Our Thinking

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 +



Insights: Federal Reserve Tightening, Corporate Earnings, and Russian-Ukraine Tensions

January was a difficult month for financial markets, caused primarily by expectations of tighter monetary policy by the Federal Reserve and a soft start to corporate earnings season. The Russia-Ukraine tensions provided an additional source of uncertainty for markets. While we observed some recent downside in equity markets, we remain encouraged by the strong economic | Read More +