Below are our latest blog posts for the week of April 21st.  Click on the links below to view the full article.

Ever since I began managing money I have always gravitated toward multi sector income funds in lieu of traditional aggregate bond strategies as a way of increasing income and lowering volatility. The innate problem with core bond strategies is that they traditionally weigh the balance of their holdings based on the total size of the U.S bond market. This translates into a nonsensical practice of lending the largest slice of a client’s assets to the most indebted issuers.

The price action of the market in April has been a perfect example of the risk to reward of buying on weakness rather than chasing strength.  In the beginning of the month, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) dipped below its 50-day moving average and appeared to be headed for much lower prices. However, subsequent positive earnings announcements and geo-political stabilization rapidly shifted the momentum back to the bulls.

Published on NASDAQ.com

ETF investors that want international exposure in their portfolios are likely going to gravitate towards global funds with a heavy allocation to Japanese stocks. This large allocation is simply a function of Japan being the third largest economy in the world and second largest developed nation behind the United States and China. As a result, it’s reasonable to assume that Japanese companies would be core holdings in a diversified basket of developed foreign nations.

Published on Marketwatch.com

As a retiree, common sense would lead you to the conclusion that you should take extra special care of your assets. This is especially true when you consider replenishing them through other income streams is probably not an option, or at least not an option you are interested in pursuing.  I wholeheartedly agree with this mantra as income investors face new challenges with the probability of a secular shift higher in interest rates and the overhang of an aging bull market.

This weekend I was fortunate enough to spend the elongated Easter break surrounded with family and friends in sunny La Jolla, California.  It was a time of rest, relaxation, eating good food, and creating new memories.  I came away refreshed from the daily grind and contemplative of the next steps in this journey. Here are some of the poignant things on my mind as we make our way into the week.

P.S.  Have you reviewed your portfolio lately to determine if it is positioned to ride out the recent equity volatility?

Now is a perfect time to get a professional second opinion on all your holdings along with a better understanding of our investment process.  Call our office today at 888-823-8111 or contact us for a free consultation.