Top 5 Financial Companies To Own For 2014

As the years advance, some things change and some things never change.

The need for advisors to connect with prospective clients remains a business imperative from year to year. But the ability to do so has increased exponentially in today’s digital reality.

Rather than confine oneself to whoever shows up at a Kiwanis Club meeting, with all the difficulties inherent in generating quality discussions, an advisor today can develop his thoughts privately and reach a potentially unlimited audience through blogging.

“A blog lets you communicate some of your knowledge and passion; in the pre-blog days, this was impossible to create,” says Susan Weiner, an independent financial writing consultant and author of the new book Financial Blogging: How to Write Powerful Posts That Attract Clients.

“Now, [with the advent of blogs],” she tells ThinkAdvisor in a phone interview, “by the time an advisor connects with a prospect, they already know the advisor is a good fit for them.”

Best Small Cap Stocks To Invest In 2015: Timbercreek Mortgage Investment Corp (TMC)

Timbercreek Mortgage Investment Corporation (the Fund) provides investors with the opportunity to invest indirectly in a diversified portfolio of high quality conventional mortgage loans secured primarily by income-producing real estate located in large urban markets (offices, commercial real estate, multi-residential, retirement communities). The investment objective of the Fund is, with a primary focus on capital preservation, to acquire and maintain a diversified portfolio of mortgage loan investments that generate income allowing the Fund to pay monthly distributions to shareholders. Timbercreek Asset Management Ltd., is the manager of the Fund (the Fund Manager). Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Lawrence Meyers]

  Cars come to mind, and you could probably get away with owning a common car dealer like Toyota (TMC). The problem with this approach, though, is that auto manufacturers are economically sensitive and can have really bad years. That�� why I go one level deeper to what I call ��nfrastructure��plays, which in this case means auto parts.

• [By Vera Yuan]

  As pointed out by Warren Buffett, the percentage of total market cap (TMC) relative to the U.S. GNP is ��robably the best single measure of where valuations stand at any given moment.��

• [By GuruFocus]

  As pointed out by Warren Buffett, the percentage of total market cap (TMC) relative to the U.S. GNP is ��robably the best single measure of where valuations stand at any given moment.��

Top 5 Financial Companies To Own For 2014: Maui Land & Pineapple Company Inc. (MLP)

Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the development, sale, and leasing of real estate properties. It owns approximately 23,300 acres of land on Maui. The company also offers water and waste transmission services. In addition, it manages certain resort amenities at the Kapalua Resort. The company was founded in 1909 and is based in Lahaina, Hawaii.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matthew Skelly]

  The technology of fracturing (and the horizontal style of drilling), is changing America's needs on the energy front. At the epicenter of this infrastructure build-out is Atlas Pipeline Partners (NYSE:APL), a midstream gathering and processing company that trades as a Master Limited Partnership, (MLP). Atlas Pipeline is essentially a middle man between the drillers and long-haul transportation pipelines. It gathers mixed volumes of natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs) such as ethane, propane, and butanes, etc. from the thousands of wells drilled by its drilling customers, back through pipelines to its processing plants, which will separate the gas from the NGLs. Both are then sold to long-haul transportation pipelines, which take the two products downstream to the next part of the energy supply chain.

• [By Dividends4Life]

  Sunoco Logistics Partners (SXL) is a master limited partnership (MLP) that was formed by Sunoco Inc. to acquire, own and operate a group of refined product and crude oil pipelines and terminal facilities.
  Yield: 3.6% | Years of Dividend Growth: 11

Top 5 Financial Companies To Own For 2014: MFA Financial Inc (MFA)

MFA Financial, Inc., incorporated on July 24, 1997, is engaged in the business of investing, on a leveraged basis, in residential Agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and Non-Agency MBS. Its business objective is to generate net income for distribution to its stockholders resulting from the difference between the interest and other income it earn on its investments and the interest expense it pays on the borrowings, which it uses to finance its leveraged investments and its operating costs. Its operating policies require that at least 50% of its investment portfolio consist of ARM-MBS, which are either Agency MBS or rated in two rating categories by at least one of rating agency, such as Moody�� Investors Services, Inc., Standard & Poor�� Corporation (S&P) or Fitch, Inc. The remainder of its assets may consist of direct or indirect investments in other types of MBS and residential mortgage loans; other mortgage and real estate-related debt and equity; and other yield instruments.

The mortgages collateralizing the Company�� MBS portfolio are Hybrids, ARMs and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages. The Hybrids collateralizing its MBS typically have fixed-rate periods ranging from three to 10 years. Interest rates on the mortgage loans collateralizing its ARM-MBS reset based on specific index rates, which include London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) or the one-year constant maturity treasury (CMT) rate. The mortgages collateralizing its ARM-MBS have interim and lifetime caps on interest rate adjustments. The Company�� Non-Agency MBS have been at discounts to face/par value.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  After raising its payout last quarter by 10%,�residential mortgage-backed securities REIT�MFA Financial (NYSE: MFA  ) announced today it was keeping its second-quarter dividend steady at $0.22 per share.

• [By Dividend]

  MFA Financial (MFA) has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion. The company employs 37 people, generates revenue of $499.16 million and has a net income of $306.84 million. MFA Financial�� earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounts to $289.95 million. The EBITDA margin is 58.09 percent (the operating margin is 57.14 percent and the net profit margin 61.47 percent).

Top 5 Financial Companies To Own For 2014: NMI Holdings Inc (NMIHZ)

NMI Holdings, Inc. (NMIH), incorporated on May 19, 2011, is a development-stage company. The Company through its subsidiaries provides private mortgage insurance in the United States. The Company�� wholly owned subsidiaries include National Mortgage Insurance Corporation and National Mortgage Reinsurance Inc One.

On April 24, 2012, NMI Holdings, Inc. (NMI) closed an agreement with MAC Financial Ltd. to acquire MAC Financial Holdings Corporation and its wholly owned subsidiaries. On September 30, 2013, the Company merged MAC Financial Holding Corporation into NMIH, with NMIH surviving the merger, and it merged NMRI Two into NMIC, with NMIC surviving the merger.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Zachary Tracer]

  NMI Holdings Inc. (NMIHZ), a mortgage insurer backed by funds tied to Carlyle Group LP (CG) and Kyle Bass, filed to sell shares in an initial public offering as investors bet on a housing-market rebound.