What a year it has been for financial markets. There have been several negative factors in play, including a high-single-digit inflation print, the ongoing war in Ukraine, and several regional bank failures. Nonetheless, the S&P 500 finished the second quarter up 17 percent for the year. Go figure!

What a whirlwind year it has been in the financial markets. Not since 1994 have investors seen simultaneous declines in both equities and fixed income, prompting many to question the viability of holding both in a portfolio context. Negative performance across asset classes during the first half of 2022 challenged even the most ardent believers of diversification and modern portfolio theory, leaving many of us to wonder whether we are entering a new paradigm for asset allocation. Should investors abandon the view that stocks and bonds can provide complementary exposures in a portfolio? Disclaimer: I don’t think so.

After nearly two years of a stock market that seemed to move higher each day, investors are now experiencing a bout of volatility that has not been seen in quite some time. So, will the second half of 2022 bring a return to the lackluster market environment that investors grew accustomed to in 2020–2021 (with the exception of the novel coronavirus sell-off)? Or should we expect elevated volatility to become the norm moving forward?

For many, the holiday season is the busiest time of the year. Undoubtedly, 2021 is no exception. The world is gradually returning to “normal,” and we’ve started to resume some of the festive traditions that were missed in 2020. Personally, one of the things I enjoy most about the holidays is watching Scrooge learn valuable life lessons in the movie A Christmas Carol.

Today's post is from Brian Price, senior vice president of investment management and research.

Today’s post on the recent strong performance of growth stocks comes from Brian Price, senior vice president of investment management and research here at Commonwealth. Over to you, Brian!

Today’s post on ESG investing comes from Brian Price, senior vice president of investment management and research here at Commonwealth—and a self-proclaimed ESG investing skeptic. Over to you, Brian!

Today’s post is from Brian Price, Commonwealth’s senior vice president of investment management and research.

Today’s post is from Brian Price, Commonwealth’s senior vice president of investment management and research.

Much has been made of the recent proliferation of ETFs and the seemingly endless fee war taking place among the providers of low-cost index funds. As a self-described value guy, I love the fact that advisors have the choice of populating client portfolios with cheap beta through passive vehicles that, for the most part, are very tax efficient. In fact, cost and tax efficiency are the two main reasons why I am a firm believer that ETFs and index mutual funds should absolutely be part of the conversation when constructing portfolios.