Thought Leadership Resource Center
John Sleeting, Katie Berganske and James Chapman of Clearwater Capital Partners join this episode of Alliance Talks to discuss how they utilized the Alliance Voice of the Client Survey. Hear about insights gained from the survey and how their firm is applying feedback from their clients.
For more than two weeks, the people of Ukraine have bravely fought back against the Russian invasion of their sovereign country. By all accounts, their resistance has far exceeded the original prediction that the country would fall in days, if not hours. While it is widely believed that Russia maintains a military advantage, things have not gone well for Putin. The growing fear now is that Putin, having cornered himself, may soon begin to act even more irrationally and indiscriminately.
Read MoreWith geopolitical tensions and the war in Europe dominating our headlines, the two-year anniversary of the S&P 500’s pre-COVID market peak went largely unnoticed. Just over a month after the peak, the S&P 500 had plummeted by more than 30% before beginning an epic rally of 114%. While it is now hard to imagine a world without COVID, it easy to see that COVID has forever changed many aspects of our lives.
Read MoreInflation is a monetary phenomenon and in the short term can be affected by supply/demand dynamics. The Investment Policy Committee of Clearwater Capital has written extensively about the dramatic rise in the M-2 Money Supply over the last two years emanating from fiscal spending which ‘flooded the world with cash’ following the COVID shutdown of the economy.
Read MoreCommon sense tells us, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”, but times of uncertainty can tempt even the most experienced investors to join the flight for safety. Here’s why a well-diversified portfolio can be the key to survival during market volatility.
Read MoreThere are many factors that determine the strength of one currency versus another. The interest rate differentials between countries, the level of a country’s fiscal discipline compared to another, and the stability of one’s government, are just a few of the variables that influence the flow of global capital and subsequently, the strength and weakness of a currency.
Read MoreWith all eyes on the crisis in Europe, our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Ukraine. This situation remains highly uncertain and the capital markets have become exceedingly volatile. In keeping with our pledge to increase the pace of our updates and communications with you, I am writing today to address the growing concerns over cyber security and the potential for attacks targeting the United States.
Read MoreAfter a strong 2021, stock market volatility returned in dramatic fashion in January. The S&P 500 has had an intraday trading range of at least 2.25% in January’s final week (Bespoke). The average stock is down a little more than 9% so far in 2022, but stocks with the highest valuations are down closer to 20%.
Read MoreJanuary 2022 turned out to be a very volatile month and one of the worst Januarys we’ve seen in a long time. The volatility was brought on by several factors, but one that we wish to highlight is rising geopolitical tensions.
Read MoreAt the beginning of each new year, your team at Clearwater Capital Partners comes together to produce our annual outlook report. This is a fair-minded attempt to establish a baseline set of economic assumptions and observations for the coming year. As in years past, our purpose is to set forth sensible economic perspectives to enlighten and guide our investment strategies throughout the year.
Our process begins with an in-depth study of research produced by some of the nation’s leading financial firms and prominent academic institutions. Our team carefully deliberates over these diverse narratives, and we debate the wide range of opinions. This said, our Outlook 2022 report represents much more than an elementary summary of the Wall Street commentary churned out each year. We work hard to balance our macro view with insights we continuously receive from our clients and their businesses.
Our goal is to create an intelligent framework for decision making. We welcome the hard work that brings us to our own insights and opinions. This discipline promotes a better understanding of the primary forces affecting the financial system, while enhancing our ability to keep critical decisions close to our clients as the fact pattern evolves over time.
Read MoreFor many, 2021 proved to be a difficult year. The battle with the COVID pandemic dragged on even with readily available vaccines and developing therapeutics. Variants of the virus have emerged, and the economic recovery coming out of the pandemic’s peak has remained uneven with several start / stop phases along the way. This has broadly disrupted the production and supply of goods and services, while inflationary pressures have surged.
Read MoreAs the year comes to an end, Clearwater Capital’s CEO and Chief Investment Strategist, John Chapman, offers an extended point of view on the U.S. economy and equity markets in this final Private Client Letter for 2021. Our Outlook 2022 report is scheduled for publication in January.
Read More‘Tis the season for giving and a familiar conversation we have with clients involves year-end charitable gifting strategies using appreciated assets. The tax code allows for favorable treatment of appreciated securities, however, there are a few details one must get right to increase the impact of a gift while also maximizing the gift’s tax efficiency.
