On the back of a robust labor market and declining inflation, global markets experienced a strong first half to the year, with the Russell 3000 increasing 16.2%, MSCI ACWI-EX US up 9.5% and Bloomberg Aggregate Bond Index up 2.1%. The story for the year has been the resurgence of technology stocks following a challenging 2022, with the “Magnificent Seven” leading the market higher and accounting for roughly ¾ of the gains YTD.

The federal debt limit is again in the news as the country rapidly approaches a critical deadline on June 1. Investors are understandably nervous about Washington failing to reach an agreement.

Following a challenging 2022, markets rebounded during the first quarter of 2023. Domestic equities rallied 7.2% and non-U.S. equities earned 6.6%.

2023 couldn't arrive quickly enough, as one of the worst years in U.S. stock and bond market history came to a close. 2022 will be remembered for the following events:

During the third quarter, the Bear returned to Wall Street after a nearly 13-year hiatus, during which the S&P 500 Index logged a whopping 587.33% cumulative return.

The only sectors and asset classes that avoided the market carnage during the first quarter of 2022 were energy stocks, commodities (other than precious metals), and Treasury bills.

Investors faced historic challenges during the first quarter as domestic equity markets fell into correction territory following an exceptional two years of performance.

As we ring in 2022, we can't help but feel like we're facing a rerun of the past.

As we begin the second half of 2021, vaccination rates are rising, businesses and economics continue to reopen, and the word on the street is “inflation.”

As the world around us becomes inextricably linked with digitized storage and transactions, it’s important to consider what happens posthumously to your digital assets.

At the close of 2019, we lost one of the greatest Fed chairmen: Paul Volcker. Martin Wolf of the Financial Times described Volker as a man with the highest degree of moral courage, integrity, sagacity, prudence and devotion to the service of the country.

“Creative destruction” is a term that often surfaces during an economic crisis.

As more people accrue digital assets, it’s important to consider curating an access point within your estate plan, such as a digital vault.

As we head into the final quarter of 2019, we do so with some concern about recent fiscal and monetary policies being employed in the U.S. We discuss the potential pitfalls of Modern Monetary Theory in our Third Quarter Commentary that accompanies this letter.

The first half of the year saw strong market performance across all asset classes as client multi-asset portfolios have enjoyed positive returns.

Global equity markets made a V-shaped rebound, rallying throughout the first quarter as all asset classes earned positive first quarter returns (see quarterly market review).

After logging strong returns in 2017, global equity markets delivered negative returns in US dollar terms in 2018.

We consider the U.S. economy to be extremely strong with a very low probability of a recession in the near future. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual rate of 3.5% this past quarter.

The first half of 2018 has given us plenty of praiseworthy economic news. Consider the labor market: Unemployment has shrunk to a low we have not seen since a brief period in 2000.

As 2018 dawned, it seemed we might settle in for another year of records in the equities markets.