George Hosfield, CFA, discusses Ferguson Wellman's quarterly strategy titled, "Inflation's Flame Flickers," which addresses the narrow market leadership, the impact of higher interest rates on inflation and how assets are priced at this stage of the economic cycle.
George Hosfield, CFA, discusses the firm's quarterly strategy titled "Stalemate," which highlights the Fed's ongoing battle to tame inflation along with our views on the health of the banking industry and capital market expectations for the balance of the year.
Director and Chief Investment Officer George Hosfield, CFA, discusses the Fed raising interest rates, peaking inflation and our view on equities and volatility across all asset classes in our Investment Strategy titled, “Balancing Act.”
Headlines screaming, “fire and fury,” and “ballistic rockets are on constant standby,” could have surely warranted a multi-percentage sell-off. Fortunately, the market’s reaction was somewhat muted, falling just over 1 percent for the week. Historically, North Korean headlines have had minimal impact on the stock market. In 2006, when they detonated their first nuclear device, U.S. stocks were actually up.
The slow creep higher in the markets continued this week. The S&P 500 finished the week up 0.12 percent with financials stocks leading the way, up 2 percent. The ADP jobs report on Wednesday and the nonfarm payroll today gave us “not too hot, not too cold” readings.
Amid the busiest week of second quarter earnings reports, blue-chip stocks continued to trade near record levels. With nearly 40 percent of the S&P 500 companies having reported over the past five days, the clear plurality of results has exceeded expectations.
A White House in Turmoil, The Fed Shifting Policy: Treasuries Are Actually Calm About It
For all the turmoil roiling Washington, D.C. from the Federal Reserve to the White House, and Treasury bonds, typically a go-to segment of the financial markets when you’re looking for a pessimistic take on the day’s affairs, appear unusually placid.
Equity markets sold off on Friday, but were mixed for the week. The S&P 500 closed out the week slightly higher, returning a positive .45 percent for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Index ended the week about -.30 percent lower, with energy leading decliners. The Nasdaq returned a strong 1 percent for the week.
PORTLAND, Ore. – July 1, 2017 – Ferguson Wellman is pleased to announce that Tara Kinateder has joined the firm as executive vice president and a member of the firm’s wealth management committee.
With more than 15 years of experience in the financial industry, Kinateder came to Ferguson Wellman after working at U.S. Trust as a private client advisor and market leader. Before her career at U.S. Trust, she worked for Bernstein Wealth Management as a financial advisor and Paychex MMS as a strategic consultant. Kinateder specializes in business succession and pre-transaction planning, asset management and asset allocation planning, retirement planning and advising women in transition on strategies to help them protect their wealth.
Raised in Georgia, Kinateder earned her B.A. from Brenau University in Gainesville, Georgia, with a double major in journalism and business, graduating Magna Cum Laude. She received a certificate in personal financial planning from the University of Washington’s Michael G. Foster School of Business and a certificate in investment strategies and portfolio management from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. Kinateder serves as chair of the Classic Wines Auction board and has been a board member since 2014. She is also current chair of the annual Wine Auction. Kinateder chairs the Arlington Club entertainment committee and is a member of the house committee.
“We are extraordinarily pleased to add Tara to our team of investment professionals. Her expertise in all aspects of wealth management allows her to become a value-add to our clients immediately. She has a shared vision with us for serving clients and growing our firm. We are delighted to have her,” said Jim Rudd, principal and chief executive officer.
Founded in 1975, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management is a privately owned registered investment advisory firm, established in the Pacific Northwest. As of January 1, 2017, the firm manages over $4.5 billion for more than 760 clients that include individuals and families; Taft-Hartley and corporate retirement plans; and endowments and foundations with portfolios of $3 million or more. West Bearing Investments, a division of Ferguson Wellman, serves clients with assets starting at $750,000. (Data as of January 2017).
