Wealth Management Blog | WrapManager (37)

Clearbridge Investments - Multi Cap Growth Q2

Posted by WrapManager's Investment Policy Committee

August 4, 2015

Clearbridge's Richard Freeman and Evan Bauman, provide their perspective on the second quarter discussing views on market volatility, focus sectors, and interest rates.

"Market overview and outlook

U.S. stocks traded in a tight range during the second quarter, with the major indexes ending largely unchanged. The large cap S&P 500 Index gained 0.28% for the quarter, the small cap Russell 2000 Index added 0.42%, while the broad market Russell 3000 Index gained 0.14%.

Volatility remained low as investors awaited a clear signal from the Federal Reserve on when it will commence raising short-term interest rates. The S&P 500 sustained its longest stretch without a 2% daily move up or down since 2007. That more than six-month stint was snapped on June 29 when the index fell 2.09% following the breakdown of talks between Greece and its creditors. The sharp drop – the largest for the S&P 500 since April 2014 – pared gains for most equity benchmarks.

Boomerang Kids and Your Retirement Plan

July 30, 2015

More and more adult children are living with their parents and grandparents, according to a Pew Research study. The 2013 study shows that nearly three in ten young adults ages 25 to 34 (29%) have lived with their parents in recent years, and 78% of these boomerang children say they’re satisfied with their living arrangements.1 Even if the adult children and their parents or grandparents are satisfied with the day-to-day living arrangements; it’s imperative that you examine how this situation is affecting your retirement plan. Supporting adult children can certainly take a toll on your retirement planning by potentially throwing off your timeline or the amount of money you are able to save. Your financial advisor can help you to see how the figures add up in your current situation. However, only you can strike a balance for your family between providing enough support to set your children on a productive course without undermining your own financial well-being. As you work to strike that balance, consider the following: [+] Read More

Federated - Strategic Value Dividend Q2 Commentary

July 29, 2015

Federated has released their second quarter, managed account commentary for their Strategic Value Dividend portfolio. "Market Overview The major equity indexes slipped in June, as generally better-than-expected data on the U.S. economy gave way to worries late in the month over a possible Greek default, exit from the euro or both.The bulk of the monthly decline, which saw the S&P 500, Dow and NASDAQ fall a respective 2.1%, 2.2% and 1.6%, came on June 29, when a strong risk-off trade sent global equity markets tumbling as the Greek issue came to a head. June’s losses were enough to push the S&P to a virtually flat total return for the quarter. [+] Read More

Geneva Advisors - Market Volatility

July 23, 2015

Geneva provides its second quarter market overview for 2015. They discuss geopolitical risks effect on volatility, global economic positioning and their optimism for the future. “Market Overview U.S. equities generated modest gains in the second quarter. Improving economic data, continued easy global monetary policy and increased merger and acquisition activity combined to help sustain higher equity prices.Geopolitical risks, however, now including those in Greece and China, caused increased market volatility. [+] Read More

Top Equity Money Manager Picks - Q3 2015

July 22, 2015

To help investors discover and evaluate money manager strategies, WrapManager’s Investment Policy Committee highlights certain strategies each quarter. These encompass a wide range of asset classes and investment disciplines. Here are this quarter’s strategies: [+] Read More

Gradual Retirement Planning

July 15, 2015

There is no doubt that Americans are working longer than ever before. Of those ages 65 and older, about 18% are still working. This is a stark contrast to the 10.8% of the same age who worked in 1985. 1 For some, this is good news as plenty of people view working late in life as a means of keeping active. In retirement planning terms, many are choosing what is called a “gradual retirement” - a retirement plan to ease into life as a retiree. The movement toward gradual retirement has gained steam in recent years and it may soon become the new normal. [+] Read More

Eagle Asset Management - Interest Rates and Your Retirement Plan

July 9, 2015

Eagle Asset Management's Richard Skeppstrom provides his market perspective for July. "Prudence is restraining growth? Second-quarter domestic economic growth has not bounced as much as expected. That’s curious because the weather has improved and the collapse in the price of oil put money in folks’ pockets. I’ve read in a few different places that we are saving the money that we would have spent on fuel. Saving? Like, not spending? Frankly, I’d dismissed the whole notion as absurd. Americans spend. However, that was until I saw a brief note describing Larry Fink’s theory on the matter. He’s the maestro of BlackRock and I pay attention when he speaks (he manages a few trillion dollars more than me). Mr. Fink believes very low interest rates are forcing people to save more for retirement. That’s entirely logical but hard to embrace since we (a large swath of the adult population) have ignored the economic realities of retirement for as long as I can remember. [+] Read More

Mutual Fund Taxation: How to Deal with a 7-Year Bull Market

July 8, 2015

It’s been quite a bull run for stocks, and the benefits are many for those who have been heavily invested in the stock market these last seven years.1 However, there is a downside to such a run, taxes on capital gains distributions. Over the past several years, the amount of capital gains has steadily increased, and the increase will likely continue as long as the stock market continues to rally. This leads investors to wonder what they can do to decrease their tax burden. Before we talk about possible strategies, let’s take a look at the situation. After several years of gains, funds began making payouts, just small payouts at first and gradually larger and larger percentages per share. These payouts qualify as taxable gains, and as such, they are taxable. Additionally, payouts lead to outflows when what you really want to do is preserve your capital. Capital gains don’t often fit into investors’ long-term wealth strategies, so it’s wise to know what other options are available to you. [+] Read More

3 Reasons for International Diversification in Your Portfolio

June 29, 2015

Another day, another headline about a potential Greek exit from the eurozone. The “negotiations” between European leaders and Greece over the past few days have ended in (sometimes quite bitter) stalemates, and Greece is running out of time to secure their next bailout. They owe the International Monetary Fund €1.53 billion by June 30,1 and it does not appear as though they have the cash needed to pay up. So what does this mean for investors and your portfolios? If Greece does not strike a deal with other members of the eurozone very soon, it could mean a messy exit from the currency bloc and could have rippling effects on Europe and the global economy. As investors, it is one thing to think about how Greece’s economy would fare on its own without the support of Europe (might not be too pretty), and entirely another to mull the rippling effects that a “Grexit” could have on the rest of the world. [+] Read More

Eagle Asset Management's Perspective on Rate Increases

June 25, 2015

Eagle Asset Management's Richard Skeppstrom discusses the Fed's approach to debt and credit in this month's Market Perspective. "Betwixt and between The easy money’s been made. That’s not gloomy talk. It’s not controversial. It’s not a recommendation to do anything. It’s a fact. You can expect high returns from stocks when margins are depressed, valuations are low, interest rates can be slashed and the U.S. Federal Reserve is about to juice the system. But that’s simply not where we are now. We are in a new market where the returns will be lower, fewer things will work and volatility will be higher. We will be in this environment for the foreseeable future. This is sort of like getting older. As they say, it’s better than the alternative. Cheer up. [+] Read More