Advisor Blog: Fundmastery
My post last week about Andy Gluck attempting to kickstart an Advisor Blogging Revolution gave me a good idea, which is to spotlight some of the advisors who are already blogging. There aren’t many yet. Google research and asking around uncovered less than ten advisors who have blogs. I’m in the process of contacting them with a set of questions about why they started blogging, how it’s working out for them, etc.
The first advisor who got back to me is Kurt Brouwer, who has an excellent site called the Fundmastery Blog:
1. How would you describe your business?
Brouwer & Janachowski is a fee-only financial advisory firm, now in our 21st year.
2. When and why did you start blogging? Who set the blog up for you?
I began reading blogs in 2001. Over time, I began getting all my news and industry information online, from web sites as well as blogs. I had previously written books and articles and blogging seemed like a good fit for our firm. We like to keep our clients informed and we like to share information on investing and other topics. I started our blog in April 2007. I did the first iteration myself on the Wordpress site. After six months, we moved to a hosted site. My friend, Tom Lydon, who runs a very successful blog called ETF Trends, gave me some good advice and contacts for technical help.
3. How often do you post and how much time does it take?
We try to post every business day. Sometimes it does not happen, but we also post multiple time some days, so it works out.
4. Have your clients noticed the blog? What have they said?
We informed our clients of our blog when we started and their response has been very positive so far.
5. What are some of your favorite blog posts? (with hyperlinks, please)
Good News on the Declining Dollar, Savings & More
Amsterdam Real Estate Near High Point of 1736
The Happiness Gap — Economy, Jobs, Money & Government
The Stock Market Crash of 1987Why Are Older People Happier Than Younger People?
How Far Has the Dollar Fallen? And Why?
Is Bill Gross Running for President?
6. What software do you use… For your blog? To run your practice?
The blog is hosted on an ISP. We still use the Wordpress platform for posting.
7. What websites or blogs do *you* read regularly?
I literally have a Favorites list that extends into hundreds of web sites and blogs. For financial information, Wall Street Journal Online is a great site. They have several blogs of which my favorites are MarketBeatBlog and Real Time Economics blog. MarketWatch and Bloomberg are also very good sites. I read James Pethokoukis’ blog, Capital Commerce Blog, which is on the U.S. News & World Report site. I peruse many, many different blogs.
Much thanks to Kurt for taking time to respond to my questions.
Jon Hackett said,
December 28, 2007 at 8:33 pm
Seems like there are a lot of compliance issues with blogs. How are financial advisors mitigating the compliance risks?
Andy Gluck said,
January 1, 2008 at 7:47 am
Advisor blogs should be moderated. Before any comment goes live, it must be reviewed and approved by your compliance officer. That’s how all of my company’s (www.advisorproducts.com) blogs work. If someone posts a comment that is offensive or that might break any compliance rules, you delete the comment.