Friends,
If you’ve watched the news over the past week, it would’ve been hard to ignore the comments surrounding the drop in the stock market. Hopefully, our comments and video (link below) from Kestra’s CIO Kara Murphy will shed light and assuage fears.
While the speed at which the S&P 500 dropped almost 10% is unsettling – it’s not surprising. We’ve had an incredible run-up in the stock market for the last 18 months, and we’re viewing this as normal repositioning. Drops of 10% typically arise each year, and our firm has expected this downturn (as most investors should have as well). Tariff discussions, inflation and geopolitical matters seem to be hot-button topics leading to confusion and fears which also have contributed to the selloff.
Our disciplined strategy calls for making tactical changes as the market dictates without changing our long-term strategy. We are watching and will reposition and buy as the discounts get more advantageous. It should reassure you to know that this recent period has proven to be a testament to our diversified approach to building portfolios….as many positions in our portfolio have generated positive returns year to date (e.g. foreign stocks, bonds and bond funds, etc.).
Please let us know if you would like to discuss your portfolio or have questions about the impacts to your long-term plan.
Matt and Andrew
P.S. See these resources for good commentary on current events.