Investment Themes for 2021

Posted On January 10, 2021 By Scott Stratton, CFP(R), CFA In Portfolio Management /

Today we are going to discuss our top Investment Themes for 2021. I’ve stated that predictions are generally worthless, and 2020 certainly proved this point. 12 months ago, no one anticipated the massive impact of the Coronavirus. And the lightning speed of the stock market recovery remains shocking.

From its highs in February, US Stocks fell 35% to March 23. The recovery saw a 65% rally, with the S&P 500 Index ending the year up 17.6%. It was a mind-boggling year for investors, but I think we can count our blessings. This was the fastest Bear Market and recovery in history. Compared to the previous two Crashes, investors felt compelled to stay the course this year. And this proved wise.

(Here’s what I wrote to investors on March 21: Stock Crash Pattern.)

So, where do we go from here? Will 2021 unwind all the gains of 2020? My philosophy remains that we do not need to predict market movements or time the market to be successful. As a long-term investor, my approach to tactical investing is based on over-rebalancing. Think of rebalancing – trimming categories which rose (and became expensive) and adding to what became cheap. We overweight the assets which are cheaper.

We remain fully invested in our target allocation, but the weighting of funds can change from year to year. In some years, we own assets which lag other categories. That’s okay. That’s part of being a diversified investor. We want to avoid chasing performance.

Trades for 2021

US large cap growth has become very expensive. For 2021, we are shifting some of our large cap growth to a mid cap growth fund. The valuations there are not as elevated.
US small cap appears to have turned. Q4 of 2020 was the best quarter for small cap in 30 years. We added to small cap in our Growth and Aggressive models.
Emerging Markets have a high expected long-term return. We remain overweight in EM.
Value stocks lagged growth names again in 2020. (Growth stocks performance was highly concentrated in a small number of tech stocks such as Facebook, Amazon, Alphabet, and Tesla.) We are committed to our Value Funds and believe that they are compelling today.
Bond yields fell in 2020 to all-time lows. The US Aggregate Bond Index had a return of 7.4%, but most of that was from prices increasing. Less than 2% came from yield. So, we finished 2020 with terrible yields – less than 1% on a 10-year Treasury bond.
Yields were up in the first week of 2021, and bond investors are seeing falling prices. We are positioned towards the short-end of the yield curve and want to avoid chasing high yield today.
Fixed Annuities remain a good substitute for CDs and Bonds for investors who don’t need liquidity. We can get a 5-year annuity at 3.0%.
There are relative values within municipal bonds and Emerging Markets debt. Other than that, we expect very low returns from bonds. Own them for diversification. They provide ballast if your stocks are down and give you the ability to rebalance.
We trimmed some short-term bonds and added to Preferred Stocks. Although many are priced at par today, we can get yields of 4-6%. This is an attractive middle ground between the volatility of stocks and the 0-1% yields of bonds.
Both stocks and bonds are at all-time highs right now, and that makes alternatives compelling. In addition to Preferred Stocks, we have positions in Convertible Bonds and a Hedge Fund Strategy mutual fund.

Adding Value

We certainly hope markets will rise in 2021, but there’s no guarantee that will happen. I can say that we added value in 2020 in three other ways:

In March, we harvested losses in taxable accounts. For example, we sold one large cap ETF and immediately replaced it with a different large cap ETF. Losses will offset capital gains distributions and will carry forward indefinitely.
We rebalanced in March, trimming bonds and buying stock ETFs which were down. These trades proved profitable, although they didn’t feel so good when the market was crashing.
We stayed the course throughout the year. Selling during a panic like March would have been disastrous. We believe that planning and behavior are fundamental to success.

Our investment themes for 2021 are not predictions. We can’t control what the market will do. Our focus is to think long-term, stay diversified, and keep costs and taxes down. Still, our portfolio models are not static. We make changes to the weightings of our Core positions based on their relative valuations. And we add or remove Satellite positions that are attractive for the current environment.

Investments are a tool to grow your wealth and achieve your financial and life goals. While I enjoy discussing investments, more of my conversations with clients are around their objectives and making sure they are on track. And that’s how it should be.