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Led by a 3.8 percent gain in emerging markets, global equities sustained their upward march this week. The S&P 500 returned 1.4 percent and again flirts with an all-time high. 10-year U.S. Treasury yields fell seven basis points as soft inflation data weighed on expectations for future interest rate hikes. The Fed continues to grapple with conflicting signals in an attempt to balance the dual mandate of maximizing employment and stabilizing prices.
Ferguson Wellman Capital Management and its division, West Bearing Investments, are pleased to announce that the firm has been named by Portland Business Journal as top money managers in their 2017 Money Management Firms list.
Portland Business Journal ranked Ferguson Wellman fourth in Oregon and Southwest Washington on their list of 25 money managers. The listing was created by calculating the total number of assets under management for Oregon and Clark County, Washington clients as of May 31, 2017. Forty firms were originally surveyed.
“We are always glad to see our firm listed among our Oregon and SW Washington peers. It is a real testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone at Ferguson Wellman, but even more importantly to the wonderful clients we serve,” said Jim Rudd, principal and chief executive officer.
Founded in 1975, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management is a privately owned registered investment advisory firm, established in the Pacific Northwest. As of January 1, 2017, the firm manages over $4.5 billion for more than 760 clients that include individuals and families; Taft-Hartley and corporate retirement plans; and endowments and foundations with portfolios of $3 million or more. West Bearing Investments, a division of Ferguson Wellman, serves clients with assets starting at $750,000. (data as of January 1, 2017).
Disclosures: Portland Business Journal produced this list by soliciting firms in Oregon and Southwest Washington for information regarding their assets under management. Ferguson Wellman (the firm) is not aware of any facts that would call into question the validity of the ranking. The firm does not believe this advertisement is inappropriate and is not aware of any unfavorable rating towards the firm. The rating category is the Top 25 in the Financial Services Guide, forty firms were surveyed and 62.5 percentage of advisers polled received a ranking. The rating does not involve client experience and is not indicative of Ferguson Wellman’s future performance. Ferguson Wellman did not pay a fee to participate in this survey.
Despite improving economic data, the S&P 500 finished the week flat. Solid global PMI’s continue to move interest rates higher around the world. 10-year yields in Germany hit an 18-month high, and the 10-year U.S. Treasury finished the week at 2.39 percent. Just 11 days ago the benchmark U.S. rate was at 2.13 percent.
Ferguson Wellman Capital Management has been named by Financial Advisor magazine as a top investment company. Financial Advisor named Ferguson Wellman 55 out of 214 U.S. firms in the $1 billion-and-over asset category of their registered investment adviser (RIA) rankings. Ferguson Wellman is the highest-ranked firm headquartered in Oregon. The listing is created by tracking independent investment firms registered with the SEC and ranks companies according to their assets under management as reported in their ADV forms. All firms must provide financial planning services to individual clients in order to be considered for the list.
For the shortened holiday week, equity markets were down by almost 1 percent as investors followed events in Russia and North Korea. Interest rates were lower with the 10-year Treasury declining in yield from 2.36 to 2.22 percent.
As investors, the best thing about earnings season is it filters a lot of the other noise out of the market. A month ago, a tweet, tariff headlines or even a longshot tax proposal would have moved the equity markets.
Financial Times Names Ferguson Wellman Capital Management
to Top 300 Registered Investment Advisers List
Ferguson Wellman Capital Management was recently named by Financial Times to their “FT 300 Top Registered Investment Advisers” list.
According to their detailed methodology, the RIAs are first examined via the RIA database and then only firms with $300 million or more in assets under management are considered. Next, the financial publishing company uses a formula based on six criteria and calculates a numeric score for each. Among the items of consideration are adviser assets under management, asset growth, the company’s age, industry certifications of key employees, SEC compliance record and online accessibility. According to the editors of the FT 300 RIA list, it is “presented as an elite group, not a competitive ranking of one to 300. This is the fairest way to identify the industry’s elite advisers while accounting for the firms’ different approaches and different specializations.” Over 725 RIA firms applied to be selected and of the 300 that made the list, only five firms from Oregon were selected.
“We are always pleased to see our firm mentioned on these lists among our peers,” said Jim Rudd, principal and chief executive officer. “It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone at Ferguson Wellman and West Bearing, but even more importantly, to the clients we serve.”
