Perpetually Looking Forward

In this webinar recording, Simon Quick Chief Investment Officer, Christopher Moore, and Head of Investments, Wayne Yi, discuss the impact of the Coronavirus on people, the economy, and your portfolio. Please contact us if you have any questions.

The dream for many entrepreneurs is to start a business, grow it, and then sell it for top dollar before moving on to the next chapter of their lives. The key to making all this come true successfully is to be clear on what it is you want to accomplish and to plan accordingly. 

The spread of the coronavirus and fears of a large-scale outbreak have pulled the equity market into correction territory, with the S&P 500 selling off 12% from its peak last week. International and emerging markets also sold off, but didn’t benefit from the run up the S&P had earlier in the year and are thus down even more year-to-date.

Over the past ten years, the longest bull market on record has left many fortunate investors with substantial gains. Equity markets have annualized at over 16.5% since the lows of March 2009.

There was a lot to be grateful for over the holidays. Strong investment performance is secondary to health, family, and friends, but it does give one peace of mind to fully enjoy the season. Equity markets marched up over 27% through the first eleven months of the year, with Santa delivering another 3% in December to cap the S&P500 at over 31% for 2019. This was in stark contrast to the coal-in-your-stockings December of 2018 where markets gave up 9% and stood at the precipice of the first bear market since the Global Financial Crisis a decade ago. Stocks weren’t the only ones invited to the party. Fixed income assets also received a healthy bid, with the Barclays Agg returning 8.7% in the year. This was the best performance for the index since the dot-com bubble. International markets and smaller caps also generated strong returns, but domestic equities, particularly growth stocks, were once again the ones everyone wanted to get under the mistletoe.

Our new name and visual identity reflect our renewed commitment to our clients. We believe that when we’re at our best, we give our clients the freedom to pursue what matters. What this means is our biggest investment is you, our client. We're going to empower you to keep doing more of what you value most. 

We are pleased to announce that Jim McGurren has joined Simon Quick Advisors as a Managing Director and Client Advisor. In this role, Jim will offer financial planning and investment management advice, helping clients navigate the complexities of their financial lives. With his long history of serving clients on Long Island, we are thrilled to offer a local presence to our clients on Long Island!

As we prepare for Halloween and the swarms of costumed trick-or-treaters banging down our doors, I thought I’d share a spooky excerpt from the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook publication: “The global economy is in a synchronized slowdown, with growth for 2019 downgraded again…its slowest pace since the global financial crisis.”