Investment Management

GDP growth is the clearest sign of a healthy economy, however it is difficult to grow GDP without population growth and productivity gains. With improving productivity, more people can do more things in less time and for less money. There are two kinds of productivity: labor and multi-factor. We need both kinds to grow. Both are thought to be at…

Senator and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren fired the first shot across the tech bow with a call on March 8th to “break up big tech.” On June 3rd, the government entered the fray, announcing antitrust investigations into Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. Microsoft, the biggest tech company by market value, was a conspicuous non-mention. The four stocks had mixed price…

A trade war that continues to expand, with more countries involved and louder saber rattling. An unpredictable president. Uneven corporate earnings. An approaching election with 25 candidates, each with his or her own policies, prejudices and priorities. A stalemate in Washington, leaving important initiatives like infrastructure stranded at the curb. It’s a lot. No wonder so many people are worried,…

As the first quarter nears an end the inevitable question arises, “How long can the strong Q1 returns go on?” Amid the uncertainty we see many investors holding cash with little interest in taking on risk. This cautious approach means safety in the short term, but perhaps at a big loss of opportunity for the long term. Here are four…

When a recent new client signed on with Osbon Capital, he described himself as “a conservative investor.” Because that phrase can mean different things to different people, it was important to discuss what that meant to this individual. What is the goal of conservative investing? What does it look like in practice? What would a conservative investor invest in now? And so on. The discussion inspired me to tackle the topic for this week’s article.

Without doubt the investment year is off to a great start. The stock market in the US is up 8%. January’s return is the best one since 1987. The way things are going we could see a repeat of 2013, one of the best diversified return years ever. What is going right and what could go wrong? Why January is…

Why are more wealthy families turning to family offices for investment management and wealth planning? At the top of the list are privacy, dedicated expertise and aligned incentives. A recent profile by The Economist on the family office landscape reveals interesting insights about how these offices are run, how they invest and why they appeal to more investors today. Here’s how you can follow along with the best of the industry:

The government shutdown is now entering its fourth week, cutting off a large source of useful information for investors. How are investors supposed to keep track of what is going on financially and economically without government statistics? It’s our job to work around difficult situations. Here is what we, and investors, can count on during an information drought.

Eight hundred point swings in the Dow have been alarmingly regular events in the last month. Swings that large represent a 3% change in the 30 most important stocks in the United States — in one day. And it’s not just the Dow. Similar moves have been hitting the S&P 500 and stock markets outside the US. Even the benchmark 10 year US Treasury bond has been flip flopping with large price changes. Is this the new and harmless normal or a brightly flashing warning sign? Let’s start the year with a closer look at these dramatic ups and downs.