Interest Rates, Inflation and Your Portfolio: Special Market Commentary

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Interest Rates, Inflation and Your Portfolio

An audio Q&A featuring Benton Bragg, CFA, CFP®, Jen Muckley, CFP®, AEP®, CTFA®, and Marc Scavo, CFP®, CRPC®

You’ve probably seen the recent headlines or noticed in your own portfolio that the markets have been quite volatile this year. Year to date, stocks, as measured by the S&P 500, are down almost -17.0% and bonds, as measured by the Barclays Aggregate, are down -9.5%.

We’ve recorded a Q&A audio session to address concerns you may have about inflation, rising interest rates and the impact of both on stock and bond prices. This session is moderated by Jen Muckley, Director of Family Office Services at Bragg. Jen is joined by firm President Benton Bragg and Client Advisor Marc Scavo.

The audio recording will cover:

Causes of the recent market volatility.
The impact of inflation and rising interest rates on stock and bond prices.
Why we own bonds in client portfolios and why we think now is not the time to sell them.
How Bragg constructs a portfolio for times of uncertainty.
How markets are forward-looking and why today’s stock and bond prices already reflect the prospects of higher interest rates and a weaker economy.

After two years of above-average market returns, this year has been an abrupt and painful reversal. It is unsettling to read today’s headlines, to endure this market volatility, and to see our portfolios lose value. As a client of Bragg, please know that we take our responsibility to you seriously. We don’t like it when your account loses value and we worry when we think you are worried. Please let us know if you would like to discuss your portfolio or your planning. We greatly appreciate your continued trust in Bragg.

We hope you find our audio Q&A session informative. For more detail, be sure to read our recent quarterly commentary, released in April 2022, with articles titled Ping Pong by Benton Bragg and Market & Economy by Matt DeVries, CFA, or download these articles as a PDF.

Audio was recorded Tuesday, May 10, 2022. All data mentioned in the recording are as-of May 9, 2022.

This information is believed to be accurate but should not be used as specific investment or tax advice. You should always consult your tax professional or other advisors before acting on the ideas presented here.