WrapManager's Wealth Management Blog

Quizmaster Doug Hutchinson has come up with another great quiz that explores pre-tax and after-tax options for retirement investing. Let’s see what the math has to say. Good luck! [+] Read More

In Cambiar Investors' First Quarter Market Commentary, they discuss a wide array of world events effecting their positions. “The first part of 2015 saw global financial returns transposed versus the back half of 2014. Following a peculiar 2014 where U.S. blue chip stocks generated the only significantly positive returns in U.S. dollar terms, conditions have so far reversed in 2015, with international returns faring better than U.S. returns in both local currency and dollarized terms. [+] Read More

Eagle Asset Management portfolio manager, Richard Skeppstrom, provides his May market perspective. "A Catch-22: The powerful earnings advance will peter out without better economic growth but the Fed will raise rates if the economy accelerates." Richard Skeppstrom, manager for Eagle's Strategic Return Portfolio, comments on his view of the U.S. Market's neutral state. [+] Read More

Legg-Mason ClearBridge's Senior Portfolio Manager, John Goode, provides his first quarter market review. "Tales from the Past and the Future Perspective about the future requires speculation about developments over a time period which often is not helpful for near and intermediate term investment decisions. However, there are times in history when it is necessary to step out on a thin intellectual limb and try to make sense of some of the very big developments that may be especially important over the next 7-10 years. In doing this, it is necessary to look back in time to understand how we got here and where we might be going. [+] Read More

JP Morgan's First Quarter Market Bulletin for 2015 provides a recap of the earnings season. "In Brief • We estimate that first quarter 2015 earnings-per-share (EPS) declined by 5.0% on a year-over-year (y/y) basis. Similar to the prior quarter, this was primarily due to lower oil prices and the stronger U.S. dollar (USD). • Excluding the energy sector, S&P 500 EPS grew by 9.1%, in-line with historical trends. We also estimate that the stronger U.S. dollar resulted in an average EPS decline of 5% for the most multinational non-energy companies. [+] Read More

Geneva Advisors provides their First Quarter Perspectives on the market. "The relative strength of the U.S. dollar has been an important force for the market in recent periods. Stock prices are near record highs and valuations of many companies are extended. A disciplined investment process, an active investment approach and a long‐term focus will continue to be critical to achieving investment objectives. [+] Read More

Brookmont has made the decision to reduce mid-cap stock exposure for their Dividend Equity Strategy. "Dating back to March 2009, the Brookmont Dividend Equity Strategy has always maintained a 30%- 35% weighting in small and mid-cap stocks. It is an area of the market that includes attractive dividend-paying stocks that are often overlooked by our peers. Knowing that mid-cap stocks often lead a market recovery, we rebalanced the portfolio in February 2009 and were active buyers in mid-cap names such as Packaging Corporation of America, Tupperware, Hubbell, Heinz, and Lubrizol (the latter two stocks were eventually acquired by Warren Buffett). From 2009 through 2013, it was not uncommon for our mid-cap holdings to produce one-year returns as high as 115%. Knowing that these type of gains are not common, we rebalanced the portfolio on several occasions to realize these significant profits. [+] Read More

Filing taxes often puts our financial lives under a microscope, and that’s a good thing – we take stock of where we stand financially and we can review strategic opportunities for how we take income, how we spend, and how we invest. With all of this information already out on the table, a sound next step is to shift focus to your estate plan. Tax and estate laws are constantly changing, so the planning process can be complex and you should enroll the help of professionals in each area as you get started. But there are also a few core elements of planning that have been fairly constant over the years, and we’ve assembled them into an estate planning checklist for you as a basic guide. [+] Read More

Quizmaster, Doug Hutchinson, has come up with a great quiz that illustrates how adding an asset with higher volatility can actually lower overall volatility of a portfolio. Let’s see what the math has to say. Good luck! Consider this scenario: Your friend Mary has a portfolio consisting of one asset, Asset A. She is considering adding a second asset to the portfolio and her new portfolio would be weighted as 50% Asset A and 50% of the new asset. She would like the new two asset portfolio to have the lowest risk (as measured by standard deviation) possible, given the other options that she is considering adding to her portfolio: Asset B and Asset C. [+] Read More