01

I S S U E

Efficient Frontier J a n u a r y - M a r c h

2 0 1 6

WORDS OF WISDOM

Benjamin Franklin

“An investment in

knowledge pays the

best interest”

Ralph Waldo

Emerson

“It is one of the most beautiful compensa-tions in life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping him-self”

Thomas Jefferson

“I like the dreams of

the future better than

the history of the

past”

this issue

The Maiden Voyage! P.1

A Look Behind and Ahead P.2 & 3

Upcoming Events P.4

The Maiden Voyage of The Practice Updates

I have been contemplating beginning a

more personalized practice update for sev-

eral years. The main reasons being that

(you) my clients want more from me and I

firmly believe that providing continual in-

formation is imperative to your success.

There is an old saying, “May you live in

interesting times.” Most of you would

agree that these truly are interesting

times. As I meet and converse with each

of you, it is apparent that you have genu-

ine concerns regarding your financial fu-

ture.

Many of those concerns revolve around

the “certainty of uncertainty,” and rightly

so. A majority of your questions sound like

this... “I/We want to ____ , but I saw/read

about ____ . Will we still be able to

____ ?” It seems like every day there is

“BREAKING NEWS!!” explaining why you

will no longer be able to achieve your

____. Thus, my goal is to provide infor-

mation that will provide a complete pic-

ture of the “BREAKING NEWS!!,” and

more importantly, how we get through it.

As we start off 2016 I am confident that

there will be changes in our lives and a

variety of challenges that we will face. It is

my hope that this information will be a

consistent resource to you. However, I do

not want this to be mistaken as something

that will be an “instead” of our meetings

and conversations. I envision the practice

update providing you with supplemental

information that may be of interest to you.

I am grateful for the relationships and

friendships I have built with you over the

years. I look forward to working with you

in 2016!

Matt

A Look Behind and Ahead.

We ended 2014 with oil taking a

precipitous drop but it appeared to

be finding its footing in 2015. The oil

and natural gas industry has under-

gone a revolution of sorts over the

past decade. Major technological

advances (horizontal drilling and

fracking) made energy, that was

previously too costly to extract, more

cost effective. Thus, the supply of oil

continued rising as the energy indus-

try invested heavily in extracting,

transporting, refining and storing it.

The U.S. economy continued to

grow, albeit at a slow pace, but

nonetheless it soldiered on. Europe

appeared to be fixing

some of its economic

issues while China con-

tinued to outpace the

U.S. and Europe in the

growth department. The

debates continued re-

garding when the Federal

Reserve would finally raise interest

rates. Each time the media reported

on the prospect of rates moving

higher, the markets seemed to pull

back. However, unlike most prior

years we started hearing some rum-

blings of 2015 being a challenging

year.

As we began the summer months,

the concerns of an oversupply of oil

were becoming more apparent as

the price of oil began falling again.

OPEC (Organization of the Petrole-

um Exporting Countries) reaffirmed

their stance that they would not re-

duce their production, regardless of

how far oil dropped, in an effort to

defend their market share from this

new technology. Unfortunately,

there was another shoe to drop.

China, the last major economy that is

experiencing growth, is slowing.

Energy is a prime

ingredient required for

growth and it is in

abundance. Thus,

China’s slowing

growth and the over

supply of energy fed

each other and ampli-

fied the downward pressure on the

markets. You probably have heard

or read that the “world is getting

smaller.” This statement is becom-

ing more evident by the day. As

China slows, the ripple effects are

felt throughout the world.

The year ended with the Federal

Reserve hiking interest rates for the

first time in nearly a decade. The

rising interest rates, coupled with the

aforementioned China/Energy co-

nundrum, led to most global markets

retreating.

Looking Ahead

I recently heard a very interesting

explanation of why we feel more

anxiety regarding the future vs. the

past. This gentleman explained that

most individuals do not feel anxious

when thinking about their past strug-

gles. However, when facing difficul-

ties in the present, they experience

far greater anxiety concerning their

future. Why is that? He suggested

that the answer is simply that we

know the ending of our past strug-

gles. Thus, because we do not yet

know how our current issues will be

rectified, we feel anxiety and/or

stress. But, what does that have to

do with the market and economy?

The ability to prognosticate the future

of the economy and/or stock market

with a high degree of preciseness

The U.S. market has been

marching upward year after

year since March 2009, and

the first half of 2015 was fol-

lowing suit.

