WEALTHTRACK

Do corporations need a new purpose? Does the free enterprise capitalist system need a major overhaul or a tune-up? We have two guests with strong views on the topic. Ken Langone is Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Invented Associates. He is Co-Founder of the Home Depot where he was Lead Director and a member of the executive committee of its board from its founding in 1978 until 2008. He is a noted philanthropist and the author of I Love Capitalism!: An American Story. He is joined By David Gardner, the Co-Founder, and Co-Chairman of The Motley Fool, a global online investing service launched with his brother Tom in 1993. Motley Fool’s purpose is to make the world smarter, happier and richer by helping individuals become better investors. WEALTHTRACK #1621 broadcast on November 22, 2019. More Info: https://wealthtrack.com/is-corporate-americas-focus-on-profits-the-problem-with-capitalism-two-entrepreneurs-respond/

As the Dow and S&P 500 hit new records this week, there is much to contemplate and for the markets to digest in the final weeks of 2019. Time to consult Jason Trennert of Strategas Research Partners, a financial thought leader who has the scope to put it all together and tell us what it means. WEALTHTRACK #1620 broadcast on November 15, 2019. More info: https://wealthtrack.com/recession-bear-market-risks-with-financial-thought-leader-jason-trennert/

We are always on the lookout for the exceptional on WEALTHTRACK.  It’s not easy to find among actively managed mutual fund managers. Only 23% of actively managed funds in all major categories, including stocks, bonds, and real estate outperformed their passive index fund rivals over the last ten years. And only about 8% of U.S. large-cap funds outperformed passive, the smallest margin among all active fund categories winners.  No wonder that active U.S. stock funds are experiencing substantial outflows and passive stock funds are gaining assets. In a historic shift, passive assets in U.S. equity funds recently surpassed those in actively managed ones for the first time ever. This week’s guests are bucking all of those trends. They are active managers in primarily large-cap U.S. stocks. They have been beating the market and peers by substantial margins over the last decade and they are attracting more assets. Joining us for a rare interview is Chuck Akre and John Neff of Akre Capital Management WEALTHTRACK #1619 broadcast on November 08, 2019. More info: https://wealthtrack.com/finding-compounding-machines-with-the-great-investor-chuck-akre-his-gen-x-co-manager-john-neff/

Socially responsible investing has taken off and interest in it is accelerating.  As we’ve reported before on WEALTHTRACK, U.S assets invested in companies screened for ESG, or their environmental, social and governance policies grew 38% from 2016-2018 by more than $3 trillion to $12 trillion dollars.  According to U.S. SIF, or the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment, which tracks these funds, that $12 trillion represents 26% or one in four dollars of the $46.6 trillion of U.S. assets under professional management. This week’s guest is a leader in the relatively recent field of fixed income ESG investing, as well as the new area of impact investing in public fixed income markets, where bond proceeds are directed to a specific project or goal and the results are measurable. He is Stephen Liberatore, lead portfolio manager at TIAA Investments for responsible investment fixed income mandates that incorporate ESG criteria. Liberatore will discuss what he looks for as a socially responsible bond investor in a field that has traditionally been dominated by equity investors. WEALTHTRACK #1618 broadcast on November 1, 2019 Learn more: https://wealthtrack.com/bonds-with-social-impact-with-five-star-fund-manager-stephen-liberatore/

If you were to follow legendary investor Sir John Templeton’s advice to buy where there is maximum pessimism it might lead you to energy stocks. The energy sector has lagged the S&P 500 since 2016 and has been one of the worst if not the worst-performing industry sectors over the last year. The fossil fuel industry has been hit with an almost perfect storm of headwinds and instability among major petroleum producers outside of the U.S. The ongoing trade wars between the U.S. and China have also started to take their toll on global economic growth, increasing the downward pressure on demand for fuel. What’s the outlook for traditional energy producers? Are they still viable investments or are they on their way to being phased out? Joining us to discuss the role fossil fuels continue to play in energy production and the state of the oil and gas industry, in particular, is Tom Petrie, a financial thought leader in the sector and chairman of Petrie Partners a leading investment banking and consulting boutique to the oil and gas industry. Petrie is the author of Following Oil: Four Decades of Cycle-Testing Experiences and What They Foretell about U.S. Energy Independence.  WEALTHTRACK #1617 broadcast on October 25, 2019 More info: https://wealthtrack.com/political-economic-pressures-on-oil-gas-stocks-industry-veteran-tom-petries-reality-check/

