Perpetually Looking Forward

Investors over the past year have faced levels of economic uncertainty and market volatility that haven’t been seen in years. The S&P 500 index was down nearly 20% in 2022. Moreover, the index recorded 46 moves of 2% in both directions throughout the year, which is the choppiest performance the index has seen since 2009 – roughly four times the 10-year average.

The Global Financial Crisis gave structured credit a bad name. As a result of 2008, many investors believe the broader asset class contains unnecessary complexity and risk to warrant much attention. It’s true, subprime mortgages in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and certain collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) led to extreme losses at the time, and while these structures grabbed the headlines, other structured products were resilient and performed well.

At the end of the year, we like to take a moment to reflect on the events and opportunities that shaped our firm throughout the year. 2022 was an eventful year, and we are proud of our growth and grateful for the outstanding clients we work with every day. Keep reading to learn more about the people, places, and events that made 2022 a remarkable year for our clients and us.

Stocks and bonds have traditionally served as the two foundational assets that investors needed to own in order to build diversified portfolios. Bonds, while lower returning, were reliable in their regularly scheduled coupon payments to support steady income generation with limited price volatility. Stocks, on the other hand, have exhibited more than double the amount of volatility of bonds and make it very difficult to set short-term return expectations; however, they have driven significantly more wealth creation over longer-term periods.

Every year, Simon Quick Advisors sponsors a golf tournament from which all proceeds are donated to a local charity in New Jersey. Any employee can nominate a charity of their choice, and submissions are reviewed by the Management Committee, which selects the ultimate recipient. Over the years, Simon Quick has raised more than $700,000 for local charities through these golf tournaments. Past recipients have included Bonnie Brae, Nourish.NJ, Covenant House NJ, and JBWS.

Family limited partnerships (FLPs) are an effective but often under-utilized estate planning tool that families can use to reduce or eliminate estate taxes paid by their beneficiaries. Read on to see if establishing an FLP might be a smart strategy for you.

You’ve probably heard the old saying about death and taxes being the only things that are certain in life. Well, it turns out that you might not be able to escape taxes even in death. If you possess a large estate when you die, your estate and/or your beneficiaries could owe taxes to the federal and/or state governments. Currently, estate taxes are collected by the federal government and thirteen states (including the District of Columbia). While inheritance taxes are collected by some, but not all, states.

Financial markets remained volatile into the third quarter of 2022 as we saw a continuation of markets being driven by persistently elevated inflation and hawkish Central Bank responses, with a surging US dollar that has begun to cause ripple effects across rate & FX markets globally. Risk assets had a tumultuous third quarter, seeing strong gains from the mid-June lows through mid-August before selling off again to end the quarter