What we have is a crisis in confidence. It’s not such a small world anymore. When countries retreat, look inward instead of outward, tension builds, and fingers are pointed. Look at what’s going on at home in the U.S., for example. The big blue blob cities continue operating as usual as unsustainable deficits and pension obligations build. Look at the stark differences on the state level between California and my favored red states, like Florida, by example. They’re night and day. The same is happening in the Eurozone. Over the last eight years, what I’ve witnessed personally is a major … [Read more...]
What Is a Fiduciary Duty? Are You Working with a Fiduciary?
Are you working with a fiduciary? What is a fiduciary? If you aren't sure your advisor is a fiduciary by law, you should find out. It can make a difference in what happens in your portfolio. In his 2009 article "The Fiduciary Principle: No Man Can Serve Two Masters," the founder of The Vanguard Group, John (Jack) Bogle, explained the fiduciary duty as follows: The concept of fiduciary duty has a long history, going back more or less eight centuries under English common law. Fiduciary duty is essentially a legal relationship of confidence or trust between two or more parties, most commonly a … [Read more...]
Birth Rates in France Worst Since Post-WWII Era
You know Your Survival Guy is worried about Italy's low birth rates. But just as worrying is France, which is witnessing its lowest birthrates since just after WWII. Can you imagine? Fertility rates in France have fallen to 1.8. Hélène de Lauzun reports in The European Conservative: After Spain and Italy, it is now France’s turn to publish alarming figures on the state of its birth rate. According to the national statistics agency, INSEE, the year 2023 will be particularly “weak” for births. In the first quarter, France recorded 7% fewer births than in 2020, before the pandemic—the lowest … [Read more...]
Social Security: Declining Italy Needs a Bambino Boom
Your Survival Guy just got back from Rome, and it's a wonderful city. But something is missing. The "bambinos." Italy is facing a crisis in its birthrates that aren't nearly high enough to replace those Italians who are dying or migrating out of the country. CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau, Valentina Di Donato, and ANtonia Mortensen report: Italy, a country once known for its big families gathered around the dinner table, is facing a crisis of unparalleled proportions. For the first time, the number of births in a year fell below 400,000 – representing an average of 1.25 babies per … [Read more...]
Your Survival Guy in Rome 30-Years A.B. (After Babson)
Back in 1994, Your Survival Guy, a recent Babson College graduate, decided to put his diploma to work, and hopped on a plane to Greece to spend some time with a fraternity brother who summered on one of the Greek Isles. “When else are you going to get an opportunity to do this again?” my dad said. And with that, I coordinated with my high school friend, a recent Duke grad, to meet up in Rome and tour Western Europe for a month or so. “Meet you in Rome,” I said. “I’ll figure out how to get there from Athens,” I said. This was not a quick boat ride to Martha’s Vineyard. Your Survival Guy … [Read more...]
Insurers Now Fleeing the Net Zero Insurance Alliance
A number of European insurers are fleeing the Net Zero Insurance Alliance, which pushes firms to use their financial muscle to enforce the E—environmental—activism of the ESG trifecta. Two French firms, AXA and SCOR, along with Allianz from Germany, have decided to leave the UN-backed group focused on pushing the climate change agenda. Reuters reports: A United Nations-convened climate alliance for insurers suffered at least three more departures on Thursday including the group's chair, as insurance companies take fright in the face of opposition from U.S. Republican politicians. At least … [Read more...]
A Three-Week International Research Trip to Paris via Rome
Happy Thursday. Your Survival Guy’s been up for hours, having returned yesterday from a three-week international research trip to Paris via Rome. I’ll have plenty to share with you in the weeks ahead. Don’t be a stranger. Beat the Friday email rush by checking in with me daily right here at www.yoursurvivalguy.com OK then, here’s my take on the lay of the land on the international front. The US dollar isn’t what it used to be, and Your Survival Guy doesn’t see it getting any better. Over the last eight years or so, Your Survival Guy’s been traveling to Paris, often twice a year … [Read more...]
What Does That Have to Do with Your Dividend?
You know Your Survival Guy loves dividends and values his fiduciary duty to clients. But Richard Vanderford writes in The Wall Street Journal that this year companies will be voting on issues like "abortion, guns and climate change." What does any of that have to do with your dividend? Vanderford continues: A backlash against companies taking on issues ranging from climate change to abortion rights is helping to push shareholder proposals to record numbers this year. More advocacy groups are using these resolutions to try to inject their voices into the corporate agenda, questioning … [Read more...]
The ESG Cartel
In an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall exposes the behavior of big financial institutions that have created what could be described as an ESG cartel. He writes: Proponents of ESG—environmental, social and governance—investing are posing as champions of the free market. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes and I testified earlier this month before the House Oversight Committee regarding our continuing investigations into several global financial alliances that aim to impose ESG policies on American businesses and consumers in defiance of our … [Read more...]
How Activists Have Weaponized Corporate Boards
Your Survival Guy is focused on you, the millionaire next door, who wants to enjoy travel and family in retirement. You may even be the type of saver who doesn't want to stop working completely because you enjoy the skills you've developed over decades of working hard and saving til it hurts. When you invest your hard-earned money in a company, it's because you expect the managers of that company to work just as hard as you do to return your money and then some. But not everyone thinks like you. There are shareholders who want to weaponize corporations to pursue their political agendas. They … [Read more...]
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