Q: What is your current view on inflation (transitory, going higher, stable at higher level than in prior years), and what does that mean for the general population? A: The current pace of inflation as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) is running above 5%. We believe this pace will calm down over the next few months; however, we think it will remain well above the Federal Reserve’s...

Download the PDF A quick look back There aren’t enough adjectives to describe the remarkable run the stock market has had, so we will stick with some statistics for the S&P 500, including: 12 new all-time highs reached in August alone Seven consecutive months of gains A 107% total return since the panic-stricken COVID-19 lows of March 20201 In this market resurgence, there have...

Since China opened its borders to the world four decades ago and initiated economic reforms, it has been one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Hundreds of millions of Chinese people have been lifted out of poverty. As the middle class expanded, demand for goods and services increased. Investors around the globe understood the opportunities and sought ways to participate in China’s...

  Active management Passive management Objective Pursue a defined investment objective Mirror a specific index Technique Actively select assets Own what the index owns Performance goal Outperform the market Track the index performance ...

What is going on? Over the course of the last six months, the Chinese government has escalated regulatory oversight of certain sectors and foreign listings. This is a cyclical phenomenon. Over the years, we have experienced periods in which the government increases regulation or reprimands business leaders. The current period is, however, the most intense we have seen in thoroughness and...

The Fed left rates unchanged, as expected, at its most recent meeting. The Fed’s statement and subsequent press conference from Chairman Powell provided a little more detail on the Committee’s thoughts on tapering of its asset purchase program. The statement noted progress toward the Fed’s goals of maximum employment and price stability, which could bring them closer to tapering. Powell’s...

Elon Musk recently illustrated the complexity of the clean energy story. In February, Musk’s company started accepting cryptocurrency in payment for electric vehicles (EV). By May, the company had stopped accepting the currency because mining cryptocurrency was contributing to climate change. The decision sparked immediate debate about clean energy because, let’s face it, mining lithium for...

In various aspects of our lives, we make decisions based on what matters most to us: where we live, who our friends are, even what restaurant we want to eat at. What if we brought that same focus on what matters to our investment decisions?  In today’s market, there are a lot of options to promote change – or to preserve and protect the things you care about—simply by where you direct...

Investors tend to think of advancements in technology coupled with high-tech equipment when thinking about clean energy opportunities. Electric vehicles, solar panels, wind farms, and hydrogen and carbon sequestration are all hot topics for discussion when thinking about clean energy. What about landfill gas? There is an emerging trend developing to capture methane from organic waste, landfills...

June key drivers Despite continued concerns over increasing inflationary pressures, US equities as measured by the S&P 500 have posted another month of positive returns. As a rotation from value to growth took place in June, the S&P 500 gained over 2% while the Russell 3000 Growth Index gained over 6%. Commodity markets have begun to post strong gains, as growing demand coupled with...

May key drivers Despite an increase in volatility driven by concerns over inflation pressures building in the economy, global equities finished higher for the month of May, when looking at the MSCI ACWI Index. Across asset classes, we saw gains in equities, credit and real assets, which has been a consistent pattern over the past year. One area in equities that stood  out was the 2.6%...

Recently, equity markets were disrupted by the not-so-new news that the White House proposed a higher tax on realized investment profits (i.e., capital gains) to help fund the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan (AFP). President Joe Biden’s opening bid stirred controversy and created some market volatility. Even though the plan has yet to become a bill in Congress, negotiations within...

Download the PDF Earlier this month, we outlined the potential tax changes proposed in President Joe Biden’s two major fiscal initiatives and considered some of the potential implications for stock market investors. Since then, negotiations between the two political parties have begun. However, there is not yet a clear path to an outcome, and the bargaining and posturing will likely go...

In part one of this series, we discussed the American Jobs Plan which proposes spending $2.7 trillion on infrastructure investment over eight years, financed through corporate tax increases. Infrastructure and corporate taxes both affect US economic competitiveness. The AJP affects both, and it could have an impact on financial markets and investment portfolios. The AJP may increase corporate...

The American Jobs Plan (AJP), also known as the “infrastructure plan,” has been getting a lot of attention. The current version of the AJP, which we view as the Biden administration’s opening bid,  proposes to spend $2.7 trillion over eight years on transportation, water, electricity, broadband, clean energy, research and development, and other public investments. If passed, the plan may...

