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Dear Clients & Friends,
Happy Fall! We hope you are enjoying this beautiful fall weather and are looking forward to the holiday season ahead.
Attached please find our 4th Quarter Market Update Commentary and 3rd Quarter Asset Class Performance.
In addition to our quarterly emails, you can continue to stay connected with Brandywine Oak Private Wealth by following us on LinkedIn where we provide weekly updates on the firm, industry, and various planning topics such as potential tax law changes:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/brandywine-oak-private-wealth/
Brandywine Oak Firm Updates
- Fidelity has recently announced that they will begin offering zero commissions for all equity and ETF trading. This change will go into effect for our clients starting November 4th, 2019. Additionally, Fidelity will continue their commitment to industry-leading price improvement on trades as well as providing competitive high-yield money market interest rates. We believe that Fidelity continues to deliver unparalleled value, choice, and transparency that other custodial providers simply cannot match. This price reduction is yet another benefit of being an independent firm and choosing a discount firm such as Fidelity.
4Q19 Tactical ETF Portfolio Changes / Investment Updates
- Reduced Overall Exposure to Stocks and Increased Exposure to Gold – as we move deeper into the late stages of the current bull market, we are beginning to see signs of slowing economic growth as some corporate profits decelerating. We have reduced the overall exposure to stocks across all risk-profile balanced ETF models and added to our position in gold for increased diversification and defensive characteristics.
- Reduced Cyclical Industrials and Materials Exposure and Increased Defensive Consumer Staples Exposure – as we see indications of a possible economic slowdown, we continue our positioning into more defensive-oriented sectors. We have reduced the exposure to Industrials and Materials and increased the Consumer Staples exposure. Consumer Staples typically offer additional portfolio stability (revenues tied to basic needs make it less economically sensitive) and have historically outperformed in late-cycle and recessionary periods.
- Sold Floating Rate Treasuries and Added Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) – within the bond market, diminishing growth expectations suggest lengthening duration, however late-cycle inflation risks and overvaluation suggest shortening duration. Our decision to buy short-term TIPS allows us to balance these competing market forces. TIPS allow us to mildly extend duration but affords protection against unexpectedly strong inflation and nominal growth.
With warm regards. Brandywine Oak Private Wealth
Brandywine Oak Private Wealth
Phone: 484.785.0050 | Fax: 484.785.0049
Email: contact@BrandywineOak.com
500 Old Forge Lane, Suite 501 | Kennett Square, PA 19348
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/brandywine-oak-private-wealth/
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