Our Perspective on Industry News and Trends

The recently passed Secure Act 2.0 does not have the magnitude of changes as the original Secure Act, but it does contain a few impactful changes and many minor changes. Find out what you need to know in this month's blog.

For most children, their financial literacy will come from life experiences and lessons from their parents, families, and friends. Realizing this, we though it helpful to provide a jump-start to this education process through some commonsense concepts and tactics to share with any young person to help them establish a life-long and healthy relationship with money. 

In recent years, it has become more apparent than ever that politics have a great influence on the market. As the 2022 mid-term elections are upon us, we invite you to consider two historical trends: how congressional leadership has changed during prior mid-term election cycles and what it has meant for market returns in the past. We also look at what numbers show us and our feelings on allowing elections to influence wealth planning and investment goals.

When already grieving the loss of a loved one, being tasked with serving as an executor may feel stressful and overwhelming. In this month's JIC Blog, Alethea Teh Busken, Esq., Johnson Trust Company Counsel, shares some helpful information that may help you in your role as executor. 

Instead of worrying about whether a recession is impending, we invite you to consider the relevance of a recession to you. Recessions, a side effect of a normal economic cycle, should already be factored into a good investment and wealth plan. In this month’s blog, we also discuss the relevance of a recession at different life stages, such as pre- and post-retirement.

Jason Jackman, CFA, President of Johnson Investment Counsel presented the 2022 Patrick Chong Memorial Scholarship to two outstanding students, Regan Henderson and Caitlin Kelhoffer.

With the S&P 500 Index officially falling into bear market territory and stocks and bonds falling in tandem, market volatility remains a clear theme in the second quarter of 2022. For our 2022 Second Quarter Newsletter, we share our thought process and the methodology behind the philosophy that drives our Equity Income strategy. We discuss why quality matters, and what Johnson evaluates as quality, in times of market volatility. 

Johnson Investment Counsel has expanded its footprint at its satellite office in Kenwood, having operated at this location since 2017. The firm will now occupy 33,220 square feet of the building, and accommodate 112 professionals, allowing the company to better serve clients across the region while accommodating its growing team of professionals.

In conversations with clients in recent weeks, we have fielded a number of questions related to the economy and markets. In this video, Chief Investment Officer Charles Rinehart, CFA, CAIA, and Director and Portfolio Manager Brandon Zureick, CFA answer some of the most common questions we’ve received and share our perspective, investment philosophy, and discipline that helps us navigate through periods of economic and market uncertainty.

We can’t control what’s happening in the world and how it will impact portfolios, but we can focus on tactics that make sense in any environment. One such tactic is to find opportunities to save money on taxes. One way to do this is to employ a tax-loss harvesting strategy in taxable investment accounts. Think of it as a good spring cleaning of the portfolio!

Don’t miss the Golden Window for strategic tax planning. With careful planning, recent or soon-to-be retirees can recognize substantial tax savings over the course of retirement.

As one of the building blocks of retirement planning strategies, Social Security income is critical to almost every cash flow plan. Read more about the future of social security.

See how regularly reviewing your auto and homeowners insurance coverage can prevent low-probability, high-impact life events from derailing your financial plan.

Considering an annuity as a tool for retirement planning? Learn how annuities work to better understand the select and limited situations they should be applied to.

Learn more about the award-winning Johnson Equity Income Fund in this recorded presentation. Senior Managing Director Jarett Levitsky, CFP®, joined Charles Rinehart, CFA, CAIA, Director and Portfolio Manager for the Equity Income Fund for a webinar on July 27,2021. They discussed key topics related to the fund.

What is cryptocurrency, and why has it surged in popularity recently? As we answer these questions, we consider whether cryptocurrency can improve the overall portfolio.

Whether it’s plywood, used cars, or groceries, consumers have been dealing with higher prices in 2021.  In this update, Jarett Levitsky and Brandon Zureick discuss the recent spike in inflation providing unique insight as to how it happened and answering the question on so many minds… are we in a new era of high inflation?

Are the rapidly rising home prices in 2020-2021 a sign that we’re witnessing another housing bubble? Will it lead to a crash? We conclude that the basic economics of supply and demand are driving much of the pricing action - not speculation. 

As we look back on the first 100 days of President Biden's administration, there have been many proposed changes to tax rates (both individual and business), estate planning considerations, and more. While the effective date for these changes remains unknown, being prepared is the best approach.
 

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.