Q: What is your current view on inflation (transitory, going higher, stable at higher level than in prior years), and what does that mean for the general population? A: The current pace of inflation as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) is running above 5%. We believe this pace will calm down over the next few months; however, we think it will remain well above the Federal Reserve’s...

Download the PDF A quick look back There aren’t enough adjectives to describe the remarkable run the stock market has had, so we will stick with some statistics for the S&P 500, including: 12 new all-time highs reached in August alone Seven consecutive months of gains A 107% total return since the panic-stricken COVID-19 lows of March 20201 In this market resurgence, there have...

Since China opened its borders to the world four decades ago and initiated economic reforms, it has been one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Hundreds of millions of Chinese people have been lifted out of poverty. As the middle class expanded, demand for goods and services increased. Investors around the globe understood the opportunities and sought ways to participate in China’s...

  Active management Passive management Objective Pursue a defined investment objective Mirror a specific index Technique Actively select assets Own what the index owns Performance goal Outperform the market Track the index performance ...

What is going on? Over the course of the last six months, the Chinese government has escalated regulatory oversight of certain sectors and foreign listings. This is a cyclical phenomenon. Over the years, we have experienced periods in which the government increases regulation or reprimands business leaders. The current period is, however, the most intense we have seen in thoroughness and...

The Fed left rates unchanged, as expected, at its most recent meeting. The Fed’s statement and subsequent press conference from Chairman Powell provided a little more detail on the Committee’s thoughts on tapering of its asset purchase program. The statement noted progress toward the Fed’s goals of maximum employment and price stability, which could bring them closer to tapering. Powell’s...

Elon Musk recently illustrated the complexity of the clean energy story. In February, Musk’s company started accepting cryptocurrency in payment for electric vehicles (EV). By May, the company had stopped accepting the currency because mining cryptocurrency was contributing to climate change. The decision sparked immediate debate about clean energy because, let’s face it, mining lithium for...

In various aspects of our lives, we make decisions based on what matters most to us: where we live, who our friends are, even what restaurant we want to eat at. What if we brought that same focus on what matters to our investment decisions?  In today’s market, there are a lot of options to promote change – or to preserve and protect the things you care about—simply by where you direct...

Investors tend to think of advancements in technology coupled with high-tech equipment when thinking about clean energy opportunities. Electric vehicles, solar panels, wind farms, and hydrogen and carbon sequestration are all hot topics for discussion when thinking about clean energy. What about landfill gas? There is an emerging trend developing to capture methane from organic waste, landfills...

June key drivers Despite continued concerns over increasing inflationary pressures, US equities as measured by the S&P 500 have posted another month of positive returns. As a rotation from value to growth took place in June, the S&P 500 gained over 2% while the Russell 3000 Growth Index gained over 6%. Commodity markets have begun to post strong gains, as growing demand coupled with...

May key drivers Despite an increase in volatility driven by concerns over inflation pressures building in the economy, global equities finished higher for the month of May, when looking at the MSCI ACWI Index. Across asset classes, we saw gains in equities, credit and real assets, which has been a consistent pattern over the past year. One area in equities that stood  out was the 2.6%...

Recently, equity markets were disrupted by the not-so-new news that the White House proposed a higher tax on realized investment profits (i.e., capital gains) to help fund the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan (AFP). President Joe Biden’s opening bid stirred controversy and created some market volatility. Even though the plan has yet to become a bill in Congress, negotiations within...

Download the PDF Earlier this month, we outlined the potential tax changes proposed in President Joe Biden’s two major fiscal initiatives and considered some of the potential implications for stock market investors. Since then, negotiations between the two political parties have begun. However, there is not yet a clear path to an outcome, and the bargaining and posturing will likely go...

In part one of this series, we discussed the American Jobs Plan which proposes spending $2.7 trillion on infrastructure investment over eight years, financed through corporate tax increases. Infrastructure and corporate taxes both affect US economic competitiveness. The AJP affects both, and it could have an impact on financial markets and investment portfolios. The AJP may increase corporate...

The American Jobs Plan (AJP), also known as the “infrastructure plan,” has been getting a lot of attention. The current version of the AJP, which we view as the Biden administration’s opening bid,  proposes to spend $2.7 trillion over eight years on transportation, water, electricity, broadband, clean energy, research and development, and other public investments. If passed, the plan may...