The economy and markets are facing multiple headwinds. But the cumulative real growth of the economy, that’s excluding inflation, is far below other post World War II recoveries. That growth is now being challenged on several fronts - enough to derail the U.S. economy and the record-breaking bull market in large-cap stocks? In a slow-growth world, growth commands a premium. Large-cap growth stocks, particularly the largest U.S. ones known as mega-caps have dominated market performance, revenues, and earnings over the last decade with a few short-lived challenges from value stocks. Will they continue to do so? This week’s guest is a newcomer to WEALTHTRACK, but not to the investment business. She is Margaret Vitrano, Co-Portfolio Manager of the high performing ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Fund Vitrano and her Co-Portfolio Manager Peter Bourbeau also oversee ClearBridge’s All Cap Growth Strategies along with Large Cap Growth which adds up to nearly $50 billion under management. Of particular interest is the team's “three-bucket” approach strategy to large-cap growth which Vitrano believes has protected their portfolios in down markets. She will also discuss their treatment of the FAANGs in their portfolios and why they are currently overweighting Facebook. WEALTHTRACK # 1615 broadcast on October 11, 2019. More Info and Hersh Cohen “Dividend Compounders List” are available at: https://wealthtrack.com/growth-stocks-with-downside-protection/

Medicare is a benefit that can’t start soon enough for many older adults. Health care costs are skyrocketing and they hit seniors particularly hard because many are on a fixed income and they utilize health care more. But Medicare is not a slam dunk, anything but.  It is a very complex, confusing multipart program that requires work to understand. And its benefits can vary widely depending upon how and when you apply, where you live, and what plans you enroll in.  And as your health changes, it can either help you or hurt you. You need to know how to make it work for you. A shocking statistic from Medicare guru Katy Votava is that “nearly 95% of people pay too much for their Medicare coverage… because they do not completely understand the full costs they will pay in addition to the premiums.”  With Medicare, the devil is in the details which is why we have asked benefits guru Votava to return to WEALTHTRACK and bring us up to speed. WEALTHTRACK # 1614 broadcast on October 04, 20219. More Info: http://wealthtrack.com/?p=20590 MEDICARE RESOURCES Medicare.gov – The official U.S. Government site for Medicare 1-800-MEDICARE Shiptacenter.org – The State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) site that directs consumers to free Medicare counseling and assistance

Two investment tenets have been upended in recent years: one that value stocks, considered cheap by traditional metrics outperform growth stocks, the other that small companies outperform large ones. Over the last decade, the opposite has been true. Growth stocks have dramatically outdistanced value stocks and large caps have significantly outperformed small company ones. If you happen to be a value-oriented, small-cap investor it’s been a tough combination which is why contrarian minded observers think now might be a good time to revisit the space. Chuck Royce, Founder, Chairman and Portfolio Manager of Royce & Associates joins us to discuss how some of his funds have outperformed benchmarks for multiple periods, with below-average market volatility. WEALTHTRACK #1613 broadcast on September 27, 2019. LEARN MORE: https://wealthtrack.com/recession-threat-small-cap-companies-tell-chuck-royce-recession-not-a-concern/

Financial risks are adding up.  Trade battles with China, the surprising vulnerability of Middle East oil supplies, the duration of Hong Kong protests, the drawn-out Brexit dilemma are all drags on business confidence and economic growth. In recognition, the Federal Reserve just cut interest rates for the second time this summer and remains on alert. Another largely unrecognized concern? In August, for the first time in history, assets in passive equity funds based in the U.S. surpassed holdings in actively managed funds. The most popular passive funds are overwhelmingly dominated by a small group of mega-cap stocks, especially the tech giants such as Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet (Google), and Facebook. The fate of many investors’ portfolios hinges on the performance of this small group of mega stocks that have already had a record-setting run. Global value investor Chuck de Lardemelle explains how he is de-risking his portfolios including the essential role gold is playing in the process. Learn More: https://wealthtrack.com/the-importance-of-gold-in-de-risking-portfolios/ How to explain the massive global outperformance of U.S. companies’ profitability and stocks over the last decade? GMO’s Head of Asset Allocation, Ben Inker dug deep and found some surprising answers in his “2Q 2019 GMO Quarterly Letter.” 

One dominant market observation of the last decade has been that we have been experiencing the least believed bull market in history. As of August of 2018 the market’s advance, in large-cap stocks at least, had indeed become the longest bull market in history. But the experience of investors has been anything but a straight shot. If you look at indexes outside the largest U.S. company stocks it has been a much more perilous ride with several major corrections along the way. The Russell 2000, which is used as a proxy for small company stocks is a case in point. It has experienced three major reversals in the last decade. This week’s guest operates in the sweet spot of the current market, large-company stocks, but he is advising caution to his clients. He is a widely followed market strategist and successful investor, Robert Doll, senior portfolio manager and chief equity strategist at Nuveen.  Doll is famous for his frequently accurate list of 10 annual predictions forecasting the market, economic, interest rate, and political trends among others With the economic recovery now the longest on record and slowing, how worried is he about a recession? WEALTHTRACK #1611 broadcast on September 13, 2019.