December 2020
Vol 7 | Issue 357

Q&A with Keith Singer of Singer Wealth Advisors

President

Principal Series:

Singer Wealth is a boutique wealth advisory firm that specializes in alternative investments and unique investment strategies. Each year the company performs extensive research and due diligence of hundreds of potential investment strategies in order to deliver the highest possible risk adjusted return to its
money loans and tactically managed separate accounts. The firm’s founder Keith Singer graduated cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in 1992 and obtained a finance degree from the Pennsylvania State University in 1989. Mr. Singer was certified in financial planning by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards in 2000. Mr. Singer continues as an active member of the Florida Bar, drafting wills, trusts and estate-planning documents for his clients. He also advises his clients on a variety of asset protection, income taxation and estate-planning issues. Keith Singer has been quoted on a wide variety of financial issues in The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News and World Report, Money Magazine, Business Week, Kiplinger and The New York Times as well as appearing on NBC, ABC, CBS, and CNBC.

Join us for a private Family Office Insights Webinar/Teleconference featuring Keith Singer of Singer Wealth Advisors, Inc.

December 15th 2:15 -3:15 pm EST

RSVP & CONFIRMATION REQUIRED HERE

 


Family Office Insights is a voluntary, “opt-in” collaborative peer-to-peer community of single family offices, qualified investors and institutional investors. Join the community here www.familyofficeinsights.com


How can structured notes fit into an investor's portfolio?

Structured notes are issued by banks and will provide either income or growth based on the underlying securities on the note. We like to use them in three ways. One to create a high level of current income. Secondly they can be used to create annual returns similar to the historical returns of stocks with less volatility and less risk. Finally they can be used for growth with a combination of both enhanced returns and less risk. Each investor can determine how much enhancement they want on their returns and how much risk reduction. The more risk reduction that is desired, the less the enhancement on the returns would be.

What are the risks associated with structured notes?

The main risk is the credit risk of the issuing bank. We use banks like Citibank, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, TD Bank and Barclay's so you would need to be comfortable that these types of banks aren't going out of business. Secondly you have investment risk of the underlying security usually with a barrier or buffer. This barrier protects you from investment losses up to the level of the barrier. So if your note has a 40% barrier against the S&P 500 index, one a two year note there would historically be a 1.77%% chance of the index being down over 40% after one year. On a four year note there would be a .09% chance or less than one in one thousand of the index being down more than 40% after four years.

Can you give us some examples of some notes that you have used?

Yes we just launched a 5 year note with a 40% barrier against the S&P 500 DOW JONES and Russel 2000 that is paying out an 8.5% coupon. This has very low investment risk. It was issued by the Bank of Montreal which is a 50 billion dollar bank that started in 1817. We also just issued a note that we call a Covid Recovery play. The underlying stock is Wynn Casino. Wynn was already down at the time 40% from its previous highs. We issued a two year note with a 50% barrier against the Wynn that is paying 15.5%. The stock would have to drop way below it's March lows before there would be principal at risk. Finally in March after the big drop we were looking for a way to participate in a rebound. So we moved clients from direct equity investments to a leveraged growth note that matures in 4 years and pays 163% of the gains of either the Dow Jones or S&P 500, whichever does worse. Additionally that note had a 30% barrier. Not that we will need the barrier as the indexes are already up 50% from the lows. At maturity our clients get an additional 63%.


Keith Singer of Singer Wealth Advisors

Keith Singer was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He started his first business — selling soft pretzels — at the age of 11. In 1992, he earned his finance degree from The Pennsylvania State University where he also was a finalist in the AT&T Investment Challenge and started (and sold) a successful house-cleaning business.

As he was growing up, his mother tried to encourage him to become a doctor. Since he exhibited very little interest in subjects like biology and chemistry, Singer resisted his mother’s influence to study pre-med but ultimately they reached a compromise: He would become a lawyer instead of a doctor. By the time Singer was attending law school he realized that he loved South Florida and wanted to reside there. He is a cum laude graduate of the University of Miami School of Law.

As an attorney, Keith Singer helped clients with probate disputes and realized that as an attorney he could only try to fix people’s problems but if he could help them plan properly, he could help them avoid problems altogether. Therefore, he decided to become a Financial Planner. Since 1996, Singer has been advising clients how to tax efficiently grow, preserve and distribute their wealth. In 2000, he obtained his board certification (CFP) from the Financial Planning Board of Standards.

He continues as an active member of the Florida Bar Association, drafting wills, trusts and estate-planning documents for his clients. He also advises his clients on a variety of asset protection, income taxation and estate-planning issues.

Mr. Singer has become active donor to several local philanthropies including JAFCO an organization dedicating to serving underprivileged, neglected and disabled children. Singer Wealth has served as the presenting sponsor for JAFCO’s annual gala each year since 2013 helping the organization raise over $5 million dollars during that span. He and his wife Mishelle reside in Hollywood FL and Margate NJ with their four children.

Contact Keith:

ksinger13@aol.com