Living through the quickest Bear Market in history has brought substantial challenges and changes to our daily lives. We are living in a period of uncertainty, and the market has responded swiftly.
Despite the negative impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have also seen some rays of light. Although we are working remotely, our team is diligently working with clients and is able to function fully in this environment.
Albert Einstein famously said, “In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity.” It may be difficult to fathom, but our team is taking advantage of several opportunities afforded by this market.
As we mentioned previously going into this correction, we proactively reduced risk across many of our client portfolios. While only time will tell when we will see the market bottom, over the past week we strategically bought equities in many client portfolios as the market was down, using the cash we had set aside. We have also used some of the disconnects in the fixed income market to look for additional opportunities in our bond portfolios. Lastly, we have been proactively realigning portfolios into areas that we feel make sense without causing adverse tax consequences.
Having a sound financial plan is the basis for our client relationships, and its foundation is managing your cash flow. Throughout this environment, we are actively monitoring clients who take regular distributions and continue to be in a position where we do not need to sell equities for our clients to meet their cash flow needs.
We can’t say for sure what life is going to look like on the other side of COVID-19 or even give a concrete timeframe of when that will occur, but we can all benefit from the valuable experiences this has taught us and be stronger on the other side.
From all of us at Stonebridge, we hope this message finds you and your family safe. As a reminder, our team is here to answer any questions you might have.