Money Matters with Ken Moraif investment advisory firm in Dallas

[Watertree]

My brother in law lives in the Dallas metro area. He recently attended a "money matters with Ken Moraif" seminar. Moraif has a radio show in the Dallas and Houston metro areas. He also has a website, moneymatters.net. I looked up his website, specializes in retirement planning with a "buy, hold and sell" philosophy. A market timer with lots of disclaimers.

Brother in law is 65 years old and frustrated that his mega corp 401K has not grown substantially. He is looking for investment opportunities outside of his 401K. I recommended Scott Burns and his Asset Builder advisory firm in Dallas.

Does anyone know anything good or bad about money matters with Ken Moraif advisory firm?

Thanks
Watertree

[Onward]

Just looked at his website. He claims to have foreseen multiple things that the best minds in finance didn't.

In addition, and more importantly, he looks slimy.



Avoid. Or go to his next seminar just for the world-famous oatmeal, raisin, and chocolate chunk cookies.

[Lakewood90712]

This is kind of an old thread, but the only one I could find on money Adviser Ken Moraif. He is doing a lot of advertising lately.

I went to one of his seminars last week, and was somewhat underwhelmed. Canned 2 hr. presentation , with lots of references to industry awards, very little on the nuts and bolts of their money management. No questions could be asked with the group listening . No mention of actual fees charged, just that it is asset based , assessed quarterly.

I did get this, seems they use 60% stocks 40% bonds for all clients, re-balance quarterly, Sell everything when a bear market is starting , in their opinion, and a troubling reference to using " Whole Life " Insurance.

P.S. The " Fresh baked " cookies were packaged. I took a pass on the cookies too.

[Onward]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lakewood90712 Sell everything when a bear market is starting

Why didn't I think of that?

[Lakewood90712]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Onward Why didn't I think of that?

No No , Double down , and wait for the dead cat bounce

On the website, it really looks like his head-shot is photo shopped onto a different body . Creepy .

[eytonxav]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lakewood90712 I did get this, seems they use 60% stocks 40% bonds for all clients, re-balance quarterly, Sell everything when a bear market is starting , in their opinion, and a troubling reference to using " Whole Life " Insurance.

My friend uses Ken and is satisfied with the results. Ken does generally use 60/40 ports with index funds I believe. His big pitch is to keep you out of harms way when recessions may hit. He moves clients investments to cash/bonds when market moves X% (me thinks about 4%) below the 200 DMA, although they claim to consider some other factors as well, and then back in when market raises above the 200 DMA. I believe fees may vary from .5% up to 1% depending on how much is invested. I don't think anyone will get screwed using Ken, but he does pray on the FUD factor.

[robertf57]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DFW_M5 My friend uses Ken and is satisfied with the results. Ken does generally use 60/40 ports with index funds I believe. His big pitch is to keep you out of harms way when recessions may hit. He moves clients investments to cash/bonds when market moves X% (me thinks about 4%) below the 200 DMA, although they claim to consider some other factors as well, and then back in when market raises above the 200 DMA. I believe fees may vary from .5% up to 1% depending on how much is invested. I don't think anyone will get screwed using Ken, but he does pray on the FUD factor.

Really? I think every single one of his customers is getting screwed if they are paying him .5% to 1.0% of their assets

[easysurfer]

The "market timer with lots of disclaimers" part would make me nervous, correct that ... very nervous

[CaliforniaMan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robertf57 Really? I think every single one of his customers is getting screwed if they are paying him .5% to 1.0% of their assets

And don't forget them getting screwed by his trying to time the market with moving averages. Wow what an amazing new concept!

[eytonxav]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robertf57 Really? I think every single one of his customers is getting screwed if they are paying him .5% to 1.0% of their assets

Some people are too busy, don't possess the knowledge/discipline and just don't want to do it themselves; such is the case with my friend. And even if one does the DIY approach there is no way to know whether they wouldn't screw themselves anyhow with inappropriate trading. Remember, the folks here are a different breed from the average investor.

[fosterscik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DFW_M5 My friend uses Ken and is satisfied with the results. Ken does generally use 60/40 ports with index funds I believe. His big pitch is to keep you out of harms way when recessions may hit. He moves clients investments to cash/bonds when market moves X% (me thinks about 4%) below the 200 DMA, although they claim to consider some other factors as well, and then back in when market raises above the 200 DMA. I believe fees may vary from .5% up to 1% depending on how much is invested. I don't think anyone will get screwed using Ken, but he does pray on the FUD factor.

Here's a nice short piece explaining why this kind of strategy is a loser:
The Irrelevant Investor — The Worst Investment Strategy Ever

It models the return of the S&P 500 for someone adopting this strategy. The article title says it all

[eytonxav]

You are preaching to the choir. All's I'm saying is Ken won't lose your nest egg, unlike many other so-called fee advisors. As to market timers, there are many closet market timers on this site, so be careful not to offend them:cool smiley:

Scott Burns is also an advisor that I think one would be relatively safe with, via DFA funds.

[RobLJ]

[Does anyone know anything good or bad about money matters with Ken Moraif advisory firm?

Thanks
Watertree

[/QUOTE]
I listen to him on the radio sometimes when I check on my mother in Ft. Worth.
Moraif claims to successfully market time for his clients, but you can do worse. Otherwise, his investments seem OK, and he does seem to know the basics of financial planning.

Burns's simple portfolios would be better, of course.

[MBAVisionary]

Has he considered robo investing? Even starting out small to see if he has a tolerance for it. I'm thinking of Betterment or Wealthfront off the top of my head. There are articles comparing the two. Would link but that might violate a policy on this site.

At 65, it seems to me like lower risk would be desired. Also isn't timing the market counterintuitive? A lot of actively managed portfolios seem to do more frequent trades, so you're paying for the advisor, creating additional taxable events and possibly investing in funds that have higher expense ratios than Vanguard, etc.

Does he know if his 401k has hidden fees that are eating into his gains?

I also would look for a fiduciary who has your brother-in-law's best interests at heart vs a financial advisor who is not legally obligated to so. Not saying they're all bad, but many of them aren't so trustworthy...

I just realized the original post date was in 2012. Watertree what was the outcome?

[ETFs_Rule]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Watertree My brother in law lives in the Dallas metro area. He recently attended a "money matters with Ken Moraif" seminar. Moraif has a radio show in the Dallas and Houston metro areas. He also has a website, moneymatters.net. I looked up his website, specializes in retirement planning with a "buy, hold and sell" philosophy. A market timer with lots of disclaimers. Brother in law is 65 years old and frustrated that his mega corp 401K has not grown substantially. He is looking for investment opportunities outside of his 401K. I recommended Scott Burns and his Asset Builder advisory firm in Dallas. Does anyone know anything good or bad about money matters with Ken Moraif advisory firm?

Anyone who has followed Moraif's advice since 2009 has seriously missed the boat. He sold low and bought high in 2010, missing out on 11% in gains. He sold low and bought high in 2011, missing out on another 10% in gains. And so far in 2015 he sold low and at this point in time appears to have missed out on another 10% in gains. We'll see where the market goes from here. But this is disastrous "advice"! This is like another 2008!

[Terryjm51]

Thanks. All I live in Texas and I just got a dose of FEAR


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