Q: What is your current view on inflation (transitory, going higher, stable at higher level than in prior years), and what does that mean for the general population? A: The current pace of inflation as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) is running above 5%. We believe this pace will calm down over the next few months; however, we think it will remain well above the Federal Reserve’s...

Download the PDF A quick look back There aren’t enough adjectives to describe the remarkable run the stock market has had, so we will stick with some statistics for the S&P 500, including: 12 new all-time highs reached in August alone Seven consecutive months of gains A 107% total return since the panic-stricken COVID-19 lows of March 20201 In this market resurgence, there have...

Since China opened its borders to the world four decades ago and initiated economic reforms, it has been one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Hundreds of millions of Chinese people have been lifted out of poverty. As the middle class expanded, demand for goods and services increased. Investors around the globe understood the opportunities and sought ways to participate in China’s...

  Active management Passive management Objective Pursue a defined investment objective Mirror a specific index Technique Actively select assets Own what the index owns Performance goal Outperform the market Track the index performance ...

What is going on? Over the course of the last six months, the Chinese government has escalated regulatory oversight of certain sectors and foreign listings. This is a cyclical phenomenon. Over the years, we have experienced periods in which the government increases regulation or reprimands business leaders. The current period is, however, the most intense we have seen in thoroughness and...

The Fed left rates unchanged, as expected, at its most recent meeting. The Fed’s statement and subsequent press conference from Chairman Powell provided a little more detail on the Committee’s thoughts on tapering of its asset purchase program. The statement noted progress toward the Fed’s goals of maximum employment and price stability, which could bring them closer to tapering. Powell’s...

Elon Musk recently illustrated the complexity of the clean energy story. In February, Musk’s company started accepting cryptocurrency in payment for electric vehicles (EV). By May, the company had stopped accepting the currency because mining cryptocurrency was contributing to climate change. The decision sparked immediate debate about clean energy because, let’s face it, mining lithium for...

In various aspects of our lives, we make decisions based on what matters most to us: where we live, who our friends are, even what restaurant we want to eat at. What if we brought that same focus on what matters to our investment decisions?  In today’s market, there are a lot of options to promote change – or to preserve and protect the things you care about—simply by where you direct...

Investors tend to think of advancements in technology coupled with high-tech equipment when thinking about clean energy opportunities. Electric vehicles, solar panels, wind farms, and hydrogen and carbon sequestration are all hot topics for discussion when thinking about clean energy. What about landfill gas? There is an emerging trend developing to capture methane from organic waste, landfills...

June key drivers Despite continued concerns over increasing inflationary pressures, US equities as measured by the S&P 500 have posted another month of positive returns. As a rotation from value to growth took place in June, the S&P 500 gained over 2% while the Russell 3000 Growth Index gained over 6%. Commodity markets have begun to post strong gains, as growing demand coupled with...

May key drivers Despite an increase in volatility driven by concerns over inflation pressures building in the economy, global equities finished higher for the month of May, when looking at the MSCI ACWI Index. Across asset classes, we saw gains in equities, credit and real assets, which has been a consistent pattern over the past year. One area in equities that stood  out was the 2.6%...

Recently, equity markets were disrupted by the not-so-new news that the White House proposed a higher tax on realized investment profits (i.e., capital gains) to help fund the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan (AFP). President Joe Biden’s opening bid stirred controversy and created some market volatility. Even though the plan has yet to become a bill in Congress, negotiations within...

Download the PDF Earlier this month, we outlined the potential tax changes proposed in President Joe Biden’s two major fiscal initiatives and considered some of the potential implications for stock market investors. Since then, negotiations between the two political parties have begun. However, there is not yet a clear path to an outcome, and the bargaining and posturing will likely go...

In part one of this series, we discussed the American Jobs Plan which proposes spending $2.7 trillion on infrastructure investment over eight years, financed through corporate tax increases. Infrastructure and corporate taxes both affect US economic competitiveness. The AJP affects both, and it could have an impact on financial markets and investment portfolios. The AJP may increase corporate...

The American Jobs Plan (AJP), also known as the “infrastructure plan,” has been getting a lot of attention. The current version of the AJP, which we view as the Biden administration’s opening bid,  proposes to spend $2.7 trillion over eight years on transportation, water, electricity, broadband, clean energy, research and development, and other public investments. If passed, the plan may...

