I stumbled on another excellent advisor blog to highlight in our running series of advisor blogger profiles. David Laidlaw is an investment advisor with National Advisors Trust, and he hosts a client-facing blog on his site. This is our second advisor blog profile with a National Advisors Trust advisor (Bob Klosterman’s Wealth-O-Nomics being the other).

David is a CFA and practicing attorney, and co-authors the blog with fellow CFA, Ben Connard. They use something called SquareSpace to host the web site and blog, which seems to be similar to the modular DotNetNuke software we’re using to host FinFolio. I also need to thank David for turning me on to the hilarious JeffMatthewsIsNotMakingThisUp site.

1. How would you describe your business and typical client?

Our firm serves as an investment manager to individuals and families and institutional investors such as pension plans, endowments and foundations.  We determine their investment goals and risk tolerance and then build a portfolio using individual equities, fixed-income Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and International ETFs to match their objectives.  We rely on fundamental equity analysis and create portfolios using common stocks that sell for discounts to their intrinsic values .  Laidlaw Group also manages a Long/Short Hedge Fund. 

2. When and why did you start blogging?

We started blogging a year and a half ago to provide our clients and others with insights into our mindset regarding various financial topics.  We were already writing quarterly investment commentaries and wanted a forum for more continuous posts. 

3.  How often do you post and how much time does it take?

We usually post entries about twice a month.  Most pieces are fairly short and do not take more than a couple of hours to compose and edit. 

4. Have your clients noticed the blog? What have they said?

The feedback from our clients has been positive.  Certain clients that read the investment commentary now view the blog instead.  Clients feel most comfortable discussing our macro-economic views as reflected by our submissions.

5. What are some of your favorite blog posts? (with hyperlinks, please)

http://www.laidlawgrp.com/journal/2006/10/31/dividends-for-retirement.html

This entry describes the rationale for using high-dividend paying stocks in an income portfolio and not relying too much on fixed-income securities.

http://www.laidlawgrp.com/journal/2008/3/4/spend-your-rebate.html

Here, Ben Connard shows the importance of the multiplier effect on spending decisions regarding tax rebate checks.

http://www.laidlawgrp.com/journal/2008/4/8/financial-blow-ups-and-minsky-units.html

This piece ties together a framework for how financial systems get destabilized and the role of compensation structures in the process.

6. What software do you use… For your blog? To run your practice?

We use a content management system called Squarespace (www.squarespace.com).  This software provides a blogging module along with various static page options.  Pricing is very reasonable and the hands-on support is great.  Portfolio Center (Schwab) is our portfolio management system and we use Outlook/Exchange along with OneNote to track interactions.

7. What web sites or blogs do *you* read regularly?

We read the following blogs:

http://seekingalpha.com/

http://jeffmatthewsisnotmakingthisup.blogspot.com/

www.allaboutalpha.com/blog/

www.smartbrief.com (CFA Institute news brief)