seguros-inversiones

Como inversores, una de las mejores maneras en las cuales podemos aprender las estrategias que nos permitan llevar adelante una carrera inversora exitosa y redituable, consiste en analizar las lecciones que se obtienen de las inversiones de aquellas personas que han demostrado consistentemente un importante grado de sabiduría a la hora de manejar su dinero. Si bien es importante aprender de nuestros aciertos y errores, también puede ser fundamental analizar las movidas de los grandes genios de las inversiones e intentar aprender de ellos.

Como en muchos ámbitos de la vida, la práctica es un factor tanto o más importante que la teoría en el mundo de las inversiones, y con la disponibilidad de información que posibilita Internet es actualmente posible estar al tanto de los aciertos y errores de los mejores inversores del mundo. En el podio de los más reconocidos inversores del mundo se encuentra sin lugar a dudas Warren Buffet, probablemente el inversor más reconocido por toda la comunidad inversora.

“Voy a decirles el secreto de la riqueza,

sean codiciosos cuando los demás tengan miedo y tengan miedo cuando los demás sean codiciosos”

Warren Buffet

En base a su filosofía de inversión, que puede ser tan simple de comprender, pero no tan fácil de llevar a la práctica, Buffet acaba de realizar una oferta para reasegurar los pagos de determinada clases de bonos de los gobiernos municipales nortemericanos. El contexto actual de gran incertidumbre sobre la solidez o no de determinados activos ha provocado verdaderos derrumbes en los precios de las compañías que se dedican a asegurar el pago de bonos. El problema consiste en que muchos de estos bonos se encuentran respaldados por créditos hipotecarios, y como es ampliamente conocido, se está produciendo en EEUU una serie de defaults masivos sobre estos créditos. Por este motivo, los inversores se encuentran fuertemente asustados ante las posibles pérdidas que podrían afrontar las empresas que tomaron el compromiso de asegurar los pagos de estos bonos.

La propuesta de Buffet consiste en reasegurar, por un precio considerable, claro, los pagos de los bonos municipales. Se trata de bonos que emiten los municipios, generalmente para financiar proyectos determinados y los pagos correspondientes provienen de la capacidad del municipio para recaudar sus impuestos. Considerando estas cuestiones, Buffet no está ofreciendo seguros para bonos cuya calidad crediticia sea casi imposible de dilucidar, como los hipotecarios, sino que está seleccionando dentro del universo de bonos aquellos cuyas perspectivas resultan más sencillas de evaluar y comprender.

Como inversores individuales, lamentablemente no disponemos del capital ni la capacidad analítica necesaria para evaluar este tipo de opciones. El principio fundamental en el que se fundamenta la jugada parece sin embargo de lo más transparente: en un momento en el cual todo el mundo quiere alejarse de ciertos bonos, Buffet apuesta a asegurar los que considera adecuados y obtener una prima por ese seguro que sería práctimante imposible en otro contexto.

Interest Rates

Fed Funds Rate: Clearly the most important interest rate. It is the rate that depositary institutions charge each other for overnight loans. The Fed announces changes in the Fed Funds rate when it wishes to send clear monetary policy signals. These announcements normally have large impact on all stock, bond and currency markets.

Discount Rate

The interest rate at which the Fed charges commercial banks for emergency liquidity purposes. Although this is more of a symbolic rate, changes in it imply clear policy signals. The Discount Rate is almost always less than the Fed Funds Rate.

30-year Treasury Bond

The 30-year US Treasury Bond, also known as the long bond, or bellwether treasury. It is the most important indicator of markets' expectations on inflation. Markets most commonly use the yield (rather than price) when referring to the level of the bond. As in all bonds, the yield on the 30-year treasury is inversely related to the price. There is no clear-cut relation between the long bond and the US dollar. But the following relation usually holds: A fall in the value of the bond (rise in the yield) due to inflationary concerns may pressure the dollar. These concerns could arise from strong economic data.