Behind the scenes, a lot of research, thought, and analysis goes into our investment management decisions. If you’d like to ask about your portfolio and how we invest, please give me a call.

Questions To Ask A Financial Advisor

Posted On October 20, 2020 By Scott Stratton, CFP(R), CFA In Financial Planning /

I recently saw an article on 10 Questions to Ask a Financial Advisor, as a way to interview prospective advisors. The article is on point, and I hope that future clients will ask me these questions. Doing so will enable them to understand my process and recognize the value I can provide. Let me save you the time by providing my answers here.

1. Are you a Fiduciary?

Yes, I am a Fiduciary. I am legally required to place client interests ahead of my own. As an independent Registered Investment Advisor, I am not tied to any single company or product. My goal is to do the best I can to help every client.

2. How do you get paid?

On portfolios above $250,000, the asset fee is 1% a year. This is charged at the beginning of each quarter, at 0.25%. For clients who just want a financial planning engagement (without $250,000 in investments), the quarterly cost is $1250. My clients know exactly how much they pay me and have the right to leave at any time if they are unsatisfied. By charging an annual fee on the value of your portfolio, our incentives are aligned. If your account goes up, I get paid a bit more. And if your account goes down, I make less. I think this is mutually beneficial and creates accountability. My goal is to have a long-term relationship with each client.

Read more: The Price of Financial Advice

3. What are my all-in costs?

Aside from the fee described above, I do not charge any other fees, planning charges, or receive investment commissions. The core of our portfolios are low-cost funds from companies like Vanguard, iShares, and SPDRs. We build portfolio models in-house, so you will never be charged an outside management fee or “wrap” fee. Some other firms will charge you $2,000 for an initial plan, followed by a 1 to 1.5% management fee, and then outsource your portfolio to someone else who will ding you another 1% to manage your investments! Our focus is on keeping your investment costs low.

4. What are your qualifications?

I hold the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designations. I received a Certificate in Financial Planning from Boston University. Since 2004, I have been a full-time financial advisor. Before that, I taught at several colleges and approach my practice as an educator. My academic background includes a Bachelors degree from Oberlin College, and a Masters degree and Doctorate in music from the University of Rochester.

You should also look up an advisor on the SEC’s Investment Advisor Public Disclosure website to check if they have any disciplinary record, bankruptcies, or legal settlements. I do not.

5. How will our relationship work?

Planning comes first. A financial plan can help you see your goals clearly and develop concrete steps to achieve them. Investment policy is the product of financial planning so it has to be second. I work with a small group of families so I can do my best work and provide a high level of service. Financial planning is a long-term process, not a once and done event.

We begin with an in-depth Discovery Meeting to learn both the quantitative details about your financial situation as well as the qualitative goals, needs, and preferences you have for your money and your life. We will gather statements, tax returns, and other documents to analyze. All clients will complete a Finametrica Risk Profile and we will go over the results together. Based on your objectives, we use a modular planning process to address the areas which are most important and relevant to your situation.

In the first year, we have a lot of work to do in establishing your plan. Starting in year two, we will meet twice a year for monitoring and ongoing planning. I encourage clients to reach out to me whenever they have questions about financial topics or if their situation changes.

6. What’s your investment philosophy?

Investors are best served by a passive, long-term investment strategy. Our role is to manage a diversified, target asset allocation for buy and hold investors. We create and manage a series of Portfolio Models to meet the differing needs and risk preferences of our clients.

Within each Portfolio Model, we employ a Core + Satellite investment strategy. Core holdings are low-cost Exchange Traded Funds, in primary categories such as US Large Cap Stocks, US Small Cap Stocks, International Developed Equities, Investment Grade Bonds, and Cash. Satellite holdings are more tactical and may vary from year to year depending on their relative value and attractiveness. Satellite positions may include ETFs, mutual funds, or alternative investments, such as Emerging Markets, Real Estate, Commodities, Preferred Stocks, Convertible Bonds, Floating Rate Income, or other categories or strategies.

