And we're back

OK, time out for a little travel, family time, and research. Some updates:

New neuroeconomic book out:
The Secret Language of Money: How to Make Smarter Financial Decisions and Live a Richer Life . Written by doctor and a career consultant. Now if only they could take this out of self help and put it in school curriculum.

Trust Factor:
As reported in CBS Marketwatch today by Adam L. Penenberg, social networking is not necessarily bad. Why are people spending hours on Facebook and Twitter? "The answer is surprisingly simple. Social networking makes us happy."

Penenberg writes:"A research project by Paul Zak, a professor of economics and the founding director of the Center for Neuroeconomic Studies at Claremont Graduate University, found that when a test subject learns that another person trusts him or her, the level of oxytocin, a hormone that circulates in his brain, rises. "The stronger the signal of trust, the more oxytocin increases," Trust, Zak learned, fosters more trust. The more oxytocin swimming around your brain, the more other people trust you."

So advisors need to remember of all the most important tasks they include in their financial planning process, building trust is at the top. The question is, what really builds trust when it comes to matters of managing money?

Lastly, I had the opportunity to meet some of the team (Greg Davies, Head of Behavioral Finance) and more closely examine the Behavioral Finance efforts at Barclays Wealth (they have taken over Lehman's old private client division here in the US to give them a truly global presence). They seem to be leading the charge to incorporate with clients with their Financial Personality Assessment. I would like to see more evidence how it has impacted their advisors ability to convert and retain clients, but it's a much bigger step than any of it's competitors....