Investment Committee

Prior to early February, the S&P 500 index enjoyed its longest streak in history without a pullback of at least 5%, but after more than 18 months of nearly uninterrupted advances, over the last two weeks volatility in the stock market has increased considerably.  This long period of market calm is actually more unique than this recent perceived instability.  Regardless of what has

We are writing to inform you that the Investment Committee has approved another change to our target portfolios. When you last heard from us in June, we shared with you a trade we had authorized that reduced domestic large cap growth stocks in favor of non-US equities.

We are writing to inform you that the Investment Committee has approved a change to the construct of our target portfolios.  Please note as follows:

We are writing to inform you that in our target portfolios we have replaced the Scout Mid Cap Fund with iShares Core Mid Cap, a low cost indexed approach. Please note that this is not a performance-driven change as Scout has stellar long term numbers and has outperformed its benchmark so far this year.

By now you have probably seen that the citizens of the United Kingdom have voted to leave the European Union, otherwise known as the “Brexit”. This news has sent shock waves throughout the world and the markets as global leaders and investors alike grapple with how this news will affect all of us in the short and long term.

The Investment Committee has approved two changes to the construct of our target portfolios:

Last week our Investment Committee approved a slight change to the bond allocation within our target portfolios. Specifically, we are reducing exposure to floating rate fixed income and are investing the proceeds into corporate high yield bonds.

We are writing to inform you that our Investment Committee has decided to remove the Loomis Sayles Investment Grade Bond Fund from our clients’ portfolios and invest the proceeds equally between the bond allocation’s other two taxable, high quality bond investments.  Loomis’s long term performance (both absolute and index-relative) is outstanding, and it is a position tha

Normally, the first few trading days of the year are buoyant as investors look optimistically ahead. 2016 has not followed this path.  A rise in geopolitical tensions stemming from North Korea’s possible nuclear test, discord between two of the most powerful Middle Eastern countries, and the ongoing fear of terror attacks at home and abroad have all weighed on investor sentiment.

The stock and bond markets, both US and foreign, have become increasingly challenging to navigate over the past year, much more so within the past month, and even more over the last few days.