Read MoreWhen saving for children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, etc… one of the most common questions we are asked is whether to put funds into a UTMA account or 529. Both provide ways for parents and others to help save for the next generation, but how do you decide which is best?
Read MoreFrom time to time we like to share selections of unique third party content. This month, we share a video by our friend, Brian Wesbury, where he shares some helpful perspectives given our current economic backdrop.
Read MoreSeptember gave the U.S. equity markets its worst selloff since November of 2020. In my last Private Client Letter from one month ago, I observed that “a turning point may be nearing” as October is historically a positive month.
Read MoreMany people own this and probably pay less attention to it than many of their other assets. It is usually worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions. And yet once it is purchased it usually ends up in a file cabinet in the basement. Or maybe it becomes an inmate of the safe deposit vault only to be seen every couple of years when you are digging out a birth certificate.
Read MoreWhen it comes to planning for retirement, the length of the planning horizon (i.e., life expectancy) stands apart from the many other assumptions required in the modeling process. Life expectancy is defined as the average number of years a person can expect to live at a given age. The specific issue for planning is something called longevity risk, or the possibility an individual will live to such an advanced age that they will deplete their retirement savings and be forced to rely solely on Social Security and Medicare for their expenses.
Read MoreStagflation is the term used to describe an economy that has stagnate economic growth while having higher inflation and higher unemployment. Stagflation can be seemingly contradictory as stagnate economic output leads to higher unemployment, which normally should not lead to rising prices as economic demand falls. For the most part stagflation is rare, in fact we have not seen a stagflation type period for almost 50 years. We have to go back to the 1970’s to find a true stagflationary period.
Read MoreDisclosures:
THIS COMMENTARY HAS BEEN PREPARED BY CLEARWATER CAPITAL PARTNERS. THE OPINIONS VOICED IN THIS MATERIAL ARE FOR GENERAL INFORMATION ONLY AND ARE NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE OR BE CONSTRUED AS PROVIDING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR SPECIFIC INVESTMENT ADVICE OR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ANY INDIVIDUAL. ALL ECONOMIC DATA IS DERIVED FROM PUBLIC SOURCES BELIEVED TO BE RELIABLE. TO DETERMINE WHICH INVESTMENTS MAY BE APPROPRIATE FOR YOU, PLEASE CONSULT WITH US PRIOR TO INVESTING. INVESTING INVOLVES RISK WHICH MAY INCLUDE LOSS OF PRINCIPAL.
This material is not intended to be relied upon as a forecast, research or investment advice, and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities, insurance products, or to adopt any investment strategy. The opinions expressed are as of the date of writing and may change as subsequent conditions vary. The information and opinions contained in this material are derived from proprietary and nonproprietary sources deemed by Clearwater Capital Partners to be reliable, are not necessarily all-inclusive and are not guaranteed as to accuracy. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. There is no guarantee that any forecasts made will come to pass. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the reader. Investment involves risks. International investing involves additional risks, including risks related to foreign currency, limited liquidity, less government regulation and the possibility of substantial volatility due to adverse political, economic or other developments. Index performance is shown for illustrative purposes only. You cannot invest directly in an index. S&P 500 is a registered trademark of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services, a division of S&P Global (“S&P”) DOW JONES, DJ, DJIA and DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE are registered trademarks of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings (“Dow Jones”). FTSE Russell® is a trading name of FTSE, Russell, FTSE Canada, FTSE FI, FTSE FI Europe, WOFE, RBSL, RL, and BR. “FTSE®” “Russell®”, “FTSE Russell®”, “FTSE4Good®”, “ICB®”, “Refinitiv”, “Beyond Ratings®”, “WMRTM”, “FRTM” and all other trademarks and service marks used herein are trademarks and/or service marks owned or licensed by the applicable member of LSEG or their respective licensors and are owned, or used under license, by FTSE, Russell, FTSE Canada, FTSE FI, FTSE FI Europe, WOFE, RBSL, RL or BR. The two main risks related to fixed-income investing are interest rate risk and credit risk. Typically, when interest rates rise, there is a corresponding decline in the market value of bonds. Credit risk refers to the possibility that the issuer of the bond will not be able to make principal and interest payments.
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