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Quarterly Client Letter – Q3 2020
The whirlwind that is 2020 shows no sign of abating as we enter the final quarter of the year. Yet, despite significant uncertainty – and the market pullback in September – the markets delivered another period of strong performance during the third quarter with global stocks up 8%, the S&P 500 up 9% and bonds rising slightly as well. Since the market bottom in March, the S&P 500 has now risen almost 50%, global stocks almost 45% and the U.S. Aggregate Bond Index almost 7%. Stock markets are now positive for the year.
Quarterly Client Letter – Q2 2020
It has been a tough year so far. Despite the S&P 500 experiencing its best quarter of performance in over 20 years, stocks are still down for the year and there is still a lot of unease in investors’ minds. Moreover, that unease now comes from sources beyond the still-to-be-resolved coronavirus outbreak. For one, the recovery in financial markets has vastly outpaced the recovery in the economy and labor markets. Social unrest, and reactions to that unrest, are rising as well.
Quarterly Client Letter – Q1 2020
Coronavirus. Social distancing. Containment. Pandemic. With hindsight it is remarkable that none of these words were part of our regular lexicon when 2020 began. So much has changed in such a short period that it feels almost impossible to summarize it – not only what happened last quarter, but also where we think may go from here – in just one investment letter. Nevertheless, we will give it our best shot.
Quarterly Client Letter – Q4 2019
Dear O’Brien Wealth Partners Investor, The holiday season brings with it time for reflection. As we pause to express our appreciation for our colleagues and our clients, and to gather with family and friends, we also take time to look back on what 2019 meant for financial markets and ponder what may come in 2020.
Quarterly Client Letter – Q3 2019
Dear O’Brien Wealth Partners Investor, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” -French novelist and critic Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr Some literary scholars say that the figurative meaning of this phrase is that turbulent times do not affect reality on a deeper level other than to cement the status quo. Others more simply
Quarterly Client Letter – Q2 2019
Dear O’Brien Wealth Partners Investor, As we enter the second half of 2019 the same political uncertainties that have been haunting the market since mid-2018 continue to cast a shadow over business and investor confidence. A U.S. economic recession appears unlikely in the near term; however, business investment is slowing and global growth is showing
Quarterly Client Letter – Q1 2019
Dear O’Brien Wealth Partners Investor, The first quarter of 2019 certainly showed us a more benevolent side of the market than we experienced in the fourth quarter of 2018, with almost all risk assets showing positive returns for the quarter. As we mentioned in our last quarterly letter, while over the long run a stock
Quarterly Client Letter – Q4 2018
As we reflect back on 2018, we see it as a year of divergence in many respects. Most obviously, it marked the first year in many that the global stock markets almost universally delivered negative returns to investors. More subtly, this decline occurred despite the fact that economic fundamentals have not changed materially from 2017 and yet the experience for investors was much more somber this past year than last. This underscores the fact that we are long term investors for a reason.
Quarterly Client Letter – Q3 2018
Dear O’Brien Wealth Partners Investor, The third quarter marked the ten year anniversary of the Lehman Brother’s bankruptcy at the apex of the great financial crisis of 2008. As we continue to experience market growth, albeit more muted, it serves as a humbling reminder that ten short years ago many investors fled the markets as