noncorrelated assets

Expensive Lessons Threaten Teacher Retirements

© Can Stock Photo / nameinfame

An amazing tale of mistakes and worse in the Omaha Public School (OPS) pension fund has been uncovered by the Omaha World-Herald. According to the paper, the fund went from being one of the best-performing funds in the nation to one of the worst.

The most surprising thing? The same issues you and we face in managing our own investments caused a lot of the grief.

• The fund sold stocks heavily at the bottom of the financial crisis, in 2008 and 2009, dramatically reducing its holdings at the wrong time.

• Decision makers sought ways to achieve above average returns without market volatility—almost always a tale too good to be true.

• The risks of alternative investments were poorly understood, not surprisingly. Mumbai real estate, international shipping, Kazakhstan oil companies and distressed housing in Florida? (At least they didn’t buy swampland, as far as we know.)

• When stocks rebounded, the fund missed out—while suffering with poor results from its new strategies.

We endlessly encourage staying the course, hanging in there, living with volatility, avoiding the stampedes, seeking the bargains… in fact, aiming to do the exact opposite of what the OPS fund managers did. It is not easy to do the right thing, but you, the best clients in the world, have shown perseverance and patience when needed.

It is unfortunate that the people responsible for management of the fund lacked the basic good sense that you possess. Clients, if you would like to talk about this or anything else, please email us or call.

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results.

All investing, including stocks, involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss.

International investing involves special risks such as currency fluctuation and political instability and may not be suitable for all investors. These risks are often heightened for investments in emerging markets.

 

Fear and Greed

© Can Stock Photo / Andreus

Two of the primary emotions affecting the stock market, it is said, are fear and greed.

Facts and figures are prominent in our work of assessing and ranking various investment opportunities. But in the day to day action of any market, buyers and sellers and their motivations have an oversize impact.

In our view, fear has dominated most of the last eight years in the US stock market. Many investors sold out after the double drubbings beginning in 2000 and in 2007. Money flows from retail investors, reflecting withdrawals from the market in most recent years, seem to confirm it.

Anecdotally, we also noticed burgeoning interest in strategies that hoped to avoid exposure to the stock market yet still make money. Commodities, derivatives, factor investing, bonds at low interest rates and other fads drew in a lot of money. This, we believe, reflected fear of the stock market.

For much of the market rise since 2009, it was said to be ‘the most hated rally in history’ because so many people missed out.

Knowing Warren Buffett’s famous dictum, “Be greedy when others are fearful, and fearful when others are greedy,” we stayed the course through the downturn. None of us hated this rally, did we?

Now the market sits at all-time highs. This probably makes sense when earnings are high and rising, and interest rates remain fairly low. But we are on the lookout for signs that greed has become the dominant force in the market. When others become greedy, perhaps we need to become fearful.

We are also doing other things, as well. You may have noticed winning positions getting trimmed back, and potential new bargains (we hope!) being added to portfolios. Owning bargains is no guarantee against loss, but we believe it helps. We are also nibbling at other markets in other lands, ones that have lagged and may be at low levels.

Our new portfolio design, accommodating layers of cash and more moderate investments as well as our traditional research-driven core layer, is another way to attempt to mitigate future downside.

The markets go up and down. We cannot build wealth over the long haul without facing that, and living with it. If you would like to talk about your portfolio or situation in detail, please call or email us.

The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

Stock investing involves risk including loss of principal.

Bonds are subject to market and interest rate risk if sold prior to maturity. Bond values will decline as interest rates rise and bonds are subject to availability and change in price.

International investing involves special risks such as currency fluctuation and political instability and may not be suitable for all investors. These risks are often heightened for investments in emerging markets.