Retirement Planning Considerations Surrounding the Election In November 2016, I remember carrying my three-month-old daughter late into the evening of election night. I told my wife not to worry and that I would be on duty that night. The markets had been caught off guard and equity futures were...
Newsletters
Retirement Planning in a Time of Low-Interest Rates
Embarking on Retirement in a Time of Low-Interest Rates Retirement planning can be fear evoking — the fear of not having enough resources, the fear of how you will fill your days, and the fear in your significant other’s eyes as they realize you will be together 24/7! Yet a new worry has emerged...
FBB Capital Partners announces recent hire: Jackie Fontana, CFP®, Associate Portfolio Manager
FBB Capital Partners is excited to announce it recently hired Jackie Fontana, CFP®, as an Associate Portfolio Manager. Fontana brings 15 years of experience in financial services and business development. Having held several roles overseas, she brings a global perspective to her role. Her...
Charitable Giving During a Pandemic – Part 2
Charitable Giving During a Pandemic – Part 2 In this series, we continue to explore recent changes to the giving environment since the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) and now in the context of COVID and the related Coronavirus Aid, Relief, Economic Security Act (CARES). In the last post, we...
FBB Capital Partners Named in 2020 CNBC FA 100 List
National list recognizes FBB Capital Partners as a client-focused advisory firm. FBB Capital Partners is pleased to announce it has been named in the 2020 edition of the CNBC FA 100, which ranks the top financial advisory firms in the country. The CNBC FA 100 celebrates the advisory firms that...
Rising to the Challenge
Rising to the Challenge Dear Clients and Friends, Americans are encountering a series of challenges this year, as COVID-19 continues to disrupt work and school routines. Meanwhile, social distancing guidelines weigh heavily on travel and leisure industries, while job losses and an economic...
Charitable Giving During a Pandemic
Charitable Giving During a Pandemic – Part 1 Amid the chaos, a beautiful thing happened this year. Amid the haze and hardship that COVID has wreaked around the globe, compassion, community, and humanity continue to shine. In April, while more than 23 million workers were out of work in the United...
2nd Quarter Earnings Season
2nd Quarter Earnings Season 2020 has been a year of surprises and dramatic swings in health concerns, economic trends, and stock prices. We continue to expect the unexpected, especially as Covid cases remain elevated, heavy job losses continue, and as we approach the Presidential election. With...
Pro (active) versus Passive: A case for “old fashioned” stock picking
The Wager: Active vs. Passive In order to prove investors were better off investing in index funds rather than pay for stock pickers, Warren Buffett famously made a wager in 2008 that the Standard and Poor’s 500 index fund would outperform five funds of hedge funds over the ensuing ten-year...
The Road to Recovery: Smart Financial Decisions
The Road to Recovery Dear Clients and Friends, As we celebrate Independence Day, we are reminded of the many freedoms that have been restricted since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Celebrations of life, graduations, weddings, retirements, and funerals have been postponed indefinitely. We have...
Investment Management in a Bear Market
April 20, 2020 Investment Management in a Bear Market A “Bear Market” is defined as a decline of 20% or more in the equity markets. Importantly, the definition of a Bear Market is different from that of a Recession, which is defined by two consecutive quarters of economic contraction in Gross...
A Light at the End of the Tunnel: Risk Management
April 1, 2020 A Light at the End of the Tunnel: Risk Management Dear Clients and Friends, As families adapt to more limited lifestyles in order to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, businesses are seeing less buying and selling activity, which is weighing heavily on the economy. Stock prices...
Financial Planning Update on Coronavirus and Global Markets: Where Do We Go from Here?
Dear Clients and Friends: While we are all doing our part to adapt to “social distancing,” the economy and the markets continued their slide this week. As we discussed on our conference call last Friday (available on our website for those who missed it), we have to assume that forthcoming...
Current Market Conditions: Frequently Asked Questions on Investment Management
Dear Clients and Friends, As we continue to follow developments related to the coronavirus and its impact on markets, we’ve received lots of client questions about what’s happening, what’s next, and how FBB is positioning portfolios. We hope the following will help you understand our current...
Risk Management: Coronavirus Leads to Market Volatility
Dear Clients and Friends, During the first two months of the year many investors were surprised to see stock prices rise amid rising geopolitical risks. However, the expanding coronavirus finally caught up with investor sentiment late last week as broader U.S. markets declined ~8% since last...
Risk down, or Melt up: 2020 Smart Financial Decisions
Dear Clients and Friends, As we wrap up 2019 and look ahead to a new decade, we see reasons to stay optimistic, but we also remain vigilant for new and old risks that may emerge at unexpected times. On one hand, we see bullish trends, as interest rates and trade policy seem to favor stocks....
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again
Dear Clients and Friends, The arrival of fall reminds us of vacations winding down and kids heading back to school. With this in mind, we thought of the quote above, which encourages schoolchildren to do their homework. However, judging from financial news headlines this year, the quote might also...
China, the Fed, and volatility: Short-term concerns, but recovery likely
Dear Clients and Friends, The summer break from market volatility was nice while it lasted. As you have likely seen, global stock markets have become more volatile in recent days, ending a stretch of gradually rising markets throughout most of June and July. While these periods of volatility are...
China + Fed = Volatility
Dear Clients and Friends, Markets have been on a tear in 2019, up 19% through the end of June. Still, many investors are feeling less than excited about the rally—perhaps because the ascent has only taken us back to where we left off last September, immediately prior to the late 2018 selloff. This...
From Hot to Warm
Dear Clients and Friends, From the headline above, you may be thinking we have our seasons confused. We’re referring to the economy and markets, which we believe have gone from running hot to something closer to room temperature. We view this as a welcome change. As Northern Trust’s chief...