No Straight Lines
Though we believe our optimism about life & money is well grounded over the long run, we know our experience of growth in each doesn’t come neatly and in a straight line. And oh, how we wish sometimes we could just have the straight line!
Volatility and turbulence have returned to financial markets in recent months, and we want to acknowledge that these parts of the long-term ride don’t feel good. However, our decades of experience in the market tell us the ups come with the occasional downs, much like the rest of life. And it’s in these challenges that we also find the next opportunities for growth.
In our view, as we’ve said before, the current fits in the market are related to a reset in interest rate expectations prompted by inflation and the policy response from the Federal Reserve to begin raising rates, reversing years of easy (low interest rate) policy. While COVID, Russia/Ukraine, and other near-term factors have their impact on the market, we’ve been squarely focused on the future path of interest rates as the main show as this has broad implication across financial assets and the economy. In short, we’ve been preparing for this for quite some time.
Unfortunately, even disciplined and time-tested investment approaches like ours (and yours) aren’t entirely immune from the ups and downs, but we remain confident it will deliver the long-term returns that will help you meet your goals. And we’ve already worked to position your investments to withstand what the market may throw at us.
It’s hard to know how long we’ll have to endure this period of turbulence and I think it’s best to assume it may take some time for this adjustment in interest rate expectations—and the related impact on the economy and asset prices—to play out. Times like these can test our patience and resolve. However just as surely as difficult markets come, they will surely go, and we’ll be with you every step of the way.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions about your portfolio or positioning. Or if we can simply help bring some perspective to the what’s going on in the market today.
With optimism,
Dustin
