It’s a Brave New World – For Investors

 It’s a Brave New World – For Investors     

By: Yes Wealth Partners

From Bitcoin to Zero Interest Rates, from slowing economies to skyrocketing stocks that defy logic, many people today are confused of both how to grow their investments and how to protect themselves from large “corrections.”  Investors often would like to go back to the world they grew up with where they believed that by finding the right stock/bond balance, their money could grow and also be protected.  First, this was never really true, but it is even less true today as bonds fail to provide much return and even some unexpected downside if interest rates rise.  Despite overwhelming evidence that during periods of investment crisis (most significantly like 2008 and 2020), traditional stock/bond diversification fails to deliver true downside risk mitigation, many still stick with the old beliefs. Today, even most investment advisors still fail to consider “modern liquid” alternative investments which provide real risk mitigation in a down equity market and conservative upside potential even when interest rates rise. So, what are modern liquid alternatives? These are strategies that provide upside potential like stocks do or more conservative returns like bonds used to provide, but are designed to limit the large downside risk of equities or the impacts of rising interest rates on fixed income. Traditional alternatives such as private equity, derivatives, fine art and commodities promise to provide significant return in the long run, but are often not liquid and have high investment minimums.  Unlike most traditional alternatives, liquid alternatives include mutual funds or exchange traded funds that can be bought and sold daily and have investment minimums most individuals can handle. Some of these strategies are called Market Neutral, Merger/Arbitrage, Event Driven and Hedged Equity.  Holding a portion of liquid alternatives in your portfolio can help you reach for return, while still allowing you to sleep at night, knowing you have protection on the downside. 

If you would like to know more about these options, or if you’d like to discuss a plan for you, please give us a call. 

Yes Wealth Management:

651-426-5854

The Present Versus the Past

Those Who Only Follow the Past Are Plagued to Repeat It

By: Yes Wealth Partners

Today our world seems to be so chaotic that people are wondering how safe their investments are and is “just hang in there” or “stay the course” still the best way to go.  They are often surprised and often disappointed when I tell them that investment programs based primarily on the ways things were done in the past (e.g., stocks and bonds) may not be the best way to actively manage assets in the future. Research now shows that stock/bond mutual funds may underperform portfolios which use investment vehicles such as ETFs and/or modern liquid alternatives which are not directly tied to interest rates.  Today our world and the various means of government financial support or control changes so quickly, that individual stock picks or even the S&P 500 may not reflect the changing direction of the economy or its’ performance going forward.  In addition, bond investments in a portfolio may not provide the risk reduction benefits once believed. Unlike most of the last 30 years we may see rising interest rates and actually see the value of our fixed income holdings decline.  Lastly, today fixed income investments that once offered yields near six to eight percent are currently offering two to four percent. 

 

In short, investment opportunities and investment conditions have changed. In this new world, if one’s current portfolio is based on past conditions, it may need to be changed. If you need help in implementing these changes, YES Wealth provides meaningful investment advice using a broad range of modern investment solutions representing the very best in investment advice. 

 

We look forward to hearing from you or seeing you soon.