Brokerage Services
Explore everything that SMITH HAYES has to offer.
We offer a blend of financial products and services that can help you to achieve your goals. At SMITH HAYES Financial Services, we provide the essential products to make effective, intelligent decisions about your financial future.
Stocks
Stocks represent shares of ownership in a corporation. Corporations issue stock to raise funds for the company. The value of these shares can rise or fall based on investor expectations of future corporate earnings.
Three primary reasons investors may choose to invest in stocks:
- Long-term growth opportunities. Stocks entail more risk than other types of financial assets. Although past performance is no guarantee of future results, over longer periods of time stocks have generally out-performed other financial investments.
- Inflation-fighting potential. Stocks offer the potential for rising income through dividend growth. Rising income helps protect investors against inflation, which is critical when you’re investing toward a long-range goal such as retirement.
- Diversification. Stocks combined with other investments can help reduce the uncertainty of future portfolio returns, compared to investing in only one type of security. Diversification does not ensure against loss.
Bonds
Bonds are a certificate of debt issued by the federal government, states, cities, corporations, and many other institutions to raise capital by borrowing. When bonds are issued, the issuer promises to pay the full value plus regular interest by a specified future date, regardless of market volatility.
As interest rates rise, bond prices will fall.
Three potential advantages to investing in bonds:
- Stability.
- Preservation of Wealth.
- Steady Income.
Mutual Funds
A mutual fund is a collection of stocks, bonds or other securities that allows a group of investors to pool their money. Every mutual fund has a predetermined investment objective and a professional adviser who manages the assets of the fund. Investors buy shares of the mutual fund and not specific securities.
There are several advantages to investing in mutual funds:
- Diversification
Mutual funds permit investors to be invested in multiple securities rather than just one. An investor can diversify by investing in a stock, a bond, or a money market fund. Diversification can be made by investing in numerous mutual funds with diverse investment objectives (i.e. large-cap companies, small-cap companies, international companies, corporate bonds, or treasury securities). Diversification does not ensure against loss. - Professional Management
Mutual funds allow investors to utilize the extensive knowledge of professional advisers to manage their assets. - Convenience
Mutual funds offer many services that make investing easy. Some of these services include: investors receive detailed reports regularly; investors are able to reinvest their income dividends and capital gains automatically; investors are able to make minimal initial contributions; investors can exchange shares from one fund to another in the same fund family; investors have multiple class of shares to choose from, and investors are able to liquidate assets on any business day.
Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses prior to investing. A prospectus, or summary prospectus if available, containing this and other information can be obtained by contacting your financial professional, visiting the product website or by calling SMITH HAYES Financial Services at 1-800-279-7437. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.
Annuities
Annuities are designed primarily to supplement retirement income. Unlike other retirement vehicles, you are not limited on how much you may contribute each year. Another benefit for investing in annuities is that you do not have to pay taxes on earnings until time of withdrawal.
Two major types of annuities:
- Immediate Annuity
The contract owner makes a single payment to fund the annuity, then the insurance company begins to pay out. Payments to the contract owner may be paid out monthly, quarterly, semiannually, or annualy. - Deferred Annuity
The contract owner does not receive payment until sometime in the future. Deferred annuities may be either fixed or variable.- Fixed annuities are often used for additional retirement income. These have a guaranteed fixed interest rate for a specified period of time, regardless of current market conditions. Once the contract begins to pay out, the owner receives a fixed payment. Fixed annuities can provide stability in your retirement portfolio.
- Variable annuities protect more against inflation than fixed annuities. Variable annuities allow their investors the option of investing in professional managed funds. Once the contract begins to pay out, the amount the owner receives will vary depending on the performance of the investments within the annuity.
Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses prior to investing. A prospectus, or summary prospectus if available, containing this and other information can be obtained by contacting your financial professional, visiting the product website or by calling SMITH HAYES Financial Services at 1-800-279-7437. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.
Variable annuities involve investment risks and may lose value. An annuity is a long-term, tax-deferred investment designed for retirement.
Life Insurance
Life insurance is generally designed to assist with family finances in case a family member dies unexpectedly. Every life insurance policy will have a policyholder (individual who pays the premiums), an insured person (for whom the policy covers) and a beneficiary (the person who receives the money when the insured dies).
Two different types of life insurance:
- Term Insurance
The policyholder agrees to pay premiums to the insurance company for a specified number of years, and the insurance company agrees to pay the beneficiary if the insured dies during this period. - Whole Life Insurance
As long as the policyholder pays the premium to the insurance company, the policy will stay in force. These are types of whole life insurance policies:- Traditional whole life insurance policy has a fixed death benefit, and the insurance company makes all of the investment decisions and bears all of the risk.
- Universal life insurance policy permits policyholders to adjust their death benefit and their premiums to accommodate changes in their personal circumstances. With this type of insurance, the insurance company makes all of the investment decisions and bears all of the risk.
- Variable life insurance policy authorizes the policyholder to decide where his or her premium payments are invested, and the policyholder assumes all of the investment risk.
- Variable universal life insurance policy enables the policyholder to adjust his or her premiums and death benefits as circumstances arise. Policyholders may decide where their premiums are invested and assume all of the investment risk.
Unit Investment Trust (UIT)
A UIT is a registered trust that invests in equity or fixed, income-producing securities. Typically, the trust holds a fixed portfolio of professionally selected investments until it is liquidated at a prespecified date or the securities mature. Shares in the trust are bought and sold by investors.
Your investment return and principal value will fluctuate. Your shares may be worth more or less than the original investment when redeemed.
Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses prior to investing. A prospectus, or summary prospectus if available, containing this and other information can be obtained by contacting your financial professional, visiting the product website or by calling SMITH HAYES Financial Services at 1-800-279-7437. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.
We are here to assist you in the investment process.
