On Monday, 2/10, our TenBridge Team held an investment due diligence day where we had calls with our top investment partners. This provided an opportunity to hear each of their thoughts on the market, interpretations of the political landscape, and any changes to their investments. We spoke to fund managers, analysts, and owners of companies. We looked for common themes and discussed if any changes were necessary in our investment portfolios.
One of the major common themes from each of the calls was around the uncertainty ahead. Bill Smead, founder of Smead Investment Management and lead portfolio manager of the Smead Value Fund said, “This is a difficult investment environment.” Erika Oquist, analyst for the Janus Henderson Flexible Bond Fund shared, “There is a lot of uncertainty ahead.” Allen Bond, lead portfolio manager for the Jensen Quality Growth Fund commented, “It will be difficult to figure out what’s going to happen in the political environment.” Similar statements were made during each of the calls.
The future is always murky. For all the talk of crystal balls, one that actually works hasn’t been found yet. We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, just as we didn’t know what the future held going back 5, 10 or 20 years. Though, what history has shown us is that the markets are resilient over time, regardless of what the noise of the moment is.
What we need is a plan in place to weather the short term noise and prepare for long-term success.
I have played sports most of my life, at times, somewhat competitively. Tennis and baseball were my primary sports, so I was involved in both team and individual competition. As the level of competition grew in both sports, it grew from being able to physically overwhelm your opponent to learning how to also think better while on the court or field. Constant practice and preparation led to walking onto the court or field and knowing what you needed to execute to be successful. Being able to drown out the noise was as mentally important as anything physical. A pitcher might throw a ball at you in the batter’s box. Your tennis opponent might bounce a ball 10 times before every serve to throw your timing off if you are a fast player (that happened). Fans might taunt you. Voices in your head tell you you’re going to strike out. It takes a lot of work and dedication to not let noise affect you. To remember you have planned and prepared for the moment.
Each of our investment partners has a plan in place. They don’t deviate from it, regardless of what the noise is telling them. They adjust, but their overarching thesis stays the same as they know in the long term, they can’t predict what will happen tomorrow, but they have proven successful over time by staying on the same path. We have selected these managers for that reason.
We discuss it in our financial planning meetings, but this is a good opportunity to share our investment philosophy: We prioritize high quality investments, seeking steady growth and downside protection through thoughtful diversification, aimed at achieving our clients’ financial planning target rate of return.
To bring it back to sports, we’re not looking to hit a home run. As anyone who watches baseball knows, the modern game is all about the home run or the strikeout. We do everything we can to minimize the strikeout (risk) while getting you across home plate safely (achieving your long term goals). We drown out the noise for long term success.
Scott Thurman
Operations Manager and Chief Compliance Officer
The information contained in this correspondence is intended for general educational purposes only and as a means for facilitating a conversation. Please consider our door always open to discuss your particular situation and how this information might benefit you and fit your specific needs.
About TenBridge Partners
TenBridge Partners is an independent financial planning and investment management firm based in Portland, Oregon with a simple focus of honoring the fiduciary responsibility of putting clients first.
Planning is central to everything we do. Our focus is on a complete understanding of a client’s and potential client’s needs through the financial planning process, before we move forward with anything else.
We bring clarity and confidence to an otherwise confusing financial world.
We are about people.