Dimensional Fund Advisors Expands Outreach to Independent B/Ds

Dimensional Fund Advisors said it has hired John Blood, formerly with Commonwealth Financial, to lead a new initiative to develop relationships within the broker/dealer community.

“We are establishing selling agreements with select independent broker/dealers that will allow their fee-based advisers to provide clients with Dimensional strategies,” said Michael Lane, vice president and head of Dimensional’s broker/dealer, bank trust, and TAMP (third-party asset management provider) programs, in an announcement. “John’s investment and industry experience will be invaluable to us as we expand our presence within this important industry segment.”

Lane said TAMPs are a good fit for advisers who are seeking support in areas such as operations and marketing. “Our broker/dealer program will focus on serving advisers who have their own operations and marketing resources and want to work with Dimensional to develop opportunities for mutual growth,” he said.

At Commonwealth Financial, Blood was the firm’s chief market strategist and vice president of investments. In this role, he provided investment advice on mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and other investment products to independent financial advisers, according to the announcement.

Dimensional Fund Advisors is a global institutional asset management firm owned primarily by employees and directors. As of December 31, Dimensional had $165 billion in assets under management, according to the firm, which has offices in Austin, London, Santa Monica, Sydney, and Vancouver.

Actuary Ranked as Best Job in 2010

It looks like all you actuaries out there have it pretty good, according to a new report.

Actuary ranks as the best job for 2010, based on research into 200 different positions in this year’s CareerCast.com Jobs Rated report.

The Jobs Rated report seeks to compare careers across a multitude of industries, skill levels, and salary ranges using five key measurement criteria—stress, working environment, physical demands, income, and hiring outlook—and sorts them into lists of “best” jobs and “worst” jobs.

Believe it or not, actuary ranked especially well in the analysis for its low physical demands and stress levels, finishing second and third, respectively, out of all 200 jobs.

However, it was actuary’s consistently strong performance overall that helped the job rise to the top of the 2010 Jobs Rated list, offering the greatest chance of enjoying a combination of good health, low stress, a pleasant workplace, solid income, and strong growth potential, according to CareerCast.com. Actuary ranked no worse than 10th in any measurement category, except median income, where it finished 22nd. Even still, the job’s average high-end income of $161,000 is 11th among all surveyed jobs.

As for the rest of the “best” jobs list, math and science-related professions continued to rule, with software engineer ranking as the second-best job for 2010. The job rated well across all categories, finishing fifth for work environment and inside the top 30 for stress, income, and physical demands, but mostly stood out because it has the best hiring outlook of any available job in 2010, with low unemployment compared to the national average and projected job growth of nearly 45% through 2016.

The Jobs Rated 10 best jobs for 2010 are:

  1. actuary
  2. software engineer
  3. computer systems analyst
  4. biologist
  5. historian
  6. mathematician
  7. paralegal assistant
  8. statistician
  9. accountant
  10. dental hygienist.

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