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BMO Private Bank CIO Says It's A Rebuilding Year,
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Jack Ablin presents 2013 Financial Outlook Update

SARASOTA, Fl (March 7, 2013) – Jack Ablin, author and frequent contributor to CNBC, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, and Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer for BMO Private Bank, was the featured speaker at the Sarasota Ritz-Carlton Hotel recently when he presented his financial outlook update for 2013.

Quoting the late Mae West, Ablin opened with “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”

Because investors continue to have many questions and concerns about their portfolios, his presentation included remarks on the U.S. and global economies, public and tax policies, inflation watch and financial market strategies. Over 200 guests attended the lecture and luncheon. Jack R. Kuhn, BMO Private Bank senior vice president and managing director for Florida’s West Coast, welcomed guests, along with J. Garrett Heard IV, managing director of BMO Private Bank in Sarasota.

 Ablin, who is responsible for establishing investment policy and strategy within the personal Investment Management Group of BMO Private Bank and also chairs the BMO Private Bank Asset Allocation Committee, determines the strategy for investment portfolios at BMO Private Bank. He joined the firm in 2001 and has more than 25 years of experience in money management.

Ablin’s report included the following:

• Expect the mix of winners and losers to rotate as the U.S. enters its austerity phase. We anticipate business-related activity to take precedence over consumer-driven growth.
• In a year when the Federal Reserve wrung the income out of fixed income, alternative yield strategies dominated once again.
• Risk taking was rewarded in 2012 as global stock markets delivered their largest gains in three years, beating bonds, commodities and the dollar by their largest margin since 2009.
• Governing in times of expansion is easy. As long as the pie is growing, allocating and reallocating the economic slices is trouble free. Only when growth slows do cracks in the façade emerge.
• Washington negotiations are like the Beach Boys song that says, “She’ll have fun, fun, fun ‘til her daddy takes the T-bird away.”

According to Ablin, who noted that the 30-year Treasury yield recently broke above three percent for the first time in months, there is little chance that there will be a dramatic rise in interest rates in the very near term. But Washington’s passivity could eventually prompt bond market vigilantes to take the lawmakers’ car keys.

“Notwishstanding the fiscal cliff and ongoing intractability of government, the U.S. economy has managed to claw its way back to a si ze slightly larger than its pre-recession level in December 2007,” noted Ablin. “At its lowest point in June 2009, the economy was five percent smaller than it was at the recession’s onset. Without unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus, the economic drawdown would have been far worse.”

For more information about BMO Private Bank, please visit: www.bmo.com/privatebank/us or call the Sarasota office at: 941.363.2234.

About BMO Private Bank, a part of BMO Financial Group
BMO Private Bank offers a comprehensive range of wealth management services that include investment advisory, trust, banking and financial planning to meet the financial needs of high net worth clients. Through integrated teams of experienced financial professionals, BMO Private Bank helps its clients realize their financial and lifestyle goals with solutions that are custom tailored and delivered with the highest level of personalized service.

BMO Private Bank is a brand name used in the United States by BMO Harris Bank N.A. Member FDIC. Not all products and services are available in every state and/or location.

BMO and BMO Financial Group are trade names used by Bank of Montreal.