The month of March began with investors anticipating substantial policy actions from the Federal Reserve due to its increased focus on inflation. However, this swiftly changed as U.S. and global regulators stepped in to provide stabilizing intervention at five banks. Looking toward April, while risks remain, we are cautiously optimistic regarding the actions by regulators | Read More +
Category: Insights
Sage Insights: Strong U.S. Economic Data and the Geopolitical Climate Stall Market Momentum
January’s market momentum failed to carry over into February as stocks and bonds relinquished some of the year’s gains. While investment returns remain positive overall, uncertainty surrounding the path of Federal Reserve policy and the geopolitical climate weighed on the markets. The economy continues to offer mixed signals in certain segments, and, as we shared | Read More +
Sage Insights: Central Banks Slow Hikes, Corporate America Kicks off Earnings Season, and Long-Term Perspectives on the Debt Ceiling
Financial markets started 2023 on a positive note as stocks and bonds both saw gains in January. It was a welcomed change as many investors hope to put 2022 firmly in the rearview mirror. As shared in our annual outlook, we forecast that 2023 will be a year of more normalized market conditions, albeit against | Read More +
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 +