We do not believe that we can add value through market timing, picking individual stocks, sector rotation, or speculative strategies. We see little evidence that such strategies are beneficial for investors, especially when we consider the additional risks associated with them.

7. What asset allocation will you use?

Our models include the target allocations below, to be determined by your situation. Each model typically has 10-15 Exchange Traded Funds or Mutual Funds and is diversified across thousands of securities.

Ultra-Equity: 100% Equity / 0% Fixed Income
Aggressive: 85% Equity / 15% Fixed Income
Growth: 70% Equity / 30% Fixed Income
Moderate: 60% Equity / 40% Fixed Income
Balanced: 50% Equity / 50% Fixed Income
Conservative: 35% Equity / 65% Fixed Income

8. What investment benchmarks do you use?

We use two benchmarks: for stocks, the MSCI World Index Total Return, and for fixed income, the Barclays US Aggregate Bond Index.

9. Who is your custodian?

TD Ameritrade Institutional will hold your accounts. Charles Schwab has acquired TD Ameritrade, and the two firms are in the process of combining over the next 18-36 months. I am very comfortable with both firms and their long-standing commitment to working with Independent advisors and their clients.

10. What tax hit do I face if I invest with you?

We will look at your individual situation and carefully consider taxes in our transfers, trades, and investment strategy. Working with high-net worth families, we aim for tax‐efficiency through the implementation of asset location, low‐turnover funds, tax loss harvesting, and tax‐favorable investment vehicles. We rebalance portfolios typically once a year, to avoid creating short-term capital gains.

Have other questions for me? Drop me a note! I’m happy to chat.

Do You Need Bonds?

Posted On September 6, 2020 By Scott Stratton, CFP(R), CFA In Portfolio Management /

With ultra low yields today, more investors are asking if you really need to have bonds in your portfolio. It’s going to depend on your objectives for your overall plan. First, let’s take a look at expected returns and how this impacts your allocation.

The primary role of bonds is to reduce the risk of a stock portfolio. Bonds fluctuate a lot less and most are relatively low risk. The trade-off is that they have a lot lower return than stocks. Of course, the stock market has a negative return in approximately one of every five or so years. From 1950 through 2019, 15 of 70 years had a negative return in the S&P 500 Index. Bonds are more consistent, and they can help smooth out your overall returns. In years when stocks are down, you can rebalance by selling some bonds and buying stocks.

The more bonds you have, the more you reduce stock risk, but also the more you probably lower your long-term returns. With the 10-year Treasury bond yielding only 0.721% this week, bonds offer almost no return on their own. Bonds used to offer safety and income, but today, you are really only owning them just for safety.

Portfolio Asset Allocation

We describe a portfolio by the percentage it has in stocks versus bonds. A 70/30 portfolio, for example, has 70% stocks and 30% bonds. Our asset allocation models target different levels of stock and bond exposure:

Ultra Equity (100% Equity)
Aggressive (85/15)
Growth (70/30)
Moderate (60/40)
Balanced (50/50)
Conservative (35/65)

Expected Returns

Next, let’s consider what Vanguard projects for the next 10 years for annualized asset returns, as of June 2020:

US Equities: 5.5% to 7.5%
International Equities: 8.5% to 10.5%
US Aggregate Bond Market: 0.9% to 1.9%

Let’s calculate hypothetical portfolio returns using these assumptions. If we take the midpoint of stock projected returns, we have 6.5% for US Stocks and 9.5% for International Stocks. If we invest equally in both, we’d have an 8% return. For our bond return, we will take the midpoint of 1.4%. Now, here’s a simple blend of those expected returns when we combine them in a portfolio.

