Beyond Ladders: Attributes of Active Bond Management
The asset management industry has long wrestled with the active versus passive debate across a spectrum of asset classes... Contrasting active municipal strategies with bond ladders, the most common passively managed tax-exempt strategy, warrants considering the characteristics and attributes of each approach.
Review and
Outlook
October 2022
“The biggest rate surprise last month came not from the US, but the UK. Prime Minister Liz Truss’s unexpectedly large, proposed tax cuts had the government engaged in stimulus while the Bank of England (BOE) was tightening…”
Learn MoreSeptember 2022
“While we were never convinced, the FOMC meeting at the end of July led to market speculation of a coming Fed “pivot” to a more accommodative policy. Markets flirted with the idea for much of August as well until Powell put to bed the idea of a “dovish Fed pivot” in his Jackson Hole testimony.”
Learn MoreAugust 2022
“Most of the world defines recessions as at least two consecutive quarters of GDP contraction. The US relies instead on an assessment by the National Bureau of Economic Research, which has not yet ruled.”
Learn MoreJuly 2022
“For several months we have written about the tension between high inflation and robust consumer demand seemingly undeterred by higher prices. Inflation setting a new cyclical high in May, after what was widely believed to be an April peak, seemed to suggest demand was winning.”
Learn MoreEconomic and
Market Commentary
09.19.2022
Beyond Ladders: Attributes of Active Bond Management
The asset management industry has long wrestled with the active versus passive debate across a spectrum of asset classes. At Appleton, we are strong advocates of active municipal bond management as it affords us the ability to customize solutions and capitalize on opportunities to add incremental yield and total return. Contrasting active municipal strategies with bond ladders, the most common passively managed tax-exempt strategy, warrants considering the characteristics and attributes of each approach.
Learn More07.11.2022
Yield, Credit, and Valuation: The Case For Municipals
We recommend advisors and investors take another look at their allocation to investment grade municipals, a case based on higher yield levels, strong credit quality, and attractive relative valuation.
Learn More06.01.2022
Grappling with Volatility: Thoughts on the Equity Markets
Investors and businesses alike crave stability if not certainty, and a lack of such clarity often leads to market volatility. That has certainly been the case in 2022 with the S&P 500 off to one of its worst starts in years, having declined for 7 consecutive weeks during April and May and briefly trading into bear market territory (>20% decline). Setting aside the understandable anxiety associated with periods of market weakness…
Learn More05.10.2022
Transitioning from Turbulence to Opportunity: Municipal Portfolio Notes
“Yields across the municipal curve have largely priced in these hikes in our view. . . From a valuation perspective, municipals are now attractive relative to USTs”
Learn MoreQuarterly
Perspectives
Q2 2022
Fortifying Financial Decision-Making
“Generation X households are likely to inherit a staggering $30 trillion in wealth over the next 25 years and overtake the Baby Boomers as America’s wealthiest generation. The magnitude of this dynamic has caught the attention of wealth management professionals, and what is unfolding in an aging America is also likely to have a profound effect on individual relationships with money.”
Learn MoreQ1 2022
The Gift of Giving
“The war in Ukraine is a tragedy on many dimensions, and along with our sympathies and concern for all those impacted, we offer a few wealth management and financial planning thoughts.”
Learn MoreQ4 2021
Reframing Perceptions of Portfolio Risk
“Thinking about risk a bit differently can be revealing. Individual interpretations vary which is why applying traditional investment techniques and individualized approaches are both essential parts of the equation.”
Learn MoreQ3 2021
Breaking Through Behavioral Barriers in Personal Financial Planning
“Despite a tendency to think of personal finance in quantitative terms…we believe the best financial planning advice also considers an element of psychology.”
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