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16 Hartford Business Journal•January5,2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com Expansion-minded wealth managers bullish on 2015 By Gregory Seay gseay@HartfordBusiness.com C onnecticut's cadre of financial-wealth advisers see another strong year in 2015, with the volatile U.S. bull stock market continuing to be buoyed through corporate earnings and other sound fundamentals. With American "Baby Boomers'' a year nearer to retirement, some firms are beefing up financial advisory staffs to sate mount- ing demand for advice about where to safely and profitably invest their trillion-dollar nest eggs. Others cau- tion that despite a bull stock mar- ket heading into its sixth year in 2015, investors, who have grown more sophisti- cated in what and where they park their savings, are likely to see their investment gains grow harder to come by. Douglas Cote is a chartered financial analyst and chief market strategist for Windsor-based retirement-services pro- vider Voya Financial Inc., based in Windsor. Formerly ING, Voya manages about $213 bil- lion in assets for customers. "My forecast for 2015,'' Cote said, "is for a sustainable global expansion driven by tectonic shifts.'' One such shift already is underway, he said, citing the steep drop in energy costs, caused by the decline in the price of a barrel of crude to below $60. The other shifts, he said, involve global trade, technology and the emergence of "frontier markets'' in Europe and Asia. U.S. corporate earnings, Cote said, will post a 7.5 percent gain above what was a record sum posted in 2014. "Despite over volatility from oil, geo- politics and any number of things, the bull market continues,'' he said. Robert Laraia, principal at NorthStar Wealth Partners, an independent adviser based in West Hartford, concurs with Cotes' outlook for the stock market and corporate earnings. Laraia said while a bipartisan congres- sional push for broad tax reform may be lacking, there is mounting legislative sup- port for at least a permanent cut in the corporate income tax to lift America Inc.'s global competitiveness. Stocks would get a further boost from that, he said. Validea Capital Management, a wealth adviser based in West Hartford and New York City, launched Dec. 10 what it claims is among the first low-cost, exchange-traded fund issued by a Connecticut firm. West Hartford partner Justin Carbon- neau says there are a few things influenc- ing the investment management landscape. "The first is that there is certainly a downward pressure on fees in the asset management business, which will cause many firms to become more competitive on fees and/or offer more value to their cli- ents,'' he said. "This is a net benefit to most investors." The other is uncertainty over how much steam the current bull stock market has left. After bottoming out at 666 in 2008, the closely watched S&P 500 ended 2014 around 2000 — a 200 percent climb. "Returns in the foreseeable future won't be as easy and won't come as quickly,'' Carbon- neau said. But that isn't slowing demand for advi- sory services. NorthStar's Laraia says his firm is seeing more prospective clients on his doorstep. In early December, Aetna Inc. offered long-time employees a redemption option in retirement plans dating to its prop- erty-casualty predecessor. That flooded the local financial-advisory market with investors, he said, carefully seeking investment and savings options for their nest eggs. NorthStar this year added eight advi- sors to its staff spread across six Connecti- cut offices, and last fall, opened a seventh office, in Springfield. The firm likely will add four more advisors, plus an equal num- ber of support staffers, in 2015, Laraia said. "We're being interviewed more and more,'' Laraia said, "rather than someone coming in and saying, 'Here's my money.' … It's very easy to see it's a different consumer mindset going forward.'' n i m a g e | v i O l e T k a i P a ; s H u T T e R s T O C k . C O m Robert Laraia, principal, NorthStar Wealth Partners Connecticut on June 4 CT Convention Center Hartford Business Connects ! Interested in speaking at the 2015 CT Business Expo? We invite you to have the opportunity to be chosen to present at this year's CT Business Expo by filling out a simple online speaker request form. All speaking parameters and workshop topics are outlined in the speaker request form. The deadline to submit the speaker request form is January 30th! Contact Amy Orsini at 860-236-9998 ext.134 or email aorsini@HartfordBusiness.com for info and link to speaker request form. CALL FOR SPEAKERS! Gold Level: Platinum Level: Produced By: 2015 Thursday, June 4th, 2015 Connecticut Convention Center, Hartford • CTBEXPO.com 1 5 t h A n n u A l Quality Energy Results