- June 19, 2014
- Mike Minter
We’re coming up on the half-way point for the year, so I thought it would be a good time to recap what’s been happening in the portfolios. All in all, it’s been a good year for all the major asset classes we utilize. Even the current crisis in Iraq hasn’t been able to derail the global markets; every fund in our portfolios is in positive territory for the year.
Stocks
Our stock positions have performed well thus far, both on the domestic and foreign side. After a phenomenal year for stocks in 2013, it’s great to see they saved some gains for us in 2014. A couple standouts on the stock side this year:
-T. Rowe Price Institutional Large-Cap Value +8.10%
-Harbor International Institutional +5.21%
Bonds
It’s been a good year for bonds as well – our positions are up across the board. We haven’t had any major interest rate surprises this year, and the Fed has handled its gradual “tapering” program well. Two standouts on the bond side worth mentioning:
-PIMCO Income Institutional +6.18%
-BlackRock Strategic Income Institutional +3.25%
Hard Assets
The hard assets category has been the rock star this year. Real estate (Cohen & Steers Realty Institutional) is up +16.27%. And, commodities (PIMCO Commodities Institutional) is clocking in at +8.77% for the year. We’d love to see some more of that!
Alternative Strategies
And finally our alternative positions. This is an asset class that can be frustrating at times because it can behave so differently than the rest of the portfolio, which is precisely why they’re needed. This year our alternatives are firing on all cylinders. Our three alternative positions:
-BlackRock Global Allocation Institutional +3.36%
-Merger Fund +3.00%
-PIMCO All Asset All Authority Institutional +5.80%
So that’s how things are looking so far. Hopefully the second half of the year will be just as kind as the first!
I hope everyone is having a great summer.
Mike Minter, CFP®, CFS®
*Source of Returns: Morningstar Direct
**Clients may not have experienced these exact fund returns because of different buy/sell dates, deposits and withdrawals, or account inception dates