Depending on the stage of the economic cycle, strong economic data could have varying impacts on the dollar. In an environment where inflation is not a threat, strong economic data may boost the dollar. But at times when the threat of inflation (higher interest rates) is most urgent, strong data normally hurt the dollar, by means of the resulting sell-off in bonds.

Nonetheless, as the supply of 30-year bonds began to shrink following the US Treasury's refunding operations (buy back its debt), the 30-year bond's role as a benchmark had gradually given way to its 10-year counterpart.

Being a benchmark asset-class, the long bond is normally impacted by shifting capital flows triggered by global considerations. Financial/political turmoil in emerging markets could be a possible booster for US treasuries due to their safe nature, thereby, helping the dollar.

3-month Eurodollar Deposits

The interest rate on 3-month dollar-denominated deposits held in banks outside the US. It serves as a valuable benchmark for determining interest rate differentials to help estimate exchange rates. To illustrate USD/JPY as a theoretical example, the greater the interest rate differential in favor of the eurodollar against the euroyen deposit, the more likely USD/JPY will receive a boost. Sometimes, this relation does not hold due to the confluence of other factors.

10-year Treasury Note

FX markets usually refer to the 10-year note when comparing its yield with that on similar bonds overseas, namely the Euro (German 10-year bund), Japan (10-year JGB) and the UK (10-year gilt). The spread differential (difference in yields) between the yield on 10-year US Treasury note and that on non US bonds, impacts the exchange rate. A higher US yield usually benefits the US dollar against foreign currencies.

Federal Reserve Bank (Fed)

The U.S Central Bank has full independence in setting monetary policy to achieve maximum non-inflationary growth. The Fed's chief policy signals are: open market operations, the Discount Rate and the Fed Funds rate.

Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)

The FOMC is responsible for making decisions on monetary policy, including the crucial interest rate announcements it makes 8 times a year. The 12-member committee is made up of 7 members of the Board of Governors; the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; while the remaining four seats carry one-year term each, in a rotating selection of the presidents of the 11 other Reserve Banks.

Treasury

The US Treasury is responsible for issuing government debt and for making decisions on the fiscal budget. The Treasury has no say in monetary policy, but its statements on the dollar have an major influence on the currency.

Economic Data

The most important economic data items released in the US are: labor report (payrolls, unemployment rate and average hourly earnings), CPI, PPI, GDP, international trade, ECI, NAPM, productivity, industrial production, housing starts, housing permits and consumer confidence.

Stock Market

The three major stock indices are the Dow Jones Industrials Index (Dow), S&P 500, and NASDAQ. The Dow is the most influential index on the dollar. Since the mid-1990s, the index has shown a strong positive correlation with the greenback as foreign investors purchased US equities. Three major forces affect the Dow: 1) Corporate earnings, forecast and actual; 2) Interest rate expectations and; 3) Global considerations. Consequently, these factors channel their way through the dollar

Cross Rate Effect

The dollar's value against one currency is sometimes impacted by another currency pair (exchange rate) that may not involve the dollar. To illustrate, a sharp rise in the yen against the euro (falling EUR/JPY) could cause a general decline in the euro, including a fall in EUR/USD.

If you are interested in trading currencies online, you will find that the Forex market offers several advantages over equities trading.

24-Hour Trading

Forex is a true 24-hour market, which offers a major advantage over equities trading. Whether it's 6pm or 6am, somewhere in the world there are always buyers and sellers actively trading foreign currencies. Traders can always respond to breaking news immediately, and P&L is not affected by after hours earning reports or analyst conference calls.

After hours trading for U.S. equities brings with it several limitations. ECN's (Electronic Communication Networks), also called matching systems, exist to bring together buyers and sellers - when possible. However, there is no guarantee that every trade will be executed, nor at a fair market price. Quite frequently, traders must wait until the market opens the following day in order to receive a tighter spread.

Superior Liquidity

With a daily trading volume that is 50x larger than the New York Stock Exchange, there are always broker/dealers willing to buy or sell currencies in the FX markets. The liquidity of this market, especially that of the major currencies, helps ensure price stability. Traders can almost always open or close a position at a fair market price.

