Pros #1

Brenda Wenning of Wenning Investments was highlighted in today's Wall Street Journal for her active investment management approach.

Here's what the Journal wrote:

There is some evidence that advisers who practice the traditional buy-and-hold philosophy are losing clients to managers trying new approaches. Jeff Porter of North Canton, Ohio, left his buy-and-hold-oriented planner last year and moved his account to Brenda Wenning of Newton, Mass. Ms. Wenning had been a financial adviser for years at a firm that practiced a buy-and-hold approach but started actively managing clients’ money – in part by using leveraged ETFs – when she opened her own practice in 2008.

“I realized when I saw the market starting to change that the old buy-and-hold strategy just doesn’t work,” says Mr. Porter, whose account was already down 20% last year by the time he went to Ms. Wenning. She immediately shifted his investments into cash – a move he calculates saved him $80,000. Since then, he says, Ms. Wenning has been slowly moving back into the markets. His old adviser hadn’t bought or sold a single investment in his account last year.

“You’re paying these people a fee to manage your money,” Mr. Porter says. “They’re really not earning their keep.”