Last week, Greg, David, Jennifer and Josh attended the Financial Planning Association of Maryland’s two day symposium. The program featured a presentation by T. Rowe Price economist Alan Levenson, an analysis on optimal portfolio withdrawal strategies, an update on estate planning laws and many more sessions. The program was insightful and provided practical knowledge which will prove beneficial as we develop financial plans for our clients* and manage their portfolios.
The global markets have been disrupted over the past several days by the upcoming vote for Scottish independence. Investors don’t like uncertainty and the independence vote is creating high levels of uncertainty. There is also concern that if the independence effort in Scotland is successful, who might be next? Could this spread throughout Europe causing further disruption and uncertainty? Many believe that Spain might be at risk for a similar effort should the Scottish vote be successful.
Our current view is that the overhang and noise from the Scottish independence effort may be disruptive in the short-term but is likely to dissipate fairly quickly so long as we don’t see a spread into other regions.
Today and Wednesday the Fed is meeting and we expect them to continue tapering their bond buying program and ultimately wrap it up next month. Investors are keeping a careful eye on any possible changes in their rate guidance language but we do not expect anything significant coming out of the meeting.
Declining auto sales and a push by auto makers into lesser quality credit and loans has been a trend we have been monitoring for the past several weeks. Lowe Wealth Advisors concluded that the recent bullish cycle for the sector had potentially peaked and therefore sold our position in the auto industry ETF in most of our portfolios.
You will hear much more about our outlook and potential strategies for 2015 at our breakfast meeting on November the 1st. If you have not done so already you may RSVP for the breakfast by clicking here. Space is limited and we are already about half way to our capacity.
*Not all clients receive financial planning services from Lowe Wealth Advisors. If you are interested in developing a personal financial plan please notify us.
Lowe Wealth Advisors is an SEC registered investment adviser that maintains a principal place of business in the State of Maryland. The Firm may only transact business in those states in which it is notice filed or qualifies for a corresponding exemption from such requirements. For information about the registration status and business operations of Lowe Wealth Advisors, please consult the Firm’s Form ADV disclosure documents, the most recent versions of which are available on the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.
This commentary is intended for the dissemination of general information regarding market conditions to Lowe Wealth Advisors clients. The information contained herein should not be construed as personalized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results, and there is no guarantee that the views and opinions expressed in this report will come to pass. While any general market information and statistical data contained herein are based on sources believed to be reliable, we do not represent that it is accurate and should not be relied on as such or be the basis for an investment decision. Any opinions expressed are current only as of the time made and are subject to change without notice.
- Not all portfolios are actively managed. If you have a question about how your account is being managed please contact us.
- No diversification can completely protect against market risk or other risk factors with investing. A diversified portfolio could still lose money.
- An Index is a portfolio of specific securities (common examples are S&P, DJIA, NASDAQ), the performance of which is often used as a benchmark in judging the relative performance of certain asset classes. Indexes are unmanaged portfolios and investors cannot invest directly in an index. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
- Foreign investing carries additional risk such as currency risk, political risk and different accounting standards.