Market Update - Q4 2019

A Strong Year for the Global Markets

Overall, 2019 was a great year for the global markets, and globally-diversified portfolios offered strong returns for investors who were willing to stay invested all year.  Here are some of the highlights for 2019.  

• For the 4^th Quarter...
  • US Equity Performance was 9.1% for the quarter, as measured by the Russell 3000 Index
  • Internation Developed Markets returned 7.86% for the quarter, as measured by the MSCI World ex USA Index (net div.)
  • Emerging Markets equity provided a strong return for the quarter at 11.84%, as measured by the MSCI Emerging Markets Index (net div.)
  • Returns for global fixed income and real estate lagged the returns of equities.
• For the Full Calendar Year...
  • US Equity Performance led the global markets with a return of over 31%, as measured by the Russell 3000 Index
  • Fixed Income performance was also strong for the year, with returns for the US Bond market of 8.72%, as measured by the Bloomberg Barclays US Aggregate Bond Index.

With 2020 upon us, we will soon be entering the 12^th year of this bull market expansion, and investors continue to be concerned about the short-term outlook for our economy.  Some concerns include the fact that it is an election year, there are Novel Coronavirus concerns and the impact that it will have on the Chinese economy (and the global economy from there), and the growth rate for our economy has been slow for several years.  However, we continue to look at the long-term rather than the short-term fluctuations that will inevitably come.  History has shown that it has been beneficial to own globally-diversified portfolios that include both stocks and bonds and holding those portfolios for the long run.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Stolz & Associates 

253-272-3441