Client News

Mailing Schedule for 2011 1099 Forms
January 2012

Raymond James will adhere to the IRS’s 1099 mailing deadline, which means original 2011 Composite Statement of 1099 Forms will be mailed on February 15, 2012.

In an effort to capture correct data on original 1099s, we’ll extend the mailing date by 30 days (March 15th) for some clients who hold particular investments that are considered tax reporting pass-through vehicles. You may be affected if you hold regulated investment companies, known as mutual funds; real estate investment trusts (REITs); and/or widely held fixed investment trusts (WHFITs), such as unit investment, grantor and royalty trusts; as well as holding company depositary receipts. In addition, 1099s with anticipated cost-basis adjustments also will be delayed by 30 days.

These modifications not only align our schedule with that of the IRS, but also allow us to provide the most accurate reporting possible and will help us reduce the number of amended statements typically needed when reporting on certain investment vehicles.

In addition if you were a client of ours at Howe Barnes (prior to the Raymond James conversion), you may receive an additional 1099 form from First Clearing Corp. This form will be inclusive of January 1, 2011 - June 10, 2011 and the1099 issued by Raymond James will cover the post transition period of June 13, 2011 – December 2011.

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns about this change.

Please note, changes in tax laws or regulations may occur at any time and could substantially impact your situation. While we are familiar with the tax provisions of the issues presented herein, we are not qualified to render advice on tax or legal matters. You should discuss any tax or legal matters with the appropriate professional.

Administrative Updates
October 2011

1. The new online system for client access to Raymond James statements is called Investor Access. Investor Access can be reached through the ABEPCS.com website. Enter Client Center and Investor Access – Log In. First time users will have to register with the Investor Access site. The site is user friendly and very intuitive. You will be presented with options to include online statements, maintain paper copies or eliminate them. You will also be presented with options regarding the frequency of receiving reports. We encourage you to utilize the online option. Our early response from clients has been very positive.
2. In an effort to secure the privacy of your personal information sent through email, we have initiated a ‘secure messaging’ feature. This will be used when a combination of account numbers, social numbers, birthdates or additional personal information is sent through cyberspace. If you have enrolled in Investor Access the same log in information (id and password) will be used to access the protected emails. If you have not registered with Investor Access, you will need to establish an ID and password the first time you access a secure message. We realize this is just one more potential hassle in your digital life. However, we are very sensitive to your privacy and potential cyber crimes and will use the secure messaging discriminatingly.
3. Some of our clients hold outside assets in which we are the adviser of record; i.e. assets not held in brokerage accounts. This may include fixed or variable annuities, 529 plans, and mutual funds held directly at the fund family. Raymond James offers the ability to consolidate most of these outside assets in a shell account. The shell account then allows us to provide to you a consolidated monthly statement on the funds and annuities held outside traditional brokerage accounts. This will require additional new account paperwork, but will provide a more efficient reporting process for these assets.
4. Raymond James will begin billing fee based accounts effective with the 4th quarter of 2011. Unlike at Howe Barnes, there will not be a separate invoice provided in your quarterly custom performance reports. However, you will see a line item for the advisory fee on your October 2011 Raymond James monthly statement.
5. We do realize you have endured additional time and effort in completing the paperwork associated with the transfer to Raymond James. We do respect your time and appreciate the cooperation. In a significant number of circumstances re-papering the accounts uncovered errors, omissions and changes to account registrations, beneficiaries, etc. As a consequence, we have been able to correct the errors and updates. We will do our best to ask you in future reviews of any changes to estate plans, personal information, beneficiaries, etc. We also encourage you to update us as soon as you make any changes to these items going forward.

Our Appreciation
October 2011

Our team at Abuls, Bone & Eller want to thank you for your cooperation and patience during the transition from Howe Barnes Hoefer & Arnett to Raymond James & Associates. The announcement of the sale of Howe Barnes set in motion a very busy nine months for our team. Our initial efforts were focused on a strategic evaluation of the next decade and where our industry was headed, where our client needs were developing and where our team envisioned our role within these areas. This led us to interview and conduct due diligence on the premier broker dealers supporting the most successful financial advisors in the country.

From our perspective, it is important that you understand Raymond James was not a defacto choice for our team because of the sale of Howe Barnes to Raymond James. We were free to take our team’s business to any firm of our choosing. We ultimately chose Raymond James as our partner for what we believe are many of the same reasons you have chose us to partner with you in developing a more secure and prosperous financial future. Chief among the reasons we chose Raymond James were the intellectual capital throughout the firm, the commitment to maintain state of the art technological resources, a culture based on servicing the needs of the client in a responsive and quality manner, a financial history of conservative, prudent and profitable management and last, but not least, a moral integrity that embraces a sense of fairness and a understanding of the stewardship role Raymond James and Abuls, Bone & Eller share in working with you in your personal financial life.

Change can be unsettling. However, when it is initiated for the ideals of improving all parties in the situation it can be evolutionary, and sometimes revolutionary. We are convinced that Abuls, Bone & Eller will be able to serve our clients more efficiently and more effectively with Raymond James as our partner.

In spite of the broker dealer change, the face, voice and intellectual capital of Abuls, Bone & Eller remains the same. Our personal relationship with you and our roles as stewards of your capital and financial planning remain constant. As we have grown into the success and complexity of our business and our personal financial situations, we understand ever more the depth of trust and confidence you have instilled in our team. This is only further reinforced by the unusually difficult and tumultuous economic and financial times we are living through. We are sincerely appreciative that you have chosen Abuls, Bone & Eller to with you. You can be assured we will continue to invest the better part of waking hours helping you make prudent and profitable long-term financial decisions.