Q: What is your current view on inflation (transitory, going higher, stable at higher level than in prior years), and what does that mean for the general population? A: The current pace of inflation as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) is running above 5%. We believe this pace will calm down over the next few months; however, we think it will remain well above the Federal Reserve’s...

Download the PDF A quick look back There aren’t enough adjectives to describe the remarkable run the stock market has had, so we will stick with some statistics for the S&P 500, including: 12 new all-time highs reached in August alone Seven consecutive months of gains A 107% total return since the panic-stricken COVID-19 lows of March 20201 In this market resurgence, there have...

Since China opened its borders to the world four decades ago and initiated economic reforms, it has been one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Hundreds of millions of Chinese people have been lifted out of poverty. As the middle class expanded, demand for goods and services increased. Investors around the globe understood the opportunities and sought ways to participate in China’s...

  Active management Passive management Objective Pursue a defined investment objective Mirror a specific index Technique Actively select assets Own what the index owns Performance goal Outperform the market Track the index performance ...

What is going on? Over the course of the last six months, the Chinese government has escalated regulatory oversight of certain sectors and foreign listings. This is a cyclical phenomenon. Over the years, we have experienced periods in which the government increases regulation or reprimands business leaders. The current period is, however, the most intense we have seen in thoroughness and...

The Fed left rates unchanged, as expected, at its most recent meeting. The Fed’s statement and subsequent press conference from Chairman Powell provided a little more detail on the Committee’s thoughts on tapering of its asset purchase program. The statement noted progress toward the Fed’s goals of maximum employment and price stability, which could bring them closer to tapering. Powell’s...

Elon Musk recently illustrated the complexity of the clean energy story. In February, Musk’s company started accepting cryptocurrency in payment for electric vehicles (EV). By May, the company had stopped accepting the currency because mining cryptocurrency was contributing to climate change. The decision sparked immediate debate about clean energy because, let’s face it, mining lithium for...

In various aspects of our lives, we make decisions based on what matters most to us: where we live, who our friends are, even what restaurant we want to eat at. What if we brought that same focus on what matters to our investment decisions?  In today’s market, there are a lot of options to promote change – or to preserve and protect the things you care about—simply by where you direct...

Investors tend to think of advancements in technology coupled with high-tech equipment when thinking about clean energy opportunities. Electric vehicles, solar panels, wind farms, and hydrogen and carbon sequestration are all hot topics for discussion when thinking about clean energy. What about landfill gas? There is an emerging trend developing to capture methane from organic waste, landfills...

June key drivers Despite continued concerns over increasing inflationary pressures, US equities as measured by the S&P 500 have posted another month of positive returns. As a rotation from value to growth took place in June, the S&P 500 gained over 2% while the Russell 3000 Growth Index gained over 6%. Commodity markets have begun to post strong gains, as growing demand coupled with...

May key drivers Despite an increase in volatility driven by concerns over inflation pressures building in the economy, global equities finished higher for the month of May, when looking at the MSCI ACWI Index. Across asset classes, we saw gains in equities, credit and real assets, which has been a consistent pattern over the past year. One area in equities that stood  out was the 2.6%...

Recently, equity markets were disrupted by the not-so-new news that the White House proposed a higher tax on realized investment profits (i.e., capital gains) to help fund the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan (AFP). President Joe Biden’s opening bid stirred controversy and created some market volatility. Even though the plan has yet to become a bill in Congress, negotiations within...

Download the PDF Earlier this month, we outlined the potential tax changes proposed in President Joe Biden’s two major fiscal initiatives and considered some of the potential implications for stock market investors. Since then, negotiations between the two political parties have begun. However, there is not yet a clear path to an outcome, and the bargaining and posturing will likely go...

In part one of this series, we discussed the American Jobs Plan which proposes spending $2.7 trillion on infrastructure investment over eight years, financed through corporate tax increases. Infrastructure and corporate taxes both affect US economic competitiveness. The AJP affects both, and it could have an impact on financial markets and investment portfolios. The AJP may increase corporate...

The American Jobs Plan (AJP), also known as the “infrastructure plan,” has been getting a lot of attention. The current version of the AJP, which we view as the Biden administration’s opening bid,  proposes to spend $2.7 trillion over eight years on transportation, water, electricity, broadband, clean energy, research and development, and other public investments. If passed, the plan may...

