Below are our latest blog posts for the week of November 23rd.  Click on the links below to view the full article.

Thank you notes on Thanksgiving always seem to come across as contrived rather than conveying a deeply held sense of gratitude. I don’t want to espouse a standard list of blessings that loses its emotion and gets lost in the stream of social consciousness. Yet, when I woke up this morning, I took a moment to reflect on how this journey began and where we stand today.

Examining the markets over the last several months, it comes as no surprise that the recovery in equities has been a bit lopsided from a capitalization perspective.  Large cap dominated portfolios have nearly erased their losses stemming from the August-September correction, while more growth orientated small and mid-cap strategies have lagged.  From a performance perspective, small cap stock indexes are still roughly 8-10% off their 2015 highs, allowing a lot of room to play catch-up.

Many investors build their portfolio with the same methods that they use to cook at home. Throw together a combination of ingredients in varying quantities to create a seemingly cohesive meal. Yet at the end of the day, they probably don’t think about carefully measuring how this result was achieved or what took place to bring these individual items to a tasty conclusion.

Published on NASDAQ.com

When investors think of growth opportunities, their focus rarely turns to the financial sector. The business models of banks, insurance, and brokerage companies have matured to the point of taking up residence squarely in the value category. This leads to a focus on earnings, share buybacks, and dividend growth rather than capital appreciation or momentum.

Over the last several weeks, I have spoken with many independent investors who have felt let down by their portfolio holdings.  Often times this is because they have a high exposure to international stocks, commodities, high yield bonds, or other esoteric investments.

Fortunately, this is a perfect point in time to assess your current strategy and develop an action plan that suits both your risk tolerance and long-term objectives.

P.S. Did you know our core actively managed ETF portfolio minimums start at just $100,000?

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