Founded in 1975, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management is a privately owned registered investment advisory firm, established in the Pacific Northwest. As of January 1, 2017, the firm manages over $4.5 billion for more than 760 clients that include individuals and families; Taft-Hartley and corporate retirement plans; and endowments and foundations with portfolios of $3 million or more. West Bearing Investments, a division of Ferguson Wellman, serves clients with assets starting at $750,000. (data as of January 1, 2017).
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Methodology and Disclosure from Financial Times:
The fourth edition of the Financial Times 300 has assessed registered investment advisers (RIAs) on desirable traits for investors. To ensure a list of established companies with deep, institutional expertise, we examine the database of RIAs registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and select those that reported to the SEC and select those that had $300m or more in assets under management (AUM). The Financial Times’ methodology is quantifiable and objective. The RIAs had no subjective input. The FT invited qualifying RIA companies – more than 2000 – to complete a lengthy application that gave us more information about them. We added to this with our own research into their practices, including data from regulatory filings. Some 725 RIA companies applied and 300 made the final list. The formula the FT uses to grade advisers is based on six broad factors and calculates a numeric score for each adviser. Areas of consideration include adviser AUM, asset growth, the company’s age, industry certifications of key employees, SEC compliance record and online accessibility. The reasons these were chosen are as follows: AUM signals experience managing money and client trust. AUM growth rate can be a proxy for performance, as well as for asset retention and the ability to generate new business. We assessed companies on both one-year and two-year growth rates. Companies’ years in existence indicates reliability and experience of managing assets through different market environments. Compliance record provides evidence of past client disputes; a string of complaints can signal potential problems. Industry certifications (CFA, CFP, etc.) shows the company’s staff has technical and industry knowledge, and signals a professional commitment to investment skills. Online accessibility demonstrates a desire to provide easy access and transparent contact information. Assets under management and asset growth, combined, comprised roughly 65 to 70 percent of each adviser’s score while asset growth accounted for an additional 10 to 15 percent. Additionally, the FT caps the number of companies from any one state. The cap is roughly based on the distribution of millionaires across the U.S. We present the FT 300 as an elite group, not a competitive ranking of one to 300. This is the fairest way to identify the industry’s elite advisers while accounting for the firms’ different approaches and different specializations. The research was conducted on behalf of the Financial Times by Ignites Distribution Research, a Financial Times sister publication.
Additional Disclosures:
Financial Times produced this list by Ignites Distribution Research, a sister company of Financial Times. Ferguson Wellman (the firm) is not aware of any facts that would call into question the validity of the ranking. The firm does not believe this advertisement is inappropriate and is not aware of any unfavorable rating towards the firm. The rating category is the top 300 registered investment advisers, the number of firms surveyed was 725, and the percentage of advisers that received the rating of top 300 RIAs was 41 percent. The rating does not involve client experience and is not indicative of Ferguson Wellman’s future performance. Ferguson Wellman did not pay a fee to participate in this survey.
The broad markets performed as expected this week as the Federal Reserve announced its much expected rate hike Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average did set a new high after the announcement but finishes the week up only 0.4 percent.
Global elections continue to stir up markets this week. U.S. stocks and the dollar rose as the British pound declined after the U.K.’s Conservative Party lost its parliamentary majority just as the Brexit negotiations begin
The S&P 500 was up nearly 1 percent again this week as economic data continues to confirm a growing economy. An underwhelming jobs report on Friday took yields on 10-year U.S. Treasuries to a new low on the year of 2.15 percent.
Buoyed by the best quarterly earnings growth in six years, blue chip equities are forging new highs, with investors disregarding the turmoil in Washington and discounting increasingly lofty expectations for the remainder of 2017.
Political risk has always been frustrating for investors. We like the rules of the game to be known and the playing field level. Any kind of uncertainty leads to volatility in markets. While many believed that the Republican sweep would deliver pro-growth initiatives, Trump’s troubles have led to concerns regarding those outcomes.
