent or 6 percent, economists predict. Prices rose in the 12 months ending in May in every state, CoreLogic said. The states with the biggest price gains were Hawaii, 13.2 percent; California, 13.1 percent; Nevada, 12.6 percent; Michigan, 11.8 percent; New York, 11 percent; Georgia, 10.3 percent; and Oregon, 10.1 percent. Ninety-four of the 100 largest metro areas reported higher prices in May compared with a year earlier. The six that did not record an increase were: Worcester, Massachusetts; Hartford, Connecticut; New Haven, Connecticut; Little Rock, Arkansas; Rochester, New York; and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Average prices have risen nationwide for the past 27 months. Still, homes nationwide are 13.5 percent below their peak values in April 2006. Ten states have exceeded their previous peaks, including Alaska, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Colorado, Texas and New York.