Buffett Wisdom, The Election, Portfolio Views and Behavioral Biases – Entasis Newsletter 4Q16

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Section Summary

  • Buffet Wisdom – “We have no idea – and never have had – whether the market is going to go up, down, or sideways in the near or intermediate-term future. What we do know, however, is that occasional outbreaks of those two super-contagious diseases, fear and greed, will forever occur in the investment community. The timing of these epidemics will be unpredictable. And the market aberrations produced by them will be equally unpredictable, both as to duration and degree. Therefore, we never try to anticipate the arrival or departure of either disease. Our goal is more modest: we simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.”
  • Market Notes – During the fourth quarter, the clearly dominant headline was the U.S. presidential election. By the time this newsletter reaches you, we will be talking about President Trump. His victory contributed to some surprisingly dramatic movements in equity and fixed income markets as “consensus” thinking seemed to rally around some major themes.
  • Equity & Fixed Income Comments – Market volatility provided us with the opportunity to make some strategic adjustments to client portfolios during the quarter.
  • Research Focus – We review the Anatomy of an Investment Decision we recently made in client portfolios to provide insight into our decision making process.
  • Client Focus – Behavioral biases are arguably one of the most harmful detractors to long-term investment compounding that an investor can experience. And unfortunately they are numerous. Combating these biases can be simple if you establish a plan, invest long-term and do your homework. That is the basis of what we do at Entasis.

Market Notes, Portfolio Views, Seafarer and Fees – Newsletter 3Q16

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Section Summary

  • Market Performance – Too often the “market” is only discussed in the context of highly publicized indexes such as the S&P 500 Index. Portfolios and investment opportunities are influenced by a much broader set of circumstances. Use our return table for a better understanding of the how the “market” performed beyond the headlines.
  • Market Notes – We do not draw conclusions every quarter. We are long-term investors. We use quarterly information on a few core market drivers to help shape our assessment of long-term trends relevant to client portfolios.
  • Equity & Fixed Income Comments – In these sections we provide a review of market results and discuss how we are currently positioning our investment portfolios.
  • Research Focus – All of our research and investment decisions made for client portfolios is done in-house. In this section we provide a review of the process behind a recent decision.
  • Client Focus – We believe that too many investors do not have clear answers to how much they are paying for financial advice or how fees are calculated on their accounts. In this section we provide some context. Contact us to talk about how we can improve your experience.