Sage Insights: Markets Bounce as Economic Growth Slows and China Adjusts Its COVID Policy

In November, financial markets recovered some of the ground lost during the previous ten months. This was the second straight month of positive returns for equities, which is encouraging in a year with no shortage of challenges. At the same time, bond returns had their strongest single month of 2022 in November. As we look | Read More +



Sage Insights: Federal Reserve Rate Hikes Persist, Political Volatility in China, and Perspective on the Journey of Investing

October was a very strong, yet volatile, month for the equity markets driven by aggregate positive corporate earnings. Bonds prices declined modestly as interest rates continued to rise. For most investors, this widespread historic selloff has created bumps in their investment journeys, underscoring the value of custom investment plans. The unfortunate reality is that large | Read More +



Sage Insights: Global Growth Slows and Valuations Compress Amid Historic Central Bank Tightening

Stocks and bonds lost ground in September, completing a third consecutive quarterly decline. Across the globe, central bankers continued to increase interest rates and the cost of borrowing at an unprecedented speed in an effort to control inflationary pressures. This swift rise in interest rates has created the risk of a monetary policy-induced recession, along | Read More +



Sage Insights: Central Banks Seek Equilibrium, Europe’s Energy Problem, and a Broader Investment Perspective

Stocks and bonds had a broadly negative month in August. Bond returns were negative in most areas of the world as interest rates continued to rise. Stocks in the U.S. and other developed markets declined on average while emerging market stocks were positive. While the indices were mixed, persistent volatility in prices signaled that the | Read More +



Sage Insights: Technical Recession, Economic Data Versus Equity Markets, and A Broader Perspective

Stocks and bonds both performed well in July, providing a moment of positivity in what has been a challenging environment for the global economy and financial markets. Still, markets have remained volatile, which we know can create stress. We feel it too. While markets had an encouraging July, the headwinds they have faced for much | Read More +



Sage Insights: Ongoing Inflation, China’s Evolving COVID Policy, and Geopolitics in Europe

Financial markets ended the 2nd quarter of 2022 just as they began, offering investors no reprieve from the unease and uncertainty that has defined much of the year’s first half. Together, U.S. investment-grade fixed income[1] and equity[2] indices closed out their weakest start to the calendar period in nearly 50 years. At the same time, | Read More +



Sage Insights: Inflation in Focus, China’s COVID Policy, and the Benefits of Portfolio Diversification

The market volatility we have experienced throughout 2022 continued to rear its head for most of May before stocks rallied in the final full week of the month. Equities finished the month roughly unchanged, and bonds had their first positive month of the year. May also saw elevated inflation readings showing early signs of the | Read More +



Sage Insights: Geopolitics, Earnings, and Investing Principles

The market volatility that has come to define the start of 2022 persisted through April and left many investors feeling anxious. Policymakers – and investors – were focused on rising prices and efforts to contain them coming into this year. Unfortunately, that inflation continued last month, largely driven by dual pressures playing out on a | Read More +



Sage Insights: Interest Rate Hikes, Inflation, War, and Our Investment Perspective

Unsurprisingly, March was a choppy month for the financial markets. Stocks rebounded from the sharp sell-off we noted in February that carried over into the first part of the month, while commodity prices jumped around unpredictably, and bond prices declined due to precipitously higher interest rates. Looking forward, we see a reason to be optimistic. | Read More +



Insights: Russian Invasion of Ukraine, Navigating Volatility, and An Upcoming Change In Federal Reserve Policy

February was an uneasy month for financial markets, primarily because Russia invaded Ukraine. But even though equity markets have fluctuated sharply in 2022, we remain encouraged by the strong economic backdrop supporting the expected increase of interest rates in March. As a result, we continue to think companies should have a positive environment for continued | Read More +