Q: What is your current view on inflation (transitory, going higher, stable at higher level than in prior years), and what does that mean for the general population? A: The current pace of inflation as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) is running above 5%. We believe this pace will calm down over the next few months; however, we think it will remain well above the Federal Reserve’s...

Download the PDF A quick look back There aren’t enough adjectives to describe the remarkable run the stock market has had, so we will stick with some statistics for the S&P 500, including: 12 new all-time highs reached in August alone Seven consecutive months of gains A 107% total return since the panic-stricken COVID-19 lows of March 20201 In this market resurgence, there have...

Since China opened its borders to the world four decades ago and initiated economic reforms, it has been one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Hundreds of millions of Chinese people have been lifted out of poverty. As the middle class expanded, demand for goods and services increased. Investors around the globe understood the opportunities and sought ways to participate in China’s...

  Active management Passive management Objective Pursue a defined investment objective Mirror a specific index Technique Actively select assets Own what the index owns Performance goal Outperform the market Track the index performance ...

What is going on? Over the course of the last six months, the Chinese government has escalated regulatory oversight of certain sectors and foreign listings. This is a cyclical phenomenon. Over the years, we have experienced periods in which the government increases regulation or reprimands business leaders. The current period is, however, the most intense we have seen in thoroughness and...

The Fed left rates unchanged, as expected, at its most recent meeting. The Fed’s statement and subsequent press conference from Chairman Powell provided a little more detail on the Committee’s thoughts on tapering of its asset purchase program. The statement noted progress toward the Fed’s goals of maximum employment and price stability, which could bring them closer to tapering. Powell’s...

Elon Musk recently illustrated the complexity of the clean energy story. In February, Musk’s company started accepting cryptocurrency in payment for electric vehicles (EV). By May, the company had stopped accepting the currency because mining cryptocurrency was contributing to climate change. The decision sparked immediate debate about clean energy because, let’s face it, mining lithium for...

In various aspects of our lives, we make decisions based on what matters most to us: where we live, who our friends are, even what restaurant we want to eat at. What if we brought that same focus on what matters to our investment decisions?  In today’s market, there are a lot of options to promote change – or to preserve and protect the things you care about—simply by where you direct...

Investors tend to think of advancements in technology coupled with high-tech equipment when thinking about clean energy opportunities. Electric vehicles, solar panels, wind farms, and hydrogen and carbon sequestration are all hot topics for discussion when thinking about clean energy. What about landfill gas? There is an emerging trend developing to capture methane from organic waste, landfills...

June key drivers Despite continued concerns over increasing inflationary pressures, US equities as measured by the S&P 500 have posted another month of positive returns. As a rotation from value to growth took place in June, the S&P 500 gained over 2% while the Russell 3000 Growth Index gained over 6%. Commodity markets have begun to post strong gains, as growing demand coupled with...

May key drivers Despite an increase in volatility driven by concerns over inflation pressures building in the economy, global equities finished higher for the month of May, when looking at the MSCI ACWI Index. Across asset classes, we saw gains in equities, credit and real assets, which has been a consistent pattern over the past year. One area in equities that stood  out was the 2.6%...

Recently, equity markets were disrupted by the not-so-new news that the White House proposed a higher tax on realized investment profits (i.e., capital gains) to help fund the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan (AFP). President Joe Biden’s opening bid stirred controversy and created some market volatility. Even though the plan has yet to become a bill in Congress, negotiations within...

Download the PDF Earlier this month, we outlined the potential tax changes proposed in President Joe Biden’s two major fiscal initiatives and considered some of the potential implications for stock market investors. Since then, negotiations between the two political parties have begun. However, there is not yet a clear path to an outcome, and the bargaining and posturing will likely go...

In part one of this series, we discussed the American Jobs Plan which proposes spending $2.7 trillion on infrastructure investment over eight years, financed through corporate tax increases. Infrastructure and corporate taxes both affect US economic competitiveness. The AJP affects both, and it could have an impact on financial markets and investment portfolios. The AJP may increase corporate...

The American Jobs Plan (AJP), also known as the “infrastructure plan,” has been getting a lot of attention. The current version of the AJP, which we view as the Biden administration’s opening bid,  proposes to spend $2.7 trillion over eight years on transportation, water, electricity, broadband, clean energy, research and development, and other public investments. If passed, the plan may...

