Times change, but thankfully for longer term investors, short-sighted fear and greed in the financial markets remain the same. 2017 was the best year for emerging market (EM) equity returns since 2009. EM was up 37%, beating domestic equities for the first time in five years. During 2017, the worst peak-to-trough decline was 5%, the … Continue reading Emerging Opportunities
The best gift I ever received from my parents growing up was my very own checking account when I was 12 years old. This may sound a bit dull at first, but the gift was much more than the physical checkbook and debit card I was so excited to use back then. That was the … Continue reading Financial Wellness for Kids!
The Federal Reserve raised interest rates again in June, marking the seventh rate hike since the Fed began its tightening campaign in late 2015. The Federal Funds rate now stands at 1.75-2.0%, with the Fed indicating they intend to raise rates two more times in 2018. Notably, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell stated that, beginning in … Continue reading Credit Markets: A More Transparent Fed
For many decades, a multi-asset class approach delivered superior returns with less risk. By approximately, equally weighting the major asset classes, an investor could earn 8-9% returns with far less volatility than a portfolio comprised solely of equities. However, in reviewing the last ten years, a simple equal weighting has failed to generate meaningful returns. … Continue reading Why Investors Are Focused On U.S. Equities In 2018
2017 extended the domestic equities bull market to nine years. Over this span, equities were able to continuously ascend through a litany of worries and slow earnings growth because of low valuations, low interest rates, low inflation, and an accommodative Federal Reserve. Over time these variables slowly shifted, and now as we enter the second … Continue reading The New Environment For U.S. Equities
The alternatives asset class is one that typically doesn’t garner much attention and can be easy to overlook. The individual holdings themselves typically aren’t flashy, and, on balance, alternatives make up a smaller portion of your portfolio than U.S. stocks, international stocks or bonds. Despite this, its significance to your overall portfolio shouldn’t be ignored … Continue reading Navigating Turbulent Waters
For middle to high income earners, there are IRS limitations on the tax benefits allowed for both Roth IRA and traditional IRA ownership. For an individual with a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) exceeding $135,000 (single filers) and $199,000 (married joint filers), the ability to contribute to a Roth IRA is completely phased out. 1 To … Continue reading Backdoor Roth IRAs
Towards the end of the first quarter, the U.S. slapped tariffs on imported steel, aluminum, solar panels and washing machines. At first it was on all countries. Then several countries were exempted. China was not exempt and responded by putting tariffs on wine and pork. Then, the U.S. announced further tariffs on a variety of … Continue reading Are We In A Trade War?
We are pleased with OPCM’s 2017 returns. The OPCM Global Moderate Growth Composite was within a few percentage points of the return of the S&P 500, with less than 65% allocated to global equities, while the Global Balanced Composite returned approximately 14% net of fees with around half of the portfolio allocated to global equities. … Continue reading Osborne Partners 2017 Year-End Review
Both domestically and throughout the globe, most equity markets generated 20%+ returns in 2017. Last year was a record for equities in many ways. Domestically, U.S. markets saw record low volatility. Additionally, it was the first year equities rose in every single month. Finally, U.S. equities ended 2017 with a record streak of 681 days … Continue reading Our 2018 Global Equities Outlook
