Portfolio

You never know what to expect. But events of 2011 gave plenty of clues for what lies ahead in 2012, as trading firms and exchanges speed up and beef up.

A 10-year low of new municipal bond issuance is what was on everyone’s mind in 2011. Last year, only $295 billion of tax-exempt bonds were issued, down almost 32% from 2010 when $433 billion was issued. It was the lowest amount of issuance since 2001.

Volatility, the fear of a second worldwide recession, continued aversion to equity funds and uncertainty over Dodd-Frank regulatory fallout-all headlined 2011.

Financial advisers will remember 2011 as "The Year of Volatility" or "The Year of Uncertainty," according to a survey of 200 financial advisers polled by the SEI Advisor Network.

As a client takes distributions, a money manager ultimately becomes more important than asset allocation as the sequence and volatility of market returns rises.

Here is to wishes for a successful New Year for those in the asset management industry and the investors it serves.

Three mutual funds that might do well next year all have one thing in common: they weren’t chosen because they were the absolute top performers in 2011. Instead, they were chosen on the basis of diversification, strong performance, level of risk and cost basis, said S&P Capital IQ mutual fund analyst Todd Rosenbluth.

As we embark on a new year, it may be prudent to consider three different absolute return portfolio strategies that may help achieve returns depending on one's outlook for the global economy.

Understand the three levels of happiness and be ready to connect them with their financial-planning equivalents.

There are fresh messages about the value of annuities—but don't assume your clients are aware of them yet.