Portfolio	Projected 10 Year Return
100% Equities	8.00%
90% Equities / 10% Bonds	7.34%
80% Equities / 20% Bonds	6.68%
70% Equities / 30% Bonds	6.02%
60% Equities / 40% Bonds	5.36%
50% Equities / 50% Bonds	4.70%
40% Equities / 60% Bonds	4.04%
30% Equities / 70% Bonds	3.38%
20% Equities / 80% Bonds	2.72%
10% Equities / 90% Bonds	2.06%
100% Bonds	1.40%

If you simply want the highest return without regard to volatility in a portfolio, you could invest 100% into stocks. Moreover, any addition of bonds should reduce your long-term returns. Of course, this assumes that returns are simply linear. In a real portfolio, there would be up years and down years in stocks. That’s when you would rebalance, which could be beneficial.

For young investors, in their 20’s, 30’s, or 40’s, you probably should be more aggressive in your asset allocation. For some, it may even make sense to be 100% in stocks. If you have 20 or more years to retirement, and aren’t scared of stock market fluctuations, being aggressive is likely going to offer the highest return.

The 10-year expected return of stocks is not bad, 8% combined today. That’s a little bit lower than the historical averages, but still an attractive return. Bond returns, however, are expected to be very weak. Consequently, 60/40, 50/50, and more conservative portfolios, are expected to have much lower projected returns.

Retirement Planning and Your Need for Bonds

For those closer to retirement, low yields are a challenge. You want to have less volatility but also want good returns. If you are within five years of retirement, you probably want to reduce the risk of a stock market crash hurting your retirement income. Now, if the hypothetical 8% stock returns were guaranteed, our decision would be easy. But getting out of bonds today, with the market at an all time high, seems too risky. This week has certainly been a reminder that stocks are volatile.

I think most pre-retirees will want to keep their current allocation through their retirement date. After that, they may want to consider gradually reducing their bond exposure by selling bonds. There is evidence that this strategy, The Rising Equity Glidepath, is a beneficial way to access retirement withdrawals. It allows retirees to benefit from the higher expected return of stocks, while reducing their risks in the crucial 5-10 years right before and at the beginning of retirement.

Some retirees have a high risk capacity if they have ample sources of income and significant assets. If their time horizon is focused on their children or grandchildren, they can also consider a more aggressive allocation.

We want to calculate your asset mix individually. I wanted to show you what the blend of stocks and bonds is projected to return over the next decade. We’ve had strong returns from fixed income in recent years because falling interest rates push up bond prices. Going forward, it looks like bond returns are going to be quite low. We do have to consider these projected returns when making allocation decisions.

If you’re looking for advice on managing your investment portfolio today, let’s talk. Our planning process will help you address these questions and have a better understanding of your options.

Long Bonds Beating Stocks in 2019

Posted On September 2, 2019 By Scott Stratton, CFP(R), CFA In Portfolio Management /

Through August 31, the S&P 500 Index is up 18.34%, including dividends. Would it surprise you to learn that bonds did even better? The Morningstar US Long Government Bond Index was up 18.40% in the same period. Even with this remarkable stock market performance, you would have done slightly better by buying a 30-year Treasury Bond in January!

How do bonds yielding under 3% give an 18% gain in eight months? Bond prices move inversely to yields, so as yields fall, prices rise. The longer the duration of the bond, the greater impact a change of interest rates has on its price. This year’s unexpected decrease in rates has sent the prices of long bonds soaring. While bonds have made a nice contribution to portfolios this year because of their price increases, today’s yields are not very attractive. And longer dated bonds – those which enjoyed the biggest price increases in 2019 – could eventually suffer equivalent losses if interest rates were to swing the other direction. We find bonds going up 18% to be scary and not something to try to chase.

Today’s low interest rates are a conundrum for investors. The yields on Treasury bonds, from the shortest T-Bills to 10-year bonds are all below 2%. CDs, Municipal bonds, and investment grade corporate bonds have all seen their yields plummet this year. In some countries, there are bonds with zero or even negative yields.

What can investors do? I am going to give you three considerations before you make any changes and then three ideas for investors who want to aim for higher returns.

1. Don’t bet on interest rates. Don’t try to guess which direction interest rates are going to go next. We prefer short (0-2 year) and intermediate (3-7 year) bonds to minimize the impact that interest rates will have on the price of bonds. With a flat or inverted yield curve today, you are not getting paid any additional yield to take on this interest rate risk. Instead, we take a laddered approach. If you own long bonds which have shot up this year, consider taking some of your profits off the table.

