Commun ty Matters Topeka Presbyterian Manor
April 2017
A plain guide to investment jargon By Jack Fehr for Next Avenue
As the stock market continues its gyrations, now is a good time to buy an investment with a favorable NAV and alpha that keeps on giving while reducing beta. Got that? If not, don’t be embarrassed. Investment companies and financial advisers love to load up their materials with this kind of jargon. Too bad they don’t just say something like this (a plain-English translation of the first sentence in this article): “You might want to buy an investment that is likely to grow faster and experience less risk than alternatives.” Well, some actually do, but many JARGON, continued on page 3
Meet Chelsea Watgen Our new director of sales and marketing With a background in music therapy, it might seem surprising that Chelsea Watgen has stepped into the role of Director of Sales and Marketing at Topeka Presbyterian Manor, but it’s not a surprising career move for her. “I’ve been here less than two months, but I love my job! I can’t imagine being happier anywhere else. I have a degree in music therapy from the University of Kansas and I’ve worked as a music therapist/life enrichment coordinator at other assisted living and long-term care communities. This position opened, and I wanted to expand my experience. I’m so glad I did!” said Chelsea. Chelsea loves having the opportunity to help others and to be an advocate WATGEN, continued on page 2
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for seniors to show them that life can still be fun, even if they’re needing a little extra help. When she’s not spending time with her Topeka Presbyterian Manor family, she enjoys spending time with her family at home. “I am a family girl through and through. I love hanging out with my husband, Collin, and dog Ellie Mae, a basset hound. We are both musical, and my husband teaches band in Lawrence, so you can find us at performances around town. My favorite thing, though, is honestly hanging out with both of our immediate families for dinner and games and laughter and fun!”
Celebrating service The following Topeka Presbyterian Manor employees were honored for their years of services at an awards ceremony. We appreciate their dedication to our community!
5 Years
Jack Combs
Alice Johnston
Venesa Mallory
Valerie Mentzer
10 Years
Ashley Adame
Summer Bills
Linsey Rajewski
15 Years
Mark Adams
Nancy Denham
Charmeeka Jackson Holly Jaramillo
20 Years
Top: Nancy Riddle has worked for Presbyterian Manor for 24 years.
30 Years
Bottom: Jan Nichols , Laura Ortiz, and Mary Urein serve punch to the celebrated guests.
Steve Hammer Patricia Stanley
Left: Laura, Michelle, Nancy, Judy, Mary, Shamlee, Linda, Melissa, Danica, Katelyn, Derek and Chelsea before the parade starts. Heather Pilkington, executive director Chelsea Watgen, marketing director To submit or suggest articles for this publication, contact Chelsea Watgen, marketing director, at cwatgen@pmma.org.
Bottom left: Chelsea Watgen, Heather Pilkinton, Jan Nichols, Shamlee Kulkarni before the Mardi Gras parade. Bottom right: Judy, Linda and Mary from dining, and Danica Loftin and Heather Pilkinton from administration on a tour through our health care center.
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Community Matters April 2017
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still don’t. If companies aren’t willing to talk to you in a language you understand, it’s up to you to decipher their financial-speak. So, here are five of the more widely used, but not widely understood, financial terms you should know: Alpha is a measure of investment performance adjusted for risk. Think of alpha as the two extra chocolates you happily found in your bag of candy. Alpha is like an overfilled box of chocolates, the part of your investment return that is more than a benchmark market index. For example, your large-company mutual fund may return 10 cents a share more than the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index — the benchmark to which you might compare the fund. Consequently, your alpha is 10 cents a share. If your mutual fund has an alpha of 0, that means its performance has matched its benchmark (before fees are taken out). Alpha is often used along with… Beta, which is a measurement of investment volatility or risk compared to the market overall. For example, when your investment’s beta is 2, that means its volatility, or risk, is twice as great as the volatility of the entire market. Tech stocks often have a beta of more than 1.
many investments with high beta probably isn’t wise, because you’re taking on extra risk. But if you’re younger and have time to weather market volatility, a little beta can be a good thing since it usually accompanies greater potential returns. When stock analysts look at specific companies with little regard to the overall economy or a broad industry, they practice the discipline known as doing a bottom-up analysis They’re looking at firms based on their “fundamentals” — things like their financial statements, their management and how their products or services are doing. It’s like looking for a grain of sand in the desert. For example, you might like to own Exxon-Mobil, no matter how the energy sector performs. It’s the opposite of… Some investment analysts, by contrast, use top-down analysis to identify hot or cold industries and economic trends. They might think a sector that’s currently cold could depress even the best stocks in it. Using top-down analysis might lead you to, say, shun all energy stocks at a given time. In other words, you’re avoiding the desert altogether.
NAV (Net Asset Value) Mutual fund managers and Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) managers toss NAV around like it’s as A beta of 1 means your investment’s familiar price will move as much as the to you as market and a beta of less than 1 (such your name. as what you’d find with many utility stocks) means your investment isn’t as For many people, it’s volatile as the market as a whole. not. But If you’re near retirement, keeping it is the
figure calculated every day by funds and ETFs and the one that appears in financial listings and places like Morningstar.com that track these types of investments. Net asset value is a mutual fund’s price per share or an ETF’s per-share value.You get it by dividing the value of all the stocks in the fund or ETF minus liabilities by the number of shares it has. Here’s an example of how you’d find a fund’s NAV if it had $101 million in assets, $1 million in liabilities and 10 million shares: Subtract the $1 million in liabilities from the $101 million in assets to come up with $100 million. Then, divide that $100 million by the 10 million shares and you have a NAV of $10 per share. You’ll get more shares in a fund with a NAV of $10 than in a similar fund with a NAV of $11. Simple math. To complicate matters, shares of some mutual funds known as closed-end funds and ETFs can trade above or below their NAV. The jargon cited here is by no means an exhaustive list. To learn more, check out mymoney.gov, the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, Investopedia.com and Investor. gov.
Topeka Presbyterian Manor
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Topeka Presbyterian Manor 4712 S.W. Sixth Ave. Topeka, KS 66606-2284 Return Service Requested
Father’s Day We will be featuring summertime and Father’s Day in an upcoming issue of Community Matters. If you have a story to tell about a memorable Father’s Day or how your father influenced you, we want to share it. If summertime is your favorite time of year and you’ve got great memories to share, let us know. If you’ve got a story to share, contact Marketing Director Chelsea Watgen and your story could be featured in an upcoming edition of Community Matters.
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Community Matters April 2017
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