As the U.S. government continues to debate the debt ceiling, we want to share our thoughts, provide some context on the current situation, and put the developments into a broader perspective. What has happened? Treasury Secretary Yellen sent a letter to Congress this past Friday (1/13/2023), informing members that the U.S. would hit the current | Read More +
Category: Our Thinking
Sage 2023 Annual Letter
Following three consecutive years of positive returns, 2022 was a challenging year for investors as portfolios struggled in the face of prolonged periods of market volatility, the decline of both stocks and bonds, unprecedented interest rate hikes, high inflation, anticipation of a recession, and geopolitical conflict. We are cautiously optimistic, based on our experience and | Read More +
Sage 2023 Investment Outlook
2022 in Review: A Year of Very Difficult Performance for Stocks and Bonds When we sat down to write our outlook for 2023, we first reflected on 2022 — a year that tested resilience, patience, and focus. After three consecutive years of positive returns, markets quickly changed direction in 2022. By March, we found ourselves | 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: 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 +