2. Bonds are for safety. The reason why we have a 60/40 portfolio is because a portfolio of 100% stocks would be too risky and volatile for many investors. Bonds provide a way to offset the risk of stocks and provide a smoother trajectory for the portfolio. If this is why you own bonds, then a decrease in yield from 3% to 2% isn’t important. The bonds are there to protect that portion of your money from the next time stocks go down 20 or 30 percent.

3. Real Yields. Many of my clients remember CDs yielding 10 percent or more. But if inflation is running 8%, your purchasing power is actually only growing at 2%. Similarly, if inflation is zero and you are getting a 2% yield, you have the same 2% real rate of return. While yields today are low on any measure, when we consider the impact of inflation, historical yields are a lot less volatile than they may appear.

Still want to aim for higher returns? We can help. Here are three ideas, depending on how aggressive you want to go.

1. Fixed Annuities. We have 5-year fixed annuities with yields over 3.5%. These are guaranteed for principal and interest. We suggest building a 5-year ladder. These will give you a higher return than Treasuries or CDs, although with a trade-off of limited or no liquidity. If you don’t need 100% of your bonds to be liquid, these can make a lot of sense. Some investors think annuity is a dirty word, and it’s not a magic bullet. But more investors should be using this tool; it is a very effective way to invest in fixed income today.
Read more: 5-year Annuity Ladder

2. High Yield is getting attractive. Back in 2017, we sold our position in high yield bonds as rising prices created very narrow spreads over investment grade bonds. Those spreads have widened this year and yields are over 5%. That’s not high by historical standards, but is attractive for today. Don’t trade all your high quality bonds for junk, but adding a small percentage of a diversified high-yield fund to a portfolio can increase yields with a relatively small increase in portfolio volatility.

3. Dividend stocks on sale. While the overall stock market is only down a couple of percent from its all time high in July, I am seeing some US and international blue chip stocks which are down 20 percent or more from their 2018 highs. Some of these companies are selling for a genuinely low price, when we consider profitability, book value, and future earnings potential. And many yield 3-5%, which is double the 1.5% you get on the US 10-year Treasury bond, as of Friday.

While we don’t have a crystal ball on what the stock market will do next, if I had to choose between owning a 10-year bond to maturity or a basket of companies with a long record of paying dividends, I’d pick the stocks. For investors who want a higher yield and can accept the additional volatility, they may want to shift some money from bonds into quality, dividend stocks. For example, a 60/40 portfolio could be moved to a 70/30 target, using 10% of the bonds to buy value stocks today.

When central banks cut rates, they want to make bonds unattractive so that investors will buy riskier assets and support those prices. When rates are really low, and being cut, don’t fight the Fed.

Long bonds have had a great performance in 2019 and I know the market is looking for an additional rate cut. But don’t buy long bonds looking for capital appreciation. Trying to bet on the direction of interest rates is an attempt at market timing and investors ability to profit from timing bonds is no better than stocks. If you are concerned how today’s low yields are going to negatively impact your portfolio going forward, then let’s talk through your options and see which might make the most sense for your goals.

Source of data: Morningstar.com on September 2, 2019.

10 Rules for Playing Defense in Investing

Posted On May 31, 2019 By Scott Stratton, CFP(R), CFA In Portfolio Management /

Stocks take the stairs up and the elevator down. When they rise, it is slow and steady, but when they go down it feels like a free-fall. Given the recent market tumult, I wanted to share my top ten rules for defensive investing.
Defense doesn’t mean that you won’t have losses on days when the market goes down. It means that you avoid unnecessary risks that could really blow up your portfolio, so you can have the confidence to stay with the plan.

1. Diversification is the only free lunch in investing. You should be diversified by company, as well as by sector and country. If your employer issues you stock options or has an Employee Stock Purchase Plan, take every opportunity to sell and diversify elsewhere. Most disaster stories I hear are from people who failed to diversify.

