Some Florida Investment Pros Don't Mind the Market Slide
March 29, 2011
If the market has taken a plunge, why are these stock pickers smiling? Last week, the Florida Stock Index of about 100 publicly traded companies tumbled 4.7% -- wiping out the state's second-quarter gain of 3.8%. The index, compiled for Florida Journal by Wilshire Associates Inc., Santa Monica, Calif., is loaded with technology and health-care stocks, two sectors currently tanking. Yet this seemingly gloomy news is cause for cheer among many of the state's investment pros. ``I'm not looking for a complete meltdown,'' explains Bryan Hines, managing director at Barber & Bronson Inc., a young securities firm in Fort Lauderdale. But he's hoping for maybe one more dip, which he says would boost business as his firm prepares to open a new office in Miami. What gives? It seems that in a bull market, Florida's legions of wealthy investors don't need much assistance picking winning stocks. Now, with the market having lost so much ground, money managers reason the state's millionaires will need more help scouting for distressed stocks. ``It's been so frustrating because so many stocks were overvalued,'' says Deeanna Easter, president of Howland & Associates in Tampa. ``I will be doing a lot more analysis'' with the market lower, says Ms. Easter, who is broadening her firm's focus by hiring a bond specialist. Another money manager who's planning on hiring -- in this case a full-time assistant -- is Anette Scottie, chief investment officer of Wellington Hill Financial Inc., Naples. The extra help around the office will let him devote more time to prospecting for rich clients. There are plenty of such clients to go around: Florida boasts 142,000 millionaire households -- the fifth-highest number in the nation, according to PSI, a Tampa-based research firm. And most are fairly sophisticated investors. When the 33-year-old Mr. Scottie vacationed in Key West last week, he couldn't resist phoning to check on clients' morale amid the falling stock prices. But he found them unfazed. ``In Naples,'' says Mr. Scottie, ``your average mom and pop customer is the former CEO of a Fortune 500 company'' who is used to market turmoil. ``Wealthy investors, especially the retirees, know the score,'' says Johnetta Cone, a senior vice president at PSI. Indeed, one such Palm Beach investor, 78-year-old Jackelyn Hafer, is hanging tough. He observes, ``I haven't sold anything, even though my losses on paper are $15,000 to $20,000 a week -- more than I earned in a year as a young man.''
