Insights

VantagePoint: Is It Time to Overweight Equities?

In periods of market stress, it can be difficult to rebalance, much less overweight risky assets like equities. In this paper, we review our approach using multiple lenses: magnitude and duration of drawdowns relative to history, cheapness of valuations, and presence of pre-conditions for markets to begin their ascent. Such an approach can help investors tune out the emotion and dial in on the hard data and most probable outcomes even in the face of great uncertainty. While opportunities are developing across many markets, investors should hold off on broad overweights to risky assets at this time.

April 2020

Balancing the Financial Equation: Your Closest Supporters Have Never Been More Important

For non-profit institutions, the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 virus, and the speed by which these disruptions have materialized, create a perfect financial storm.

April 2020

Navigating Healthcare System Investments Through the Coronavirus Crisis

April 8, 2020—The COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted significant duress upon the operational and financial situations of nonprofit healthcare systems. An immediate response was necessary to escalate staffing, spending, and resources to provide emergency treatment to those affected by this highly contagious outbreak.

April 2020

The Complex Relationship Between Inflation and Asset Prices

March 23, 2020— As we write in March 2020, COVID-19 is spreading across much of the world, undercutting economic activity. While how this situation will unfold is not entirely clear, we have long believed that the best way to guard against future uncertainty is to have a well-constructed portfolio. One key component in that is understanding the relationship between asset prices and inflation.

March 2020

VantagePoint: The Bear Awakens

March 18, 2020—The bear has finally come out of his long hibernation, causing us to dust off our playbook for weathering bear markets.

March 2020

Rate Cuts Are No Vaccine

March 16, 2020— The Federal Reserve Bank has announced a host of emergency measures intended to improve bond market liquidity and reduce borrowing costs, which come in response to rising signs of dislocation across Treasury, municipal, and corporate bond markets.

March 2020

Europe Escalates Its Response to the Coronavirus Outbreak

March 13, 2020— This week, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank both announced stimulus measures aimed at responding to the growing impact of COVID-19.

March 2020

Crude Oil Prices Collapsed—Should Investors Buy Public Energy?

March 10, 2020— Political machinations and virus-induced uncertainty are weighing on oil prices at present, and it seems unlikely that both these obstacles will soon be lifted. Investors should closely monitor positioning to ensure the current level of energy exposure is intentional.

March 2020