Liberation Day Impacts April 3, 2025 Yesterday’s tariff announcements by President Trump were far more sweeping than what markets had anticipated. This will introduce a new degree of uncertainty and thus greater market volatility. It is imperative that clients remain committed to long-term investment plans, although they may find the current situation unsettling. Here are …
2024 Fourth Quarter Review & Commentary
2024 brought all the benefits of a bull market, including outsized returns for U.S. equity investors. Looking back on the quarter and the year, Executive Vice President & Chief Investment Officer Chris Battifarano acknowledges the wisdom of capitalizing on opportunity, and offers insight on how to prepare for the eventual return of a bear market.
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Interest Rates & Market Impact
On Wednesday, September 11th, our CIO, Chris Battifarano, and Tom Richmond, Co-Head of Taxable SMAs at Wasmer Schroeder (Schwab Asset Management), led a live discussion on interest rates and investment impacts. Their insights are crucial ahead of the Federal Reserve rate announcement on September 18th.
Questions to Consider Before Opening a 529 Account
What is a 529 Plan? A 529 plan is an investment account that offers tax-free withdrawals and other benefits when used to pay for qualified education expenses. You can use a 529 plan to pay for college, K-12 tuition, apprenticeship programs, and even student loan repayments. Any leftover funds can be used in different ways, …
Market Update
Stock markets are beginning to regain footing today after the S&P 500’s worst day in nearly two years. Now investors are wondering, what caused this market turmoil and more importantly, what can we expect next. Chief Investment Officer Chris Battifarano explains.
2024 Second Quarter Review & Commentary
Election year politics can breed market uncertainty. How should investors navigate this seemingly uncertain period? FineMark’s Chief Investment Officer lays out our approach to portfolio construction and investment management in our second quarter investment newsletter.
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2024 First Quarter Review & Commentary
Equity markets continued their strong upward rise, with US large caps leading the charge. Markets were clearly in risk seeking mode, and equites were not the only asset class to experience significant appreciation, cryptocurrencies continue to race ahead as well. Select commodities also rose significantly including gold, oil and cocoa. FineMark Chief Investment Officer Chris Battifarano breaks it all down, offering FineMark’s views on risk, opportunities, and what you need to consider as 2024 unfolds.
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2023 Fourth Quarter Review & Commentary
2023 ended on a high note with stunning bond performance in a reviving stock market. With a U.S. presidential election on the horizon, Executive Vice President & Chief Investment Officer Chris Battifarano uses historical data to evaluate year-end happenings and ponder what may lie ahead.
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2023 Third Quarter Review & Commentary
The third quarter marked a reversal for equities, which peaked for the year in July and then weakened in August and September. Bonds remain under pressure and did not provide diversification benefits for the traditional 60/40 investor during the quarter. Alternative investments, on the other hand posted positive returns for the period. We also saw a move up in longer term rates for the first time awhile.
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Conflict between Israel and Hamas
The world continues to watch in horror as the conflict between Israel and Hamas intensifies. We can only hope and pray for an end to the violence and a lasting peace in the Middle East. FineMark’s Chief Investment Officer, Chris Battifarano, weighs in on the potential economic ramifications in the attached brief video.
Equity Market Outlook
We believe many of our current investment themes characterization. One example is our current theme on artificial intelligence, AI, which we originally published in April and wrote extensively about in our Q1 newsletter. We believe that over the next 10 years, some labor that is currently being executed by humans, will be replaced by machines. …
Emerging Trends: A.I. & Deglobalization
Given the current market rally year-to-date, what are our thoughts on the equity markets over the next 12 months? The performance of US equity market to date has vastly outstripped our and any other market forecasts we had seen from forecasters at the onset of the year. This rapid price appreciation is partially what led …