Q: What is your current view on inflation (transitory, going higher, stable at higher level than in prior years), and what does that mean for the general population? A: The current pace of inflation as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) is running above 5%. We believe this pace will calm down over the next few months; however, we think it will remain well above the Federal Reserve’s...

Download the PDF A quick look back There aren’t enough adjectives to describe the remarkable run the stock market has had, so we will stick with some statistics for the S&P 500, including: 12 new all-time highs reached in August alone Seven consecutive months of gains A 107% total return since the panic-stricken COVID-19 lows of March 20201 In this market resurgence, there have...

Since China opened its borders to the world four decades ago and initiated economic reforms, it has been one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Hundreds of millions of Chinese people have been lifted out of poverty. As the middle class expanded, demand for goods and services increased. Investors around the globe understood the opportunities and sought ways to participate in China’s...

  Active management Passive management Objective Pursue a defined investment objective Mirror a specific index Technique Actively select assets Own what the index owns Performance goal Outperform the market Track the index performance ...

What is going on? Over the course of the last six months, the Chinese government has escalated regulatory oversight of certain sectors and foreign listings. This is a cyclical phenomenon. Over the years, we have experienced periods in which the government increases regulation or reprimands business leaders. The current period is, however, the most intense we have seen in thoroughness and...

The Fed left rates unchanged, as expected, at its most recent meeting. The Fed’s statement and subsequent press conference from Chairman Powell provided a little more detail on the Committee’s thoughts on tapering of its asset purchase program. The statement noted progress toward the Fed’s goals of maximum employment and price stability, which could bring them closer to tapering. Powell’s...

Elon Musk recently illustrated the complexity of the clean energy story. In February, Musk’s company started accepting cryptocurrency in payment for electric vehicles (EV). By May, the company had stopped accepting the currency because mining cryptocurrency was contributing to climate change. The decision sparked immediate debate about clean energy because, let’s face it, mining lithium for...

In various aspects of our lives, we make decisions based on what matters most to us: where we live, who our friends are, even what restaurant we want to eat at. What if we brought that same focus on what matters to our investment decisions?  In today’s market, there are a lot of options to promote change – or to preserve and protect the things you care about—simply by where you direct...

Investors tend to think of advancements in technology coupled with high-tech equipment when thinking about clean energy opportunities. Electric vehicles, solar panels, wind farms, and hydrogen and carbon sequestration are all hot topics for discussion when thinking about clean energy. What about landfill gas? There is an emerging trend developing to capture methane from organic waste, landfills...

June key drivers Despite continued concerns over increasing inflationary pressures, US equities as measured by the S&P 500 have posted another month of positive returns. As a rotation from value to growth took place in June, the S&P 500 gained over 2% while the Russell 3000 Growth Index gained over 6%. Commodity markets have begun to post strong gains, as growing demand coupled with...

May key drivers Despite an increase in volatility driven by concerns over inflation pressures building in the economy, global equities finished higher for the month of May, when looking at the MSCI ACWI Index. Across asset classes, we saw gains in equities, credit and real assets, which has been a consistent pattern over the past year. One area in equities that stood  out was the 2.6%...

Recently, equity markets were disrupted by the not-so-new news that the White House proposed a higher tax on realized investment profits (i.e., capital gains) to help fund the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan (AFP). President Joe Biden’s opening bid stirred controversy and created some market volatility. Even though the plan has yet to become a bill in Congress, negotiations within...

Download the PDF Earlier this month, we outlined the potential tax changes proposed in President Joe Biden’s two major fiscal initiatives and considered some of the potential implications for stock market investors. Since then, negotiations between the two political parties have begun. However, there is not yet a clear path to an outcome, and the bargaining and posturing will likely go...

In part one of this series, we discussed the American Jobs Plan which proposes spending $2.7 trillion on infrastructure investment over eight years, financed through corporate tax increases. Infrastructure and corporate taxes both affect US economic competitiveness. The AJP affects both, and it could have an impact on financial markets and investment portfolios. The AJP may increase corporate...

The American Jobs Plan (AJP), also known as the “infrastructure plan,” has been getting a lot of attention. The current version of the AJP, which we view as the Biden administration’s opening bid,  proposes to spend $2.7 trillion over eight years on transportation, water, electricity, broadband, clean energy, research and development, and other public investments. If passed, the plan may...

