Category: Markets
Understanding the Benefits and Risks of Bonds
Especially in times of significant stock market volatility, bonds have an important place in a balanced investment portfolio. The income that bonds generate coupled with their relatively low-price volatility can help mitigate overall portfolio risk. Unlike stocks, which provide equity interest in a business, bonds are a form of debt in which the investor serves…
What to Focus on When Investing for the Future
As we begin a New Year and a new decade, many financial experts are polishing their financial “crystal balls” in an attempt to predict what the market will – or won’t – do in 2020 and beyond. The reality is that no one really knows how the market will perform from day to day, week…
Public vs. Private Equity
At The Fiduciary Group, our investment universe primarily consists of publicly-traded equities (stocks) and fixed income securities (bonds). From time to time, we receive questions from clients about making investments in non-publicly traded companies. We typically refer to these types of investments as private equity, which consists of capital not listed or traded on a…
Ignore Elections — Focus on the Long Term
As 2019 draws to a close, we’ve started to field an increasing number of questions about the potential impact of next year’s U.S. Presidential election. Specifically, clients are concerned about the potential impact that specific candidates and the policies they’ve advocated may have on the economy, the stock market, and their portfolio. For that reason,…
Understanding the Mutual Fund Selection Process
For many of our wealth management clients, we gain exposure to certain asset classes through hiring mutual fund managers. With thousands of available options, selecting a mutual fund is a daunting task for many investors. Understanding a fund’s track record, expenses and other publicly available attributes might be a good starting point for fund evaluation,…
Living with Uncertainty and Volatility
Over the past twenty-five years, the internet has profoundly changed many facets of our lives. And the pace of change has accelerated in the past decade with the proliferation of internet-connected mobile devices. Billions of people worldwide now have access to a wealth of knowledge. It’s a never-ending flow of news and information – instantaneous…
Thinking About Share Repurchases
When public companies generate cash, they have a handful of options: park it in a bank account; reinvest in their business; acquire other companies; pay dividends; or repurchase their stock. Among these avenues, share repurchases draw a disproportionate amount of attention. They are viewed skeptically as a form of financial engineering that is solely focused…
Focus on Process — Not Always the Outcome
It’s tempting to make investment decisions based on previous performance. When the stock market is continually moving higher, as it had for most of the past decade, investors sometimes overlook the importance of process. But, as we all know, the stock market can be fickle. For that reason, whether the market is rising or falling,…
Bull Market Turns 10 — What the Past 10 Years Taught Us, We Already Knew
The stock market bottomed in March 2009 after a prolonged and deep decline from its October 2007 highs. The financial crisis wounds were deep. The global banking system was nearly torn to shreds, forcing unprecedented monetary and regulatory actions. Debt markets were frozen. A new administration had entered the White House. Stock market investors were…
The Value of Discretionary Investment Management
At The Fiduciary Group, we serve as fiduciary investment advisors. This means that we are required to act in the best interest of clients and to not place our own interests ahead of clients. As part of this relationship, we have the discretion to act on our client’s behalf and we endeavor to make thoughtful…