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A new school year just started for my daughters, Myles and Sawyer. And with this came A LOT of emotions in the Karmin household. There were tears of sadness for…

I will admit that I am a little bit of a news junkie. In the age of the internet, we are constantly bombarded with stories about anything and everything vying for our limited time and attention, from the “Most Exciting Football Play of the Week” to the “Best Places to Retire.” Even more so, money controls many of our basic human emotions, such as personal security, fear, and greed. With the constant deluge of information coming at us from all directions, how are we supposed to stay up to date with what’s going on in the world AND maintain our long-term investment strategy?

As I mentioned in my article last summer, there are many types of alternative investments. Within this discussion, we created two categories, alternative asset classes and alternative strategies. A subset of alternative strategies is alternative (‘alt’) credit. From where we sit, there are great opportunities presently in the alt credit area. In this piece, I’ll discuss why we like this area of the capital markets.
Background on Investing in Traditional Bonds
When building a portfolio of bonds, investors often seek securities where interest payments are fixed, like a traditional bond, and when there is a specific date that the bond matures. A bond makes the same payment every six months, with the principal being paid at maturity. Investors often take comfort with the defined nature of bonds and especially like them when the credit quality is from an institution like the US federal government or large credit-worthy corporations.

SWP Principal and Co-Founder David Copeland was a guest on the CAIS hosted webinar Building with Alternatives. CAIS is a financial technology company that provides access, education, and operational efficiency to independent wealth advisors who utilize alternative investments in client portfolios.

Throughout the webinar, David shared his views on how SWP builds client portfolios with alternative strategies. 

Specifically, David provides insights on alternative asset classes and investment strategies that SWP uses to meet client objectives. Additionally, he discusses the opportunities in alternatives that he is most excited about today, how to build towards a target allocation, practice management with alternatives, and common pushback from clients.

Many high-net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals have accumulated significant pre-tax assets in tax-deferred accounts such as IRAs and 401(k)s.  While these types of accounts offer the benefit of tax-deferred growth, they also come with unique considerations when it comes to wealth management.

There are countless articles that address the basics of IRAs, 401(k)s, and other types of tax-advantaged accounts – this article is geared specifically towards those individuals who have already amassed high six-figure or seven-figure balances in pre-tax retirement accounts. For that reason, I will skip over the basics, except to mention that since pre-tax IRAs and 401(k)s are funded with (you guessed it) pre-tax dollars, distributions are taxed as ordinary income. This is important to remember throughout the article.

SWP Principal Mike Karmin doesn’t know whether or not the economy is heading for a recession in 2023. He does, though, feel strongly that investors should maintain their allocation to the stock market regardless of whether they believe that the Federal Reserve can successfully execute a soft landing.

In this short video, Mike shares some historical data that supports long-term investment in equities, even if a recession does come to fruition.

As you are likely aware, ongoing volatility and rising interest rates made 2022 a very challenging year in the capital markets. We believe that this past year has highlighted the need for advisors to explore investment opportunities that exist beyond the traditional stock and bond markets.

The private markets are one such opportunity set. In this article, we discuss what the private markets are, how these investments may fit into a diversified portfolio, and how we use them.

People often ask me, “is now the right time to get into the market?” If I had a crystal ball that told me when to buy and when to sell, I probably would not be writing this piece! With the highest inflation numbers since the 1980s, concerns about an economy potentially in recession, and the most prolonged downturn in stocks since the Great Financial Crisis, there is no question that investors have been challenged this year.
The good news is that there are always opportunities for long-term investors with the right plan.
Whether you are an experienced investor, have recently come into cash, or are new to the financial markets, below I discuss some things to consider when asking if now is the right time to invest.

This week has been another extremely turbulent one in the stock market. While it is never comforting to see large, red numbers, volatility can be even more uncomfortable for recent retirees or those considering retirement. A colleague of mine recently told me that he has seen more of his clients retire in the last two years than in his first ten years of working at SWP. This got me thinking a lot about the notion of retirement. Retirement is a huge life event and adding volatile markets can compound the feeling of uncertainty. In this article, I will share some of the concepts we have been discussing with our clients.