By Ted Schwartz
We begin the New Year with a market surge due to clearing the lowest hurdle imaginable. The “Cliff” agreement pleases almost nobody and solves almost nothing. Yet, the markets are right to rejoice this very small step. My belief is that the vote really tackled only one question, one not relating to wither revenue or expenses. This was an up or down vote on whether public officials were willing to compromise in order to do the people’s business. In the Senate, 90% of both Republicans and Democrats voted yes to this very simple and basic notion. In the House, we passed this on a much closer vote and almost refused to vote on it at all.
The question of whether we can move from this very simple vote to ones that actually address revenue and expenses in a meaningful way lies ahead. It is not very heartening that this first step was so difficult to get behind us.
As we look to the New Year, we are cautiously optimistic. Not being in the business of forecasting, we can none the less check the current conditions of the economy. Things are slowly improving on most fronts. Housing and other economic measures show slow improvement at this point. The stronger positive for the market is the relative rewards offered investors for owning stocks versus other investment opportunities. Stocks are somewhere around their long term average expected returns while safer investments continue to offer their lowest returns by historic measures. It is not a stretch to say that safe investments (CDs, Treasuries, etc.) offer a negative return when you factor in inflation. So, we believe investors have to accept the risks of owning equities in order to attempt to have positive growth from their investments.
In terms of our Tortoise (the well diversified portfolios that we endorse) and Hare (the equity market as represented by the S&P 500 Index) last year, the Hare won by a convincing margin. Despite a small loss for the fourth quarter, the S&P closed the year up over 15%. That far outpaced the returns for commodities and bonds for the year. The Dow Jones Moderate Portfolio Index (representing a well- diversified portfolio) was up just over 2/3 of the S&P for 2012. For two years, it is up a bit less than 2/3 as much as the S&P 500 Index. For three years, the diversified portfolio trails the S&P by about 20%.
So, isn’t it time to hitch our trailer to the S&P and take off? We think not!! The tortoise still wins by not losing as much. For five years, the Dow Jones Moderate Portfolio Index doubled the return of the S&P 500. For ten years, it has outperformed by almost 20% (and that excludes the bear market of 2000-20002). The Tortoise wins and…..you avoid a lot of ulcers on the voyage. If you truly believe we have finished a secular bear market that began in 2000, you might advocate increasing risk in order to capture more returns. We see no evidence that we have begun a bull market, so….we will continue to be a Tortoise in 2013 and the foreseeable future. The Tortoise has many more ways to succeed and win the race.
The name Capstone was chosen many years ago and was a very purposeful choice. The name was selected because we wanted to convey the idea that what we offered was quite necessary (“a crowning achievement”), but was not sufficient in and of itself. Money and its accumulation are very important to our clients, but they do not define their success nor are they equivalent to a successful life. A well-managed group of financial goals and a sturdy plan to implement them help a person be “anti-fragile” to borrow an idea from Nassim Nicholas Taleb. A super-diversified group of assets helps you avoid vulnerable economic outcomes as you age.
Since selecting this name many years ago, we have only seen more and more of society concentrating on money as the only issue of merit. Financial cliffs, political squabbling, education as only vocational training, etc. give us a short sighted view. As we look to the future, we must not lose sight of the more important things in life. Let’s relook a quote from Robert Kennedy in 1968:
“Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it tells us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.”
That is the essence of why we chose Capstone as our name. We help you add a crowning piece on your life plan, but we do not deal with the areas that truly define you and your value. We believe our service is of great utility, but we cannot replace those moments that make your life a joy. We wish you a very happy and prosperous New Year as you head a bit further down your path. We look to the New Year with considerable hope for the future. Things continue to improve slowly (with far too little help from our public servants).