INVESTMENT THEMES UPDATE

Recently, Dan and Mike sat down with Paul De Moor, a VP of Capital Markets Strategy at Fidelity Investments to discuss his Investment Themes Update. Paul shared valuable insight that helps shape advice we offer our clients and build our actively managed portfolios. These meetings are a part of what we call the "due diligence process". This process is a critical component in our efforts to offer our clients the best of the best. Avantax, Willis & Machnik’s broker dealer, is independent and isn’t limited by proprietary funds and models. This allows Dan and Mike to work in an open architecture environment when selecting from 1000’s of mutual funds, ETFs, stocks & bonds. This, in part, is why we make rebalancing trade recommendations when we meet with our advisory clients and is one of the more crucial services we offer our clients.

Below are some of the insights from our conversation with Paul. Please let us know if you have any questions or would like to learn more about our services.

• Part of our job as your advisor is to take the emotion out of investment decisions. Sometimes, our most valuable advice comes when we’re asking our clients to “hold tight” or to “get in now.” These opportunities, or “gifts” as Paul describes them, come every so often. The thing we want our clients to remember is that our philosophy is to take the long view and stick to the plan, when appropriate. It’s not about timing the market, but rather, time IN the market.
  We will continue to focus on companies tied to innovation in our portfolios.
• We live in very exciting times and will take advantage of the opportunities provided. Based on Paul’s experience and a look at historical market behavior, it’s anticipated that the markets will remain bullish for several years to come.
  
• Post COVID recovery is strong and it’s been suggested that the business cycle was accelerated by COVID. Based on Paul’s presentation, we are early to mid cycle and may not see our next recession until possibly 2030. Of course,there are many factors that influence the outcome of the markets. Paul indicated that we will be paying close attention to four areas in our economy: inflation, interest rates, taxes, and equity valuations. Dan and Mike track these indicators, along with many others on a daily basis, to better understand market volatility and the impact on our client’s portfolios over time.
  
• Which leads us to a very key point. Paying attention to financial media is important for any savvy investor. However, don’t allow headlines that are designed to generate emotion create unrealistic expectations. For example, inflation is normal and is going to happen. We discuss and plan for inflation in every financial projection meeting we have with our clients and make tactical shifts in their portfolios when necessary.
  
• Finally, stay tuned for an upcoming email from W&M regarding cryptocurrency. We’ve been fielding a lot of questions surrounding the validity of crypto and the opportunity to invest in this new and quickly evolving market. We will do our best to keep you apprised along the way or in this journey.