Because of the lower trade volume, investors in the stock market are more vulnerable to liquidity risk, which results in a wider dealing spread or larger price movements in response to any relatively large transaction.

100:1 Leverage

100:1 leverage is commonly available from online FX dealers, which substantially exceeds the common 2:1 margin offered by equity brokers. At 100:1, traders post $1000 margin for a $100,000 position, or 1%.

While certainly not for everyone, the substantial leverage available from online currency trading firms is a powerful, moneymaking tool. Rather than merely loading up on risk as many people incorrectly assume, leverage is essential in the Forex market. This is because the average daily percentage move of a major currency is less than 1%, whereas a stock can easily have a 10% price move on any given day.

The most effective way to manage the risk associated with margined trading is to diligently follow a disciplined trading style that consistently utilizes stop and limit orders. Devise and adhere to a system where your controls kick in when emotion might otherwise take over.

Lower Transaction Costs

It is much more cost-efficient to trade Forex in terms of both commissions and transaction fees. Most Forex Brokers charge no commissions or fees whatsoever, while still offering traders access to all relevant market information and trading tools. In contrast, commissions for stock trades range from $7.95-$29.95 per trade with online discount brokers up to $100 or more per trade with full service brokers.

Another important point to consider is the width of the bid/ask spread. Regardless of deal size, forex dealing spreads are normally 5 pips or less (a pip is .0005 US cents). In general, the width of the spread in a forex transaction is less than 1/10 that of a stock transaction, which could include a .125 (1/8) wide spread.

Profit Potential In Both Rising And Falling Markets

In every open FX position, an investor is long in one currency and short the other. A short position is one in which the trader sells a currency in anticipation that it will depreciate. This means that potential exists in a rising as well as a falling market.

The ability to sell currencies without any limitations is another distinct advantage over equity trading. In the US equity markets, it is much more difficult to establish a short position due to the Zero Uptick rule, which prevents investors from shorting a stock unless the immediately preceding trade was equal to or lower than the price of the short sale.

More information at: Jairo Villasmil, segurosendolares@gmail.com / mercado-internacional@hotmail.com

Phones: +58(414) 533-7884 / (275) 808-7350

skype: jairo.villasmil

Estimados colegas agentes de seguros y consultores financieros, quiero presentarles el portafolio de productos de una compañía que ha estado en el mercado por más de 30 años, muy respetada, además, por su calidad, confiabilidad y excepcional servicio:

BMI Financial Group, con su oficina principal localizada en Coral Gables, Florida (USA), está dedicado a la industria de los seguros y servicios financieros desde 1973, proveyendo seguros de vida y salud de alta calidad, al igual que productos financieros para la comunidad profesional internacional.

La compañía cuenta con un portafolio muy completo y variado para satisfacer las necesidades de sus clientes proveyéndoles con soluciones cómodas, precisas y eficientes por lo que me gustaría saber si le interesa promoverlos en Venezuela. A continuación le presento un breve resumen de nuestros productos.

I. Productos de Inversión:

La Serie Atlas

La respuesta es fácil. Si usted es estadounidense y vive en el extranjero, los seguros comunes de los EEUU no satisfarán sus necesidades. Las exclusiones geograficas y las limitaciones de proveedores, las cuales son típicas de estas pólizas, restringen o hasta eliminan cobertura cuando se encuentra en el extranjero. Además, puede que no tenga derecho a inscribir en los planes patrocinados por el gobierno del país en el cual radica, o quizá quisiera tener acceso a cuidado médico alrededor del mundo, incluyendo los EEUU, por si llega a enfermarse. Si usted no es estadounidense, quizá necesite una póliza de seguro médico internacional para adicionar a la cobertura que le dispone su gobierno o proveerle cobertura cuando esté fuera de su país de origen. Si su estilo de vida no conoce límites geográficos, usted necesita seguro médico que no conozca fronteras. MultiNational Underwriters? ha diseñado CitizenSecureSM para satisfacer sus necesidades.

¿Quién es el administra el plan?