Our Perspective on Industry News and Trends

For many, flipping the calendar to 2021 will be the most cathartic turn of a page in decades. 2020 was unforgettable for many reasons, but like every other December, it’s a good time to reflect on the past year and plan for the future. This is definitely true regarding our financial lives. Here are a few suggestions for what to review as we look ahead to 2021 and beyond.

Stocks are rallying toward fresh record highs as investors cheer the weekend’s news regarding progress on a Covid-19 vaccine. This comes on top of last week’s rally that occurred despite the delayed and uncertain election results for both the White House and Senate.

We are just days away from another consequential election, and the volume of related news is reaching a fever pitch. So let’s take a step back and take a deeper look into what history can teach us about our investment and wealth-building strategies moving forward.

Back in March when stocks had fallen 35% in a matter of weeks, the near future looked bleak. With a worldwide shutdown in process and much of the economy at a standstill, it would have been hard to believe the best two-quarter gains in years were just ahead. This year is a reminder that life and markets are always unpredictable, and sometimes market behavior seems out of sync with current events.

On Thursday, October 15th, Johnson Investment Counsel hosted our first-ever Virtual Wealth Management Forum. Our panel of speakers shared economic and market updates, a discussion on wealth and estate planning, as well as a brief review of the upcoming election and its potential impact on the markets. Here, you can view the recorded presentation and accompanying slides.

Johnson Investment Counsel’s mutual fund has received the 2020 Lipper Fund Award in recognition of consistently strong risk-adjusted performance relative to its peers. The Johnson Equity Income Fund is a winner of the “Best Fund Over 3 Years” for Equity Income  Funds.

The region Johnson Investment Counsel serves is blessed to have many strong public companies in a wide variety of industries.  We’re establishing the Research Edge 40  – an index of S&P 500 companies out of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Michigan – to help track those firms.  In this edition, Research Analysts Joe Edelstein and Chris Godby weigh in on BorgWarner, J. M. Smucker, Kroger, and Alliance Data Systems.

The sharp rebound in stocks has been one of the most surprising in decades. It’s happened in the midst of record unemployment numbers and the worst contraction in GDP in more than 70 years. If investors need to be reminded that economic growth and stock-market performance aren’t always in lockstep, 2020 is thus far the quintessential case study. 

Asset allocation has historically been the most important determinant of portfolio total return and volatility.  In this edition of the JIC Research Edge, President & CIO Jason Jackman and Senior Portfolio Manager Fred Brink discuss what asset allocation is and what role it plays in portfolio construction.  They also breakdown the asset allocation implications of the COVID-19 crisis.

For all of us there are any number of variables in a retirement plan. Social Security benefits factor in for almost everyone, with varying degrees of impact. Regardless of one’s wealth, it’s important to integrate Social Security benefits with asset allocation and portfolio withdrawal strategies to efficiently finance living expenses in retirement. 

In this update, President and Chief Investment Officer, Jason Jackman, CFA, and Director and Portfolio Manager Brandon Zureick, CFA, discuss the reopening of the economy and its impact on investors.

In this update, Senior Portfolio Manager Scott Wyckoff, CFA, CFP®, and Director of Northeastern Ohio Market and Portfolio Manager Tony Kure, CFP® discuss why it's worth revisiting Roth Conversions today.