Invest: Miami speaks with Andrew Carillo, President, Barnet Capital Advisors
What have been the most important milestones of 2016?
In 2016, we grew our client base substantially. Our assets have more than doubled. At the beginning of the year, we were handling $12 million, and now we are handling approximately $27 million. We have continued to focus on our performance and try to deliver the best value to our clients. International demand has been key to achieve such growth, specifically the fact that many Venezuelans have been seeking a safe haven for their assets in Miami. We are not seeing as many people from other countries coming in similar immigration waves.
As the Fed raises interest rates, how does this affect long-term and short-term investment opportunities?
The Fed’s raising interest rates will create a transfer from debtors to savers. This can put downside pressure on real estate and stocks, but I highly doubt they will raise rates much due to this fact.
If the Fed were to raise rates substantially, a long term real estate buying opportunity could be created if prices were to come down. Then, yield on income property (unsure of written text). Considering the affordability of real estate combined with higher rates, it’s likely that rates will not increase much more for the time being.
Additionally, if they raise rates, bonds are more attractive.
How would you comment on the Miami-Dade CFP firm environment?
It is a very competitive environment, with a lot of financial service firms in the area and a lot of baby-boomers reaching retirement age. However, I believe that is the normal situation in this industry, whether you are in Tampa, New York or Miami.
Looking into the medium term, what are Barnett’s plans for Miami-Dade?
We will continue to look after our clients and our strategies while focusing on delivering what our clients are expecting from us. Florida has a great competitive advantage in the sense that there is no state income tax. New York and California have been loosing a lot of businesses because they don’t have this competitive advantage. On the other hand, the growth fundamentals are really solid, not only for Miami, but for Florida in general. If policy focuses on fostering growth and creating more job opportunities, at the end of the day, that is going to benefit the economy as a whole, causing the state’s revenues to grow. This is a much better approach than the typical increase in tax rates, which affect business activities and aggregate demand and, therefore, in the long term it also harms tax revenues, which is the opposite effect than the one pursued.
To find out more about Barnett Capital Advisors, visit their website: http://www.barnettcapitaladvisors.com/