2. Index Funds are the antidote to performance chasing. When you pick a concentrated fund, such as a sector fund or single country fund because of its recent track record, you risk buying at the top and experiencing a painful (and much larger than necessary) drop when the winds change direction. While it’s so easy to find actively managed funds that beat the index over the past year, there is a better than 80% chance that those funds will lag the index over the next five or more years. The Index fund is also likely a fraction of the cost and is also more tax-efficient than an actively managed fund.

3. Asset Allocation is the most important decision you make. Start with a carefully measured recipe so you don’t end up with a random collection of funds and stocks you’ve acquired over the years. If you’ve decided that a 60/40 portfolio is the right mix for your needs, that should be for all market environments, not just while stocks are going up.

4. You are going to be tempted to adjust your Asset Allocation. It is very tough to get this right, because humans are wired to make terrible investing decisions. We want to sell a down market and we want to buy when the market is at all-time highs. Obviously, in hindsight, we should buy when things are really ugly and sell at the peaks. Invest with your brain and not your gut-feeling.

5. Rebalance. When you have a target asset allocation, then the process of rebalancing back to your target levels creates a built-in process of selling assets which have shot up in value and buying assets which have temporarily gone out of favor. This works great with Funds, but don’t try this will individual stocks.

6. We buy stocks for growth and bonds for income and safety. When you try to switch those objectives, things seldom go as planned or hoped. Buying stocks for their yield and safety can easily lead to long-term under performance. Many times you will be better off in a plain vanilla index fund than a basket of super-high dividend stocks or supposedly safe stocks. Many high-yielding stocks are very low quality companies with no growth. When they do eventually cut their dividends, the shares plummet.

Similarly, you can find bonds that as quoted, should yield stock-like returns. Stay away. These could be future bankruptcies.

Bonds for Safety in 2019

Posted On January 3, 2019 By Scott Stratton, CFP(R), CFA In Portfolio Management / 1 Comment

2018 saw rising interest rates, which hurt the prices of bonds. Most bond funds were flat to slightly down for the year. Rising interest rates also means higher yields, and we now see sufficient yields to justify buying short-term bonds. We have been reducing our equity exposure over the last few weeks, and have been using those proceeds to buy individual investment grade short-term bonds and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).

I wanted to share a couple of themes which will guide our investment process for fixed income in the year ahead. In general, this is not a great time to be taking a lot of risk with your bond allocation. We want to use bonds to offset the risk of stocks to dampen overall portfolio volatility. Thankfully, bonds can now also make a positive contribution to your return albeit in a very modest 2-4% range, and with low or very low risk.

1. Credit doesn’t pay. A credit spread measures the difference in yield between a high quality bond, such as a US Treasury bond, versus say a bond issued by a company which has lower credit. That spread remains very tight today, meaning that you are not getting much additional yield for accepting the credit risk of a lower quality issuer.

This has led us to be selective about which corporate bonds we buy, only buying issues which have enough spread to justify their purchase. In today’s market, this primarily leads us to financial companies, especially the large banks, and to municipal bonds, including the rarely-discussed taxable municipal bonds which are a good choice for IRAs or other non-taxable accounts.

Both Treasury and US Government Agency bonds still have lower yields than CDs. This month, we bought some one-year CDs at 2.70% to 2.75% while the one-year Treasury was around 2.50%. That spread widens as we look to two and three year maturities.

I should explain that we offer “Brokerage CDs”, which are a little different than your typical bank CDs. Brokerage CDs are FDIC-insured against loss and we can shop for the best rates available, from both top banks like Wells Fargo or JP Morgan Chase and from smaller local banks who want to compete for the best yield.

While you can typically redeem a bank CD early, albeit with an interest penalty of a few months, with a Brokerage CD, you would have to sell the CD in the bond market. If interest rates continue to rise, you would likely have to sell at less than full value. While these CDs offer the excellent rates, they are best used when you can hold to maturity.

