Archive for category: Commentary

Our current portfolio positioning is conservative relative to your personal investment objective and risk appetite. We are holding the highest cash and lowest equity levels in accounts than we have in over 10 years. This is reflective of the current market and economic conditions, the pandemic’s negative impact, and the uncertainty around the presidential election. We expect that these factors will continue to lead to higher market volatility through the end of the year. However, we look to add to equities on any meaningful pullback. We expect that any additional government stimulus would be constructive to the economy and markets. In the interim, we continue to make adjustments to our equity holdings to improve the overall quality of your portfolio and to take advantage of attractive opportunities. Our goal is to identify companies that will create economic value in this environment and develop long-term competitive advantages.

We are hopeful, like everyone, that the spread of the coronavirus will run its course as quickly as possible and that the number of human lives lost will be limited. In the meantime, we want to assure you that we remain laser-focused on client communication, planning and portfolio management to assure both current income and competitive returns through market cycles. We have taken the current market dislocation as an opportunity to upgrade our holdings into higher-quality companies with a more durable business model.

We expect spikes in volatility through the second quarter as investors assess the near-term spread of the coronavirus and other geopolitical events. While developments in any economic and human pandemic are nearly impossible to forecast, Shorepoint’s process remains thoughtful, disciplined and flexible. This is a time when experience matters. Know that the Shorepoint team is working diligently to manage risk and returns as well as position the portfolio for the long-term.

We don’t have a dour view of stocks. Rather than try and call the economic cycle, we continue to invest in companies with strong free cash flow, strong business models, and conservative balance sheets. While we think there may be an earnings lull, and we worry about trade wars and Washington missteps or non-steps, the historically low unemployment rate around 3.5% with modest wage growth, should provide a ballast for the overall domestic economy. Furthermore, the weakness in manufacturing is relatively small compared to the strong consumer segment of economy which accounts for two-thirds of economic activity. In many economies, and in the U.S. in particular, households are enjoying low unemployment, rising wages, and savings from refinanced mortgages. With household wealth and incomes in relatively good shape, we believe the risks to the broader economy have fallen.

As a firm we have lowered our return expectations across stocks and bonds. Our dimmer capital market assumptions will result in clients’ target returns being slightly lower going forward. We are carefully reviewing how these changes affect clients’ financial plans, and we will be reviewing these results in detail with you in our meetings and calls over the next 6-12 months. We will continue to reflect—to be thoughtful and flexible as we deal with interest rates and political conditions we have not seen in our careers. As ever, we remain focused on navigating risks and identifying opportunities.

Overall, Shorepoint is constructive on the current investment landscape. Low interest rates, solid corporate margins, significant corporate cash returned to shareholders (dividends and buybacks), low inflation and steady economic growth have driven strong equity returns since the Great Recession. Valuations as measured by price/earnings multiples are in line with historical averages and are not excessive. We continue to invest in a variety of investments across asset classes that potentially offer sound long-term, if not spectacular, returns to patient investors.

As contrarians, we have added and continue to add to international, developed market equities and emerging market equities/bonds, which we feel are still undervalued even with the 2019 rebound. We are employing a “buy the dips” approach by adding to high-quality, attractively-valued companies that have robust cash flow, strong earnings growth prospects and solid balance sheets. We are investing more in the underperforming healthcare sector which has been in the cross hairs of politicians and allocating to selective special situations that offer favorable risk-adjusted return potential. Individual stock price volatility enables us to perform tax harvesting in companies that are temporarily depressed but that we feel are excellent long-term investments such as CVS Health and Kraft Heinz.

The bond side of our portfolios has rebounded strongly with the Fed moving to the sidelines on further interest rate increases in the near-term. The Fed’s policy change has allowed us to reinvest some of our client’s money market balances into higher-yielding bonds. Overall, our clients continue to benefit from our diversified approach to producing income by investing in Emerging Market Bonds, Floating Rate Loans, REITs, Preferred Stocks, etc. instead of investing just in U.S. treasuries.

Shorepoint’s core philosophy is to manage diversified portfolios of quality, reasonably-valued assets based on your investment objectives and risk tolerance. This has been and will continue to be a successful investment strategy over the long-term. We seek to take advantage of opportunities as they arise and generate attractive long-term returns to help our clients reach their financial goals. As always, we are available to discuss your concerns and answer your questions.