Carolyn Taylor

Other Names:	Carolyn Elisabeth Person, Carolyn Person Taylor, Kay Taylor
Firm:	Weatherly Asset Management
Advisor Location:	Del Mar, CA
Advisor AUM:	$351,520,327
Firm Primary Clients:	High Net Worth Individuals
Type:	RIA

Description

Carolyn P. Taylor, majority owner of the partnership, is personally and professionally committed to providing comprehensive high-quality investment management services to clients of Weatherly Asset Management, located in Del Mar, California. With over 30 years of portfolio management experience Carolyn offers a wealth of ... see more

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Answers and Guides

Level 7 Level 7 Contributor 4 Answers and 0 Financial Guides

I have 100% of my retirement money in a target date fund. Do you consider that diversified enough or not?

Answered Jan 05, 2012

14 votes

Your savings will be spread among a number of assets because a Target Date Fund (TDF) invests in a variety of underlying funds, however diversification is not quite that simple. The question is the overall asset allocation and how it will change over ...(more) Your savings will be spread among a number of assets because a Target Date Fund (TDF) invests in a variety of underlying funds, however diversification is not quite that simple. The question is the overall asset allocation and how it will change over time. Most of these funds will begin with an aggressive allocation, a higher percentage to equity, and become more conservative as you reach retirement, transitioning from equity to fixed income. The appeal of a TDF is the set it and forget it approach. However, consider the process of a financial professional, they work extensively with clients to determine a number of individual factors to achieve your financial goals. They examine your entire financial picture, assessing risk tolerance, liquidity needs, expected retirement/time horizon, tax situation, unique circumstances etc. This illustrates that asset allocation is not a one size fits all approach; you may be diversified in terms of number of investments but not effectively spread across asset classes. The asset allocation provided by the fund may not be appropriate for your specific financial situation. TDFs do not generally offer alternative investments like commodities or real estate, which may be valuable from a diversification standpoint. Even further, within each asset class you want to ensure that you are diversified; for example, if the fund offers an overall asset allocation of 60% equity and 40% fixed income, but 70% of the equity is invested in US Large Cap Energy Stocks that would not be well diversified. Fees associated with TDF’s can be rather high, eroding returns, it is important to consider the after tax and after fee returns compared to other available investment options. Lastly, changes in your financial circumstances may require a change of target date fund, remember to periodically reevaluate your options keeping your long term financial goals in mind. It is crucial that you know what is actually held in the fund and determine the overall asset allocation currently and how it will change over time. You want to be aware of how often the TDF is rebalanced, ask yourself if the broad asset allocation is appropriate as well as the breakdown within each general asset classes. Due diligence for these funds is a must. ** The information provided should not be interpreted as a recommendation, no aspects of your individual financial situation were considered. Always consult a financial professional before implementing any strategies derived from the information above. hide

Am I saving enough for my kids' college?

Answered Jan 25, 2012

10 votes

Young families face a huge challenge to save enough to pay for their children’s higher education expenses. College is expensive and will become even more so in the future. When it comes to qualifying for financial aid many families have too much income, ...(more) Young families face a huge challenge to save enough to pay for their children’s higher education expenses. College is expensive and will become even more so in the future. When it comes to qualifying for financial aid many families have too much income, but unfortunately as these same families are not wealthy enough to pay for the rising costs of tuition, room and board, and books, many students are now completing college with a sizable student loan debt. There are many ways to save for College, and there is not a “one-size-fits-all” approach. Conventional wisdom always suggests it is better to maximize one’s own retirement prior to saving for a child’s college. If there are dollars left over to save for higher education there are various options, for example: an Educational IRA; an Educational Trust; a Custodial UGMA; a 529 Plan, or even an Annuity or Insurance policy. To answer this question correctly an advisor would have to know the saver’s full financial information, their ages and goals of themselves and their beneficiaries, prior to choosing the savings amount needed and the option best suited to their family situation. For example a 529 plan can be a good choice for a wealthy parent or grandparent as participant for funds to grow tax free. To optimize the benefit of this non-taxable growth, a 529 plan can be initially funded with 5 years of gifting allowance which would currently be $65,000.00, and an annual gifting thereafter. The average parent who does not have access to an immediate $65,000 has to save monthly. Unfortunately financial calculators show with the current inflation figures and interest rates, savings of $100 per month in a child’s 529 plan utilizing an age-based strategy from birth to college-age may not amass enough even to pay for the first year’s expenses. ** The information provided should not be interpreted as a recommendation, no aspects of your individual financial situation were considered. Always consult a financial professional before implementing any strategies derived from the information above hide

What does it mean when a mutual fund has "active management"?

