10/05/2016

Dear Clients:

With the presidential primary election in the books and the general election right around the corner, many clients have asked about my thoughts on the upcoming election. First of all, I never express an opinion about a presidential election. I do this because I believe our clientele have passionate views on the direction our country should take and I do not want to influence those views. When I vote, I always choose the candidate I believe will do the best job for my country, clients, family and myself.

You may have strong opinions about one party or another when it comes to politics, but as far as your portfolio is concerned, it really does not matter which party wins the White House at the end of the day. Conventional wisdom would think since Republicans are more business friendly than Democrats, they would be better for your investment portfolio. In fact, looking back to 1900, the democratic administrations average a slightly better DOW return of nearly 9% annually. This compares with a nearly 6% return under a Republican administration[1]. However, normal variations in annual stock returns minimize the difference. Therefore, I believe a focus on which party wins the White House is unnecessary, at least from the perspective of your portfolio.  

On another note, the Department of Labor (DOL) recently enacted legislation we want to bring to your attention because it impacts you, and your retirement accounts. To give you a little background, over the last few years following the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, some unscrupulous financial brokers sold investment products within IRA’s that contained very high commissions. The DOL has taken the position that brokers were not putting the “best interests” of their clients first, so they have enacted new regulations to address this issue. These regulations do not allow Jay and me to receive variable compensation on any product sold within an IRA or qualified retirement account. As a result, some of the accounts in which you are invested may need to be modified. Over the next several months, we will be reaching out to some of our clients to discuss your options. If your account numbers begin in 06H, 03X, or PNG, you do not have to do anything. If your account numbers begin with any other combination, you may get a call from us.

As always, we really appreciate your business. Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.

[1] http://www.kiplinger.com/article/investing/T052-C016-S002-stocks-to-buy-no-matter-who-the-next-president-is.html

Past performance may not be indicative of future results.