Market Volatility Has Investors Wary of Any Corporate Investment

In 2005, private stock investments accounted for almost 7 percent of all self-directed IRA investments, according to Guidant Financial Group, a leading provider of self-directed IRA and real estate IRA services.

In a recent 2008 survey, however, Guidant found that only 1.2 percent of its self-directed IRA clients were actively investing in private stock, showing an 82.6 percent decrease in activity in three years.

“The volatility in the economy and the securities market has made investors wary of corporate investments, whether public or private,” explains Guidant’s CEO, David Nilssen. “Once investors grow more comfortable with nontraditional investments, like real estate and tax liens, they start to move away from corporate investments toward other assets they consider potentially more secure and lucrative.”

With the decrease in private stock investment comes several significant investment increases in other assets. In the same three-year time period, self-directed IRA investors increased their investments in tax liens by 341.1 percent, in private loans and notes by 131.1 percent, and in real estate by 24 percent.

“These increases show us that self-directed investors are diversifying their investments,” explains Nilssen. “If the volatility in the stock market has taught us anything, it has taught us to avoid putting all our eggs in one basket. Even those already diversifying beyond the market into alternative investments are no longer buying just one property or solely investing in tax liens.”

Nearly Half of Entrepreneurs Buying Businesses Use Brokers/Consultants

Nearly Half of Entrepreneurs Buying Businesses Use Brokers/Consultants


While entrepreneurs may have the reputation as independent trailblazers utterly confident in their self-knowledge and spot-on instincts, statistics indicate that not all entrepreneurs rely on their wisdom alone when it comes to finding the right business to buy.

According to a survey by Guidant Financial Group, 46 percent of prospective business owners use business brokers and franchise consultants in the search for their new enterprise. The survey of Guidant clients who were using penalty-free retirement funds to finance their business also reveals that 19.7 percent turn to the Internet and 9.7 percent use franchisors/franchising groups to find a business (read the full release here).

David Nilssen, CEO of the Bellevue, Wash., financial services company, feels that these stats underscore that successful people “recognize the value of input from others, especially when making a decision as important as buying a small business or franchise.”

Nilssen points out that brokers and consultants are experts who can provide an insider’s perspective as well as objective feedback to potential buyers who sometimes get so caught up in the dream they need a nudge towards reality. “Not only do consultants provide multiple listings and offer expert advice on the current market, fair pricing, competition, pitfalls and benefits,” he says. “But many also administer in-depth personality-and-interests questionnaires to help prospective buyers focus on the opportunities that match their temperament, business needs and financial constraints.”

When it comes right down to it, many potential business owners prefer the one-on-one relationship of working with a consultant. While they may use the Internet to help narrow their search, it’s the personalized (and human) attention of a broker or consultant that ultimately has the most appeal. “Websites don’t get to know your unique skills and personality and they don’t listen to your concerns and desires,” says Nilssen. “Consultants do.”