Q: What is your current view on inflation (transitory, going higher, stable at higher level than in prior years), and what does that mean for the general population? A: The current pace of inflation as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) is running above 5%. We believe this pace will calm down over the next few months; however, we think it will remain well above the Federal Reserve’s...

Download the PDF A quick look back There aren’t enough adjectives to describe the remarkable run the stock market has had, so we will stick with some statistics for the S&P 500, including: 12 new all-time highs reached in August alone Seven consecutive months of gains A 107% total return since the panic-stricken COVID-19 lows of March 20201 In this market resurgence, there have...

Since China opened its borders to the world four decades ago and initiated economic reforms, it has been one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Hundreds of millions of Chinese people have been lifted out of poverty. As the middle class expanded, demand for goods and services increased. Investors around the globe understood the opportunities and sought ways to participate in China’s...

  Active management Passive management Objective Pursue a defined investment objective Mirror a specific index Technique Actively select assets Own what the index owns Performance goal Outperform the market Track the index performance ...

What is going on? Over the course of the last six months, the Chinese government has escalated regulatory oversight of certain sectors and foreign listings. This is a cyclical phenomenon. Over the years, we have experienced periods in which the government increases regulation or reprimands business leaders. The current period is, however, the most intense we have seen in thoroughness and...

The Fed left rates unchanged, as expected, at its most recent meeting. The Fed’s statement and subsequent press conference from Chairman Powell provided a little more detail on the Committee’s thoughts on tapering of its asset purchase program. The statement noted progress toward the Fed’s goals of maximum employment and price stability, which could bring them closer to tapering. Powell’s...

Elon Musk recently illustrated the complexity of the clean energy story. In February, Musk’s company started accepting cryptocurrency in payment for electric vehicles (EV). By May, the company had stopped accepting the currency because mining cryptocurrency was contributing to climate change. The decision sparked immediate debate about clean energy because, let’s face it, mining lithium for...

In various aspects of our lives, we make decisions based on what matters most to us: where we live, who our friends are, even what restaurant we want to eat at. What if we brought that same focus on what matters to our investment decisions?  In today’s market, there are a lot of options to promote change – or to preserve and protect the things you care about—simply by where you direct...

Investors tend to think of advancements in technology coupled with high-tech equipment when thinking about clean energy opportunities. Electric vehicles, solar panels, wind farms, and hydrogen and carbon sequestration are all hot topics for discussion when thinking about clean energy. What about landfill gas? There is an emerging trend developing to capture methane from organic waste, landfills...

June key drivers Despite continued concerns over increasing inflationary pressures, US equities as measured by the S&P 500 have posted another month of positive returns. As a rotation from value to growth took place in June, the S&P 500 gained over 2% while the Russell 3000 Growth Index gained over 6%. Commodity markets have begun to post strong gains, as growing demand coupled with...

May key drivers Despite an increase in volatility driven by concerns over inflation pressures building in the economy, global equities finished higher for the month of May, when looking at the MSCI ACWI Index. Across asset classes, we saw gains in equities, credit and real assets, which has been a consistent pattern over the past year. One area in equities that stood  out was the 2.6%...

Recently, equity markets were disrupted by the not-so-new news that the White House proposed a higher tax on realized investment profits (i.e., capital gains) to help fund the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan (AFP). President Joe Biden’s opening bid stirred controversy and created some market volatility. Even though the plan has yet to become a bill in Congress, negotiations within...

Download the PDF Earlier this month, we outlined the potential tax changes proposed in President Joe Biden’s two major fiscal initiatives and considered some of the potential implications for stock market investors. Since then, negotiations between the two political parties have begun. However, there is not yet a clear path to an outcome, and the bargaining and posturing will likely go...

In part one of this series, we discussed the American Jobs Plan which proposes spending $2.7 trillion on infrastructure investment over eight years, financed through corporate tax increases. Infrastructure and corporate taxes both affect US economic competitiveness. The AJP affects both, and it could have an impact on financial markets and investment portfolios. The AJP may increase corporate...

The American Jobs Plan (AJP), also known as the “infrastructure plan,” has been getting a lot of attention. The current version of the AJP, which we view as the Biden administration’s opening bid,  proposes to spend $2.7 trillion over eight years on transportation, water, electricity, broadband, clean energy, research and development, and other public investments. If passed, the plan may...