We use CD rates as the basis of our spread comparison, rather than the traditional Treasury bonds. If we can’t find an improvement of at least 0.35% to 0.50% for an A-rated bond, then it’s not worth taking even the small risk over the CD. We will still use Treasury Bills for maturities of 6 months or less.

2. 5-year Ladder. In larger accounts, our goal is to create a ladder of bonds and CDs that mature over the following five years (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023). This gives us a nice diversification of maturities while still maintaining a low overall duration. When the 2019 bonds mature, we purchase 2024 bonds to maintain a 5-year structure. In a rising rate environment, we are likely to be able buy new bonds at a higher rate.

Besides being a sensible way to build a bond portfolio, a ladder also can be used to meet future needs for withdrawals or Required Minimum Distributions. Then instead of needing to sell equities or bond funds which could be down, we have a bond that is maturing to meet those cash needs. As a result, an investor might not need to touch their equities for the next five years. If or when their equities do grow, we can rebalance by selling stocks and buying new bonds at the top of the ladder.

While bond prices may go down if interest rates continue to rise in 2019, when you have an individual bond or CD, you know that it will mature at its full face value. So even if prices fluctuate, you will realize your stated Yield to Maturity when you do hold to maturity, which should be very possible with a 5-year ladder.

(Two notes: 1. While we can say that CDs and Treasury Bonds are guaranteed, other types of bonds do have some risk of default and cannot be described as guaranteed. 2. Investors who try to predict interest rates have as little success as investors who try to predict stock markets. We do not want to make bets on the direction of interest rates.)

3. Fixed Annuities. Annuities get a bad rap, but a Fixed Annuity is a third type of guaranteed fixed income investment. They deserve a closer look by investors as a bond substitute and work well with a 5-year laddered approach.

The current rate for a 5-year fixed annuity is 3.80% from one carrier I use. That compares to a 5-year CD at 3.35% to 3.60%. That’s not much of an improvement, however, the Fixed Annuity is an insurance product outside of our managed portfolio, so there are no investment management fees. Your net return is 3.80%. The insurance company will pay me a small commission directly, which does not impact your principal or your rate of return.

I think laddering fixed annuities can make sense for some, as a bond replacement, and more investors should learn about this before dismissing it as soon as they hear the word annuity. A 3.80% percent return on an annuity would be the equivalent of a 4.80% bond if you include a 1% annual management fee.

We wrote about doing a 5-year ladder of Fixed Annuities back in February 2016 in this blog, and I think it still makes sense for some investors. We would count this as part of your fixed income target for your overall portfolio allocation (60/40, etc.).

The stock market gets a lot of attention, but we don’t neglect fixed income in our portfolios. I do think there are benefits to managing your bond portfolio, and we spend as much time sweating the details of our fixed income selections as we do our stock market exposures.

Four Investment Themes for 2017

Posted On November 14, 2016 By Scott Stratton, CFP(R), CFA In Portfolio Management / 2 Comments

Each November and December, I undertake a complete review of our Premier Wealth Management Portfolio Models and make tactical adjustments for the year ahead. We have five risk levels: Conservative (roughly 35% equities / 65% fixed income), Balanced (50/50), Moderate (60/40), Growth (70/30), and Aggressive (85/15).

Our investment process is tactical and contrarian. Each year we look for those market opportunities which have attractive and low valuations, and increase our weighting to those segments, while decreasing those categories which appear more expensive. We include Core positions, which offer broad diversification and are the essential and permanent foundation of our portfolios. And we purchase Satellite positions which we feel offer a compelling current opportunity in a more narrow or niche investment category. Typically, there are 12-15 positions in total, consisting of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and Mutual Funds.

While we are not afraid to make changes to our models, we believe that when it comes to trading, less is more. We want to minimize taxable sales and especially to avoid short-term capital gains. That’s why we only change the models once a year, although we also believe that more frequent trading would be likely to be detrimental rather than return enhancing.

