The Independent Market Observer

A Week in Budapest

Posted by Brad McMillan, CFA®, CFP®

Find me on:

This entry was posted on May 3, 2017 1:37:52 PM

and tagged Commentary

Leave a comment

europeI’m in Budapest, Hungary, this week at the Commonwealth Leaders Conference. As always, it's great to spend time with such a fantastic group of financial advisors. It is an enormous privilege to be here.

Broadening our U.S. perspective

The setting of the conference is especially interesting this year. Located in the middle of Europe, Hungary is very different from the surrounding countries, with a long and harsh backstory. In more recent history, it was under Soviet control for decades after a Nazi occupation. Traveling here offers the chance to see a very different world and to reflect on how lucky we Americans are.

So, gratitude is the first thing on my mind this morning—gratitude for where I am, for who I’m with, and for where I come from (and can head home to). I have written about gratitude many times before, and it remains at the core of my effort to live a happy and successful life.

The second thing on my mind is how wrong I was about Budapest. For some reason, I had expected it to be a much grayer, less developed place, a post-Soviet city of drab concrete. There is some of that, but my overall impression is of a delightful European capital with wide, green boulevards, wonderful architecture, and great food. It’s been 28 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Budapest has fully joined Europe, at least from a visitor’s perspective.

Though I’m incredibly glad to be an American, the U.S. isn’t the only country that is growing and succeeding—a fact that really comes into focus when you travel abroad. Of course, as an American, it can be hard to see this sometimes. Here in the U.S., even if you spend all your time looking at economics and markets, as I do, it’s often difficult to grasp what’s happening on the ground.

International markets still worthwhile

From an investment perspective, this trip is a good reminder that it makes sense to diversify internationally. Given the strong performance of the U.S. economy and stock markets over the past several years, many of us (myself included) have increased our exposure to U.S. investments. Given the headlines' constant focus on problems elsewhere in the world, the U.S. seems both less risky and more rewarding than anywhere else.

And yet, when you actually leave the U.S., you can see that things are much better on the ground than they might appear from your hometown. When you take a closer look at the stats, you notice that international growth is actually beating U.S. growth, and that is starting to translate into corporate earnings and stock market results. In other words, even as things are good here, they are better abroad in many cases—and likely to get better yet.

From here in Budapest, Europe looks much better than it did in Boston, and the numbers support that. When you invest, it is important to get a real perspective, rather than simply relying on the headlines.

One of the best ways to do that is to look at results over time instead of trading on current perceptions. As I’ve said many times, it’s all about balanced allocations, regular rebalancing, and standard investment management theory. It really does work, over time, because it cuts out a lot of the noise. Traveling the world is great, but investors can get powerful insights just by using these methods in their portfolios.

  Subscribe to the Independent Market Observer -

Subscribe via Email

Crash-Test Investing

Hot Topics



New Call-to-action

Conversations

Archives

see all

Subscribe


Disclosure

The information on this website is intended for informational/educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice, a solicitation, or a recommendation to buy or sell any security or investment product. Please contact your financial professional for more information specific to your situation.

Certain sections of this commentary contain forward-looking statements that are based on our reasonable expectations, estimates, projections, and assumptions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Diversification does not assure a profit or protect against loss in declining markets.

The S&P 500 Index is a broad-based measurement of changes in stock market conditions based on the average performance of 500 widely held common stocks. All indices are unmanaged and investors cannot invest directly in an index.

The MSCI EAFE (Europe, Australia, Far East) Index is a free float‐adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure the equity market performance of developed markets, excluding the U.S. and Canada. The MSCI EAFE Index consists of 21 developed market country indices.

One basis point (bp) is equal to 1/100th of 1 percent, or 0.01 percent.

The VIX (CBOE Volatility Index) measures the market’s expectation of 30-day volatility across a wide range of S&P 500 options.

The forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio divides the current share price of the index by its estimated future earnings.

Third-party links are provided to you as a courtesy. We make no representation as to the completeness or accuracy of information provided on these websites. Information on such sites, including third-party links contained within, should not be construed as an endorsement or adoption by Commonwealth of any kind. You should consult with a financial advisor regarding your specific situation.

Member FINRASIPC

Please review our Terms of Use

Commonwealth Financial Network®