Why We Shouldn’t Try to Predict Stock Prices A friend mentioned the other day that in November 2019, she chatted up a fortune teller who made a spectacular prediction: by the 2020 general election, the US would suffer the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression. No visions of a dark, handsome stranger for her. The financial industry has always employed economists and investment strategists in the role Read More
Communicating the Unthinkable
A number of years ago I received a mobile call at work from a number I couldn’t recognize. This is how I remember it: “Am I speaking to Maya Tussing?” “Yes.” “This is Fire Battalion Chief Joe Schmoe and I want to tell you first the good news. No one was hurt.” So if that’s the good news, what’s the bad news? I thought about that conversation as I watched markets close to record highs Thursday with the S&P 500 Read More
What is Asset Allocation?
With most markets taking a nose dive, it’s enough to make you run for the hills. Yet you’ve heard a lot of investment professionals tell you to “Stay the course.” But what does “stay the course” actually mean? It refers to maintaining the investment strategy that you put into action before the market crash, assuming it’s the right fit for your circumstances. When someone refers to an investment strategy, they are Read More
What are Asset Classes?
In Lesson One of Asset Allocation, we learned that when investment professionals say “Stay the course”, they mean investors should maintain their investment strategy, which typically refers to the portfolio’s asset allocation or the percentage amounts allotted to certain investment categories in your portfolio. In March 2020 most asset classes lost significant value, some almost 30% and others less than a percentage Read More
What are Your Nonprofit Endowment’s Asset Allocation Tolerance and Timing?
There are two important strategies that drive how and when you rebalance your portfolio. First, the percentage tolerance around your asset class weights and second, the timing of your rebalances. We recommend employing both of these strategies to your portfolio rebalancing in order to establish discipline around what could be an emotional process. Tolerance refers to the amount of drift you’re willing to accept when Read More
A Better Way of Giving
As published in Investment NewsEasy to set up and accessible to a broader range of investors, donor-advised funds help clients achieve charitable goals and give advisers something to talk aboutMarch 22, 2020 By Mark Schoeff Jr Fortune 500 executive client of Dan Rinzema’s had a lot of appreciated stock on his hands and felt charitably inclined. So Mr. Rinzema, chief client officer at Greenleaf Trust, turned to a Read More
US News & World Report: How to Protect Your 401(k) From the Coronavirus
As published in US News and World Report: MoneyBy Rachel Hartman, Contributor March 12, 2020, at 2:32 p.m Evaluate your current 401(k) balance and think ahead to stay on track during market fluctuations.FINANCIAL CONCERNS stemming from the coronavirus outbreak have rippled through the global economy. “The coronavirus has had an undeniable impact on the stock market, which extends to 401(k)s,” says Read More
Stocks Stayed Low, Bond Prices Go Higher
Central banks jumped into action in March 2020 as Novel Coronavirus worries continued to batter markets, with the Fed cutting interest rates 0.50% and the ECB and Bank of England expected to follow. This action was meant to stimulate financial activity by making borrowing cheaper. Economists wonder how effective further rate cuts will be to boost the economy against a health epidemic. One thing is clear: investors Read More
VIDEO: What is Your Investment Philosophy?
With all the volatility in the stock markets as of late and the recent Fed rate cut, we thought it important to review investment philosophy. Whether you are a nonprofit managing a board-designated fund, cash reserves or an endowment or you are an individual investor, the investment philosophy is the core foundation of how you manage your investments. Do you know your investment philosophy? Do you know your advisor’s Read More
5 Questions for the Expert: Cash and Cash Management
In previous posts, we’ve discussed how nonprofits should strive to hold enough cash to take advantage of unexpected opportunities or unplanned losses. To hammer home the point, we asked Aron Chazen, CEO of Treasury Curve, for his perspective about cash reserves. Among Treasury Curve's clients are public sector institutions, looking to manage pools of taxpayer money and other public funds to ensure cash is deployed Read More