For 2017, our portfolio changes will be based on three considerations:
1) Relative valuations (reducing expensive stocks and adding to the inexpensive segments).
2) Replacing our holdings in a few categories, where another fund appears to offers a better risk/return profile.
3) Our world view of the markets in 2017, which is more focused on identifying risk than trying to predict the top performing investments. No matter what, diversification remains more valuable than our opinions about investment opportunities.

Here then are our four investment themes for 2017:

1) Low for Longer
Although interest rates may have bottomed in 2016, it does not appear that there will be a V-shaped recovery. We think interest rates, inflation, Domestic and Global GDP will all remain quite low for 2017.

2) Full Valuations
US Equities are no longer cheap. Years of central banks holding interest rates near zero (or actually negative in some countries this year) has forced investors into risk assets. This has driven up PE multiples. And while I would not call this a bubble, you can’t say that the US market is cheap today. That means that equity growth going forward is likely to be tepid.

Low bond yields pushed investors into dividend stocks, specifically to consumer staples and utilities, which are perhaps the most “bond-like”. These categories seem to be especially bloated and could underperform.

Turning to bonds, the yield on the 10-Year Treasury has increased from 1.6% to 2% in the past three months. Time will tell, but could this summer have been the peak of the 30-year bull market in bonds? I don’t know, but when yields are this low, prices on long-term bonds can move dramatically. We invest in bonds for income and stability and to balance out the equity risk in our portfolios. We’re not interested in using bonds to speculate on the direction of interest rates.

While there may not be an equity level of risk in bonds, it is safe to say that the price of bonds globally is higher in 2016 than it has ever been before. Bonds are much less attractive than five years ago, although we find some pockets that interest us and may at least give us a chance of exceeding inflation and earning a positive real return on our money.

3) Leadership Rotation
I believe we are going to see a very gradual shift in three areas:

A) From Growth to Value. Since 2009, growth stocks have dominated value stocks. This tends to be cyclical, but over the long-term, value has outperformed. We see a widening valuation gap between popular growth stocks, some of which are trading at PEs of 100 or higher, and out of favor value companies. Value is showing signs of life in 2016, and we think that there will be mean reversion at some point that favors value.

B) From Domestic to Emerging. Over the past 5 years, US stocks have reigned. Boosted by a strong dollar and a global flight to quality, US stocks have outperformed others and become more expensive than international stocks. Emerging markets have languished and are now trading at a big discount to developed markets. But emerging economies have higher growth rates and overall, have less debt and more favorable demographics than developed markets. While volatility will be higher, Emerging markets could greatly outperform if you are looking out 10 or 20 years from now.

C) From Bonds to Commodities. In 2016 we have already seen a rebound in oil, gold, and other commodity prices. After years of commodity prices falling, have we put in a bottom? We don’t have commodities in our models currently, but when inflation and interest rates start to pick up, I expect to see commodities gain and bonds suffer. That’s why the bull market in bonds may well end at the same time as the bear market in commodities. 2017 may be a good year to start diversifying for long-term investors.

4) High Risk, Low Return
With full valuations in equities and very low interest rates in bonds, expected returns for a Balanced or Moderate allocation are likely to be noticeably lower than historical returns. While volatility has been actually very mild for the past several years, investors should not be lulled into thinking that their portfolios will continue to grind higher without the possibility of a 10% or 20% correction.

Unfortunately, in today’s global economy, it seems less likely that a traditional diversification, for example, adding small cap and international stocks, will provide any sort of defense in the next bear market. We are expanding our investment universe to look for alternative strategies which can offer a true low correlation to equities. When the market is booming or even just recovering (like 2009), equities are often the top performers. But in a high risk, low return environment, we want some positions that offer the potential for positive returns with lower, different, or uncorrelated risks. If you want to explore these in greater detail, see our new Defensive Managers Select portfolio model.

These four investment themes are important considerations for how we position for 2017. You can get investments anywhere and they are becoming a low-cost commodity. However, what you cannot get anywhere is insight, personal service, and a custom-tailored individual financial plan. Investments are interesting, but we view them as a means to an end. Investments should accomplish your financial goals with the absolute least amount of risk necessary. The more interesting angle is how we can use investments to fulfill your plan just for you.