Day 1: Recap of Morning TD Ameritrade Speakers

Ricky is currently attending the TD Ameritrade Institutional National Conference in Orlando and below are highlights from day 1 morning speakers. Most notably, President George W. Bush (43) and President Bill Clinton (42) shared the stage to offer insights and answer questions.

Tom Bradley, President of TD Ameritrade Institutional

• Over 1,200 Independent Advisors in attendance.
• 800 Financial Service Vendors and Exhibitors in attendance.
• 2,000 Total Attendees.
• TD Bank is one of only four banks left in the world with a AAA rating.
• TD Ameritrade Vision: To be the better investment firm for today’s investor and Registered Investment Advisor (RIA).
• Within TD Ameritrade, advisors have maintained a heightened asset allocation in portfolios to fixed income with 28% dedicated to fixed income instruments and 11% to cash.
• Notable quote, “What we all learned last year is there is no such thing as a yield or a return without risk.”

Excerpts from Question and Answer portion with President George W. Bush (GWB 43) and President Bill Clinton (BC 42):

• When did you first think of becoming President?
  • GWB 43: Dad taught me public service was noble. Introspectively, I believe I ran because I love my father. Biggest issue of being President is loss of anonymity; “I can no longer go to Wal-Mart and buy Berkley Power Worms.”
  • BC 42: At age 10 I watched the 1956 Republican and Democratic convention on TV and was fascinated by it. At age 16 I wanted to be in public service to affect politics, policy, and people. Your reason to run must be bigger than you.
• What was your proudest moment while in Office?
  • GWB 43: Prevented another terror attack on US soil. Made tough decisions to protect America and would do it again.
  • BC 42: First, end of genocide and support peace, i.e., Kosovo, Croatia, and others. Only correct account of “Blackhawk Down” was in my book. Second, passing the Family and Medical Leave Act.
• Toughest moment in Office?
  • GWB 43: Sending kids into combat. Meet with families whose children paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
  • BC 42: First, Al Qaeda bombings that killed our troops, embassy, USS Cole, bombing in Saudi Arabia. Second, assignation of Israel leader Roubin after he handed over land to Palestinians. Roubin was one of the three greatest men I knew, a man committed to Middle East Peace.
• What affect will the role of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) have on the future of the US?
  • GWB 43: Fear other economies if we can’t fix our own. India – 350 million middle income earners. This is bigger than our entire population (US). They can be bigger and more influential than China. China – many people fear China, but we have a symbiotic relationship. We go down, they go down. Protectionism is a real danger. China’s biggest focus is creating jobs or their political system comes under threat. Selling to US is a solution, open markets lead to open societies.
  • BC 42: It will be good for America, but what bothers me is countries with corruption, concentrated political power, restricted press, like Russia. Russia’s current system of corruption will fail. Brazil – doing great and will lead to good. Russia – dim view. India – if they can work out problems with Pakistan and if Pakistan will be honest, then India will be a bigger force than China. China – doing good. Will spend more money on clean energy in next five years than on defense. But they now also have a submarine that is more stealthy and faster than ours and have out classed us in this area of defense.