WrapManager's Wealth Management Blog

JP Morgan Quarterly Guide to the Markets JP Morgan’s Guide to the Markets for the fourth quarter of 2016 is now available. This comprehensive guide includes pages of charts to illustrate the latest information about equities, investing opportunities, fixed income yields and returns, international markets and historical asset class performance. [+] Read More

There seems this growing feeling that the market is on shaky ground. As an investor, you may feel it too: the presidential election is unique to the point of being wild, Europe appears to be in disarray, corporate profits have seen better days, GDP growth in the U.S. has been lower than average. Perhaps that is why a recent Bloomberg survey of forecasters said they expect the S&P 500 to finish the year 1% lower. They cited some of the concerns mentioned above, but also pointed to negative sentiment tied to rising interest rates, elevated stock valuations, and the aging business cycle.1 The question for investors is: is it time to rethink portfolio strategy, perhaps favoring a defensive posture? [+] Read More

JP Morgan Assets analyzes: Why economic angst has contributed to a frustrated electorate Why our base case of de facto divided government is what ultimately matters most for markets What history tells us about market behavior before, during and after presidential elections Why either a President Trump or Clinton will likely face a recession in his/her first term, and how investors should think about their portfolios given where we are in the economic cycle Read the entire market commentary here. [+] Read More

Quizmaster, Doug Hutchinson, presents his quiz for the month. Here, Doug discusses strategies for tax efficient investing. Consider this Scenario: Your friend Stacy is considering purchasing the following investments: A high yield bond with a 8% coupon that is currently trading at $100 A tax exempt municipal bond with a 2.5% coupon that is currently trading at $100 An actively managed mutual fund with high turnover that typically generates short-term capital gains Stacy has enough funds available in her traditional Individual Retirement Account (IRA) and her taxable individual account to purchase 1 or 2 of these investments in either account. Stacy asks you “I’d like to purchase all three of these investments, but which account should I put each of these investments in? I’d like to be as tax efficient as possible.” [+] Read More

The end of the year is fast approaching, which means the holiday season and family-time are also near. Life tends to get busy and time tends to move quickly once November hits, so if there’s an ideal time to review your estate plan, now could be it. There are several elements to thorough estate planning, but in this post we want to focus on the important—but often overlooked—step of reviewing your beneficiary designations. [+] Read More

The S&P 500 Index has correctly predicted 19 of the past 22 presidential elections and every election since 1985... Amid unprecedented political polarization, lackluster growth, persistently low interest rates, and mounting geopolitical tensions, investors are grappling with allocation decisions as what may be the most contentious presidential election in their lifetime approaches. Politics aside, the next president will be pressed to boost growth, trade, innovation, and jobs in a slow economy transformed by globalization and technology. Note: The purpose of this special report is to help investors evaluate the potential investment implications of the presidential candidates’ most salient economic policies. It is not intended to take sides but rather to shed light on how, historically, markets and sectors have performed before and after past elections, and how various interests might be affected by current proposals, which might prompt consideration of the possible investment decisions to be made. Read on for an excerpt of Lord Abbett's engaging commentary, or view the entire document here. [+] Read More

Monitoring the performance of an investment portfolio is a tricky task. On one hand, many investors would benefit from not becoming overly focused on performance. Doing so tends to lead to an unhealthy focus on short-term volatility/price movements, which can easily lead to an investor making a knee-jerk, emotional decision that runs counter to their long-term goals. [+] Read More

For readers unfamiliar with the generation skipping transfer tax (GSTT), in its simplest form it is what it sounds like – a transfer tax that is triggered when an individual (transferor) bequeaths all or a portion of an estate to a person (skip person) that is two or more generations below them, with an age difference of 37 ½ years or more. The simplest and perhaps most common example would be a grandparent leaving assets to a grandchild.1 [+] Read More

Quizmaster, Doug Hutchinson, presents his quiz for the month. Here, Doug considers whether tax-exempt municipal bonds are a better investment than corporate bonds. Consider this Scenario: Your friend Ricky is considering purchasing a bond and is deciding between a taxable corporate bond and a tax-exempt municipal bond. The taxable bond has a yield to maturity of 4.10% and the tax-exempt municipal bond has a yield to maturity of 3%. Assume both bonds have a similar credit quality and a similar maturity. Assume that Ricky has a federal tax rate of 25% and a state tax rate of 5% and assume that the interest from the tax exempt municipal bond is exempt from both federal and state income tax. Which bond will give Ricky the higher after tax yield to maturity?? [+] Read More