EYE ON THE NUMBERS

Oil (WTI)

12/31/13: $98.81/barrel

12/31/14: $53.49/barrel

12/31/15: $37.13/barrel

Gasoline

12/31/13: $3.32/gallon

12/31/14: $2.30/gallon

12/31/15: $2.04/gallon

Natural Gas

12/31/14: 3.0/MMBtu*

12/31/15: 2.32/MMBtu*

Gold

12/31/14: 1206/oz

12/31/15: 1060/oz

S&P Global 1200

Index

12/31/14: 1897.82

12/31/15: 1834.71

* MMBtu: one million British

Thermal Units (BTU)

As China

slows, the rip-

ple effects are

felt throughout

the world.

EYE ON THE NUMBERS (cont.)

North America GDP*

2014: 2.4%

2015: 1.9% (estimated)

Europe & Central

Asia GDP*

2014: 1.33%

2015: 1.4% (estimated)

China GDP*

2014: 7.35%

2015: 6.9% (estimated)

* GDP numbers provided by

worldbank.org

Ask Matt

Each quarter I will answer a

question (or maybe 2) from

you. I tend to get some great

questions from my clients on a

regular basis during our meet-

ings. I have found that the

answers to those questions

are pertinent to quite a few of

you. Don’t worry though. I will

maintain the privacy of those

asking the question as well as

any personal details. Addition-

ally, if you have a question you

would like me to address in the

practice update give me a call

or shoot me an email

Q: The Federal Reserve just

raised interest rates. How does

that effect me?

A: The Federal Reserve has kept the

federal funds rate between 0-.25%

since 2008. That rate was just in-

creased to .25-.50%. The most com-

mon areas where a majority of us will

feel the change are in our Savings Ac-

counts/CDs/Money Market Funds,

Bonds, and Debt. When interest rates

rise you will typically first see a change in the

bonds of your portfolio. Historically, bond

prices tend to fall when interest rates rise.

The longer the term of the bond, the greater

the impact. Secondly, you will notice an

increase in the amount of interest you

are receiving on your Savings Accounts

and/or Money Market Funds. Yay! Our

savings accounts pay interest again!

Lastly, in your Debt. Any debt that you

have with an adjustable interest rate will

likely go up. Keep an eye on those

credit card rates, adjustiable-rate mort-

gages, and HELOCs...to name a few.

This Quarter ’s “Ask Matt”

A Look Behind and Ahead (cont.)

has been proven to be all but impos-

sible. Thus, it is only natural that we

feel anxious.

Looking forward, given the issues

mentioned, 2016 may seem bleak.

However, I would disagree with that

view. The answer, as simplistic as it

may sound, is that we need growth.

This begs the question, “Where will

the growth come from?” As we

came out of the Great Recession in

2009, the oil and natural gas indus-

try contributed immensely to the

growth we experienced. That

growth was brought on by the inno-

vation of horizontal drilling and frack-

ing. Interestingly, most of you can

probably remember when you were

paying $3.50-$4.00 per gallon for

gasoline. During that time the cost

for oil would skyrocket at the slight-

est mention of a war or an oil refin-

ery being shut down. Are we still

reading and hearing about the possi-

bility of war? What about refineries

closing? The answer is yes. Why

then has oil continued to tumble?

Innovation. Innovation has unequiv-

ocally changed the energy industry,

but more importantly the global

economy.

Thus, I believe in the future because

I listen to the past. The past has

shown us that innovation continues

and that innovation is what propels

growth. I do not purport to know

exactly what that next innovation will

be. However, I firmly believe it is

coming, so I will keep my eye fixed

on the horizon.

Matthew R. LaPlant, CRPC®, AAMS

®

Financial Advisor Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor

SM

14755 North Outer Forty Drive, Suite 500

Chesterfield, MO 63017

636-534-2065 (Office)

matthew.r.laplant@ampf.com

ameripriseadvisors.com/matthew.r.laplant/

Upcoming Events

Social Security—February 25th— Patrick’s at Westport Plaza

This seminar will focus on the changing laws of social security and go

over the basics as a refresher for those nearing the age of enrollment.

Additionally, there will be time for questions with the speaker.

Events

I f there i s some-

th ing in par t i cu la r

tha t ca tches your

eye, p lease do not

hesi ta te to reach

out to me . I am

ant ic ipa t ing tha t a

major i t y o f the

events w i l l reach

maximum capaci t y .

Efficient Frontier Issue 01 January-March 2016

The views expressed here reflect the views of Matthew R. LaPlant as of 12/30/2015. These views may change as market or other conditions change.

Actual investments or investment decisions made by Ameriprise Financial and its affiliates, whether for its own account or on behalf of clients, will not

necessarily reflect the views expressed. This information is not intended to provide investment advice and does not account for individual investor

circumstances.

Investment decisions should always be made based on an investor's specific financial needs, objectives, goals, time horizon and risk tolerance. Past

performance does not guarantee future results and no forecast should be considered a guarantee either.

Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc., Member FINRA and SIPC.

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