Portfolio By
FunctionBusiness Journalism
Business journalism produces information and insight that facilitates
global commerce. Over the past 20 years, Avanza President Harry Lew
has produced more than 50 articles for leading business publications
such as Consumer’s Digest, Financial Planning, National
Underwriter, Risk and Insurance, and others. Here
are some choice excerpts:
CT Business, magazine article
Sample Content:
“Connecticut’s IFS Cluster”
 “New Jersey’s Prudential Financial gobbles up Connecticut’s
American Skandia for about $1.2 billion and the retirement business
of CIGNA Corp, based in Hartford, for $2.1 billion. Hartford’s
Travelers Property Casualty and The St. Paul Companies, Inc., of
Minnesota, combine in an industry-shaking $16.4 billion stock-for-stock
merger. United Health Group buys Trumbull’s Oxford Health Plans,
Inc. Bank of America acquires FleetBoston for $47 million and Banknorth
of Portland, Maine takes over New Britain-based American Savings
Bank.
“As the ominous drumbeat of consolidation echoes across the
state, along with mounting concern over outsourcing jobs abroad,
one also hears a new sound—the sweet, hopeful music of executives
collaborating to protect and grow Connecticut’s insurance and
banking industries, under the aegis of the new Connecticut Insurance
and Financial Services (IFS) Cluster.”
“Connecticut’s
IFS Cluster” [PDF]
“Polishing the Crown Jewels of Connecticut’s
Economy” [PDF]
Consumer Digest, magazine article
Sample content:
“How
to Retire Early”
“Retiring early is a dream shared by millions of Americans: Not having to
work for a living, being able to play tennis at noon or at midnight,
or having the time to volunteer for worthy causes. Sound impossible? It
isn’t. Just ask Edward Tauber.
“Tauber and his wife retired at the ripe old ages of 43 and
41—and they have never been happier.
“During their careers, both Taubers worked in marketing research
and advertising. In their mid-30s, they were living and working in
California. He taught marketing at the University of Southern California;
she ran their market research firm.
“But eventually, they tired of the grueling travel and the tedium
of research. Was there a better way? Tauber realized there
might be. If they could live off his USC salary, while saving most
of their company’s consulting revenue, they might be able to
retire in 10 years, when he was 46 and she, 44.
“‘We worked like dogs—60 to 70 hours a week,’ recalls
Tauber. ‘We’d write reports on the weekend, travel during
the week. I was teaching a full load, too, and serving as chairman
of the USC marketing department. We had the equivalent of four jobs.’ ”
Financial Planning, magazine article
Sample content:
“LTC
to the Rescue”
“James H. Braziel’s first encounter with the financing
of long-term medical care occurred over a decade ago, when the husband
of one of his clients was forced to enter a nursing home. The client
was distraught over the prohibitive cost of this care, and so was
Braziel, a planner with Estate and Financial Planning of Chico, California.
The wife was in good health, but without some intervention on Braziel’s
part, the nursing home bills would have drained her assets, leaving
her to face her remaining years with acute financial uncertainty.
“The only recommendation Braziel could offer was that she
divorce her husband. She agreed, reluctantly, and her attorney drew
up the papers, unbeknownst to family and friends. Once divorced,
she was no longer responsible for her ‘ex-husband’s’ bills,
he qualified for Medi-Cal, California’s version of Medicaid,
and she was able to save the rest of her assets. It was a desperate
solution, but so was the problem.”
Risk and Insurance, trade
newspaper article
Sample content:
“Staying Sweet”
 “Hershey Milk Chocolate bars and Reese’s Peanut Butter
Cups are as American as fireworks on the Fourth of July. That’s
a marketing plus for Hershey Food Corp., maker of these and 53 other
brands of chocolates and confections. But it can also be a hindrance.
“The problem is that Pennsylvania-based
Hershey must roll out new products, expand its global reach, and
trim manufacturing costs—in short, function as an aggressive,
modern consumer products company—while trying to maintain the
mom-and-apple pie culture established by its founder nearly a century
ago.
“Nowhere is the contradiction between mean-and-leanness and
sweetness-and-light more apparent than in the company’s approach
to employee benefits. Benefits cost containment is a painful issue
for most modern businesses, but it is especially sensitive for a
corporate such as Hershey, which prides itself on its benevolent
attitude toward employees.”
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