Cash Management

I just returned from an industry conference in Omaha, Nebraska.  The major themes during the 4 days of meetings, breakout sessions, and keynote speeches were perseverance, optimism, and opportunities.  With all the turmoil and transition in the banking and financial industry over the past year and a half, there are lots of people looking for financial advice and possibly a new advisor. Also, while the stock markets have recovered some of the losses, the easy money has been made and people need to be more tactical in their approach in their portfolios.  One of the last sessions I attended was called Cash Management Strategies in a Low Interest Environment.  Basically they said that more people are sitting on cash nowadays because they are still fearful of market uncertainty and have short and midterm cash needs that cannot be at risk in the stock market.  The challenge is to find higher yielding investments that are safe.  CD rates are very low right now and most people looking for income need more than the 1 to 3% that they are finding in CD's.  Money Market rates are even worse and some folks have discovered that these investments are not as safe as previously thought.  Opportunities seem to be in the investment grade corporate bond market and with newer investment products known as Structured Notes that can give a person access to the stock market with principal protection.  The main thing is to know that there are viable solutions for everyone, but people need sound advice.  Tiger Woods did not get to where he is in the golf world by reading how to books and golf digest magazine; he has coaches help him improve his game!