Answered Jan 11, 2012

10 votes

Dan, Active management traditionally means a mutual fund’s goal is to outperform an investment index, such as the S&P 500. Funds that do not attempt to beat a benchmark are passively managed. Passive funds closely mimic an index’s return and risk ...(more) Dan, Active management traditionally means a mutual fund’s goal is to outperform an investment index, such as the S&P 500. Funds that do not attempt to beat a benchmark are passively managed. Passive funds closely mimic an index’s return and risk characteristics while performing slightly below the index due to a low management fee. Active managers believe that markets are inefficient and therefore can be exploited by investing in undervalued securities, shorting overvalued securities, or a combination of both. Not all active management funds are created equal. All mutual funds are bound by their prospectus. Within the prospectus, the scope of a fund’s active management will be explained. Some funds are required to remain invested in the markets while others are allowed greater autonomy, for instance, being allowed to fully move to cash. Whether the scope of an actively managed fund is large or small, there are pros and cons to investing in actively managed funds as a whole. The main benefit of active management is that it allows selective investment rather than investing like a benchmark. There are many reasons why investors may wish to invest in active funds. For example, with the recent stock market volatility, many investors choose to invest in less risky higher- quality dividend paying multi-national equities in order to reduce volatility even though they may be foregoing greater returns when compared to the broader market. As another example, investors may have more conviction about potential returns in certain sectors over others and therefore seek to invest in a fund that shares their perspective. The primary disadvantage to actively managed funds is that the fund invests in the wrong investments and underperforms the benchmark. Fees are also typically higher when compared to passive investments. Additionally, actively managed mutual funds tend to create tax inefficiencies in taxable accounts since asset sales within the account cannot take a fund holder’s specific tax situations into account. ** The information provided should not be interpreted as a recommendation, no aspects of your individual financial situation were considered. Always consult a financial professional before implementing any strategies derived from the information above. hide

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Top Guides

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*Answers and guides are provided without compensation.

Advisor Information

Articles/Publications

First Quarter 2012 Weather(ly) Report

Money Manager Review 2012 Interview: Carolyn Taylor

Fourth Quarter 2011 Weather(ly) Report

Social Media

http://Facebook.com/weatherlyassetmgt

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/carolyn-taylor/26/241/614

Advisor Assets Under Management

$351.5M

Total Assets

237

Clients

$1.5M

Estimated Average Account Balance Per Client

*An individual AUM and number of accounts has been entered by the advisor and has not been verified.

Firm Client Types

	High Net Worth Individuals
	Individuals
	Pension and Profit Sharing Plans
	Corporations or Other Businesses
	Charitable Organizations

*The Client Types data displayed is firm level data as reported on the SEC ADV filing.

Experience and Employment History

Employer	Years	Dates
Weatherly Asset Management	17 years, 10 months	Aug 1994 - Present

*Experience and Employment History information reflects the past 10 years of employment as reported on the SEC ADV filing as of 11/18/2009, and is not a complete representation of the advisor's experience and employment history. Furthermore, the advisor is required to provide this information only while registered with an investment advisor firm and the information is not updated through Form U4 after the advisor ceases to be registered. Therefore, an employment date of "Present" may not reflect the advisor's current employment status.

Licenses and Conduct

Regulator
License Status	Registered
Disclosures	No Disclosures Found
As of Date	11/18/2009

*This advisor may not be SEC registered. The SEC maintains the database for state registered advisors as well as SEC registered advisors.
*A single dispute is often reported by both the SEC and FINRA and therefore will be reported as both an SEC dispute and FINRA dispute in this section.

Advisor Exams

Exam	Series	Passed Date
Uniform Investment Adviser Law Examination	Series 65	05/14/1992
Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination	Series 63	02/16/1989

Advisor Compensation Arrangements

Types of Compensation Arrangements

Location

Contact Information

Address	832 Camino Del Mar Suite 4 Del Mar, CA 92014
Phone Number	(858)259-4507
Email Address	carolyn@weatherlyassetmgt.com
Website	weatherlyassetmgt.com

State Registrations

Carolyn Taylor is registered in the following states: CA

Professional Designations

No professional designations listed.

Membership Associations

No membership associations listed.

Firm Services

	Portfolio Management	75%
	Individuals and/or Small Businesses
	Businesses or Institutional Clients
	Financial Planning	20%
	Comprehensive Financial Planning
	Retirement Planning
	College Planning
	Charitable Planning
	Pension Consulting	5%
	401k
	403b
	457
	Defined Benefit