By The Sedoric Group

Thank you to all who attended our recent semi-annual conference call. Below you’ll find the recording of our conversation to listen to on-demand.

Click here to access the recording. 



The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Steward Partners or its affiliates.  All opinions are subject to change without notice.  Neither the information provided nor any opinion expressed constitutes a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security.  Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

This material does not provide individually tailored investment advice.  It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it.  The strategies and/or investments discussed in this material may not be appropriate for all investors.  Steward Partners recommends that investors independently evaluate particular investments and strategies, and encourages investors to seek the advice of a Wealth Manager.  The appropriateness of a particular investment or strategy will depend on an investor’s individual circumstances and objectives.

Keep in mind that individuals cannot invest directly in any index, and index performance does not include transaction costs or other fees, which will affect actual investment performance. Individual investor's results will vary. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Future investment performance cannot be guaranteed, investment yields will fluctuate with market conditions. 

For index definitions click here

Dow Jones Industrial Average Index – A price-weighted average of 30 significant stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the NASDAQ.
Russell 1000 Growth Index – It measures the performance of the large-cap growth segment of the U.S. equity universe. It includes companies with higher price-to-value ratios and higher forecasted growth values.
Russell 1000 Value Index – It measures the performance of the large-cap value segment of the U.S. equity universe. It includes companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values.
Russell 2000 Growth Index – It measures the performance of the small-cap growth segment of the U.S. equity universe. It includes companies with higher price-to-value ratios and higher forecasted growth values.
Russell 2000 Value Index – It measures the performance of the small-cap value segment of the U.S. equity universe. It includes companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values.
MSCI EAFE Index – A free float-adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure the equity market performance of developed markets, excluding the U.S. & Canada. It consists of the following 22 developed market country indices: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
MSCI Emerging Markets Index – A free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index that is designed to measure the equity market performance of the emerging markets. It consists of the following 21 emerging market country indices: Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, and Turkey.
Bloomberg Aggregate Bond Index – A broad fixed income index that includes all issues in the Government/Credit Index and mortgage-backed debt securities. Maturities range from 1 to 30 years with an average maturity of nearly 5 years.
The NASDAQ Composite Index measures all NASDAQ domestic and international based common type stocks listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market. Today the NASDAQ Composite includes over 2,500 companies, more than most other stock market indexes. Because it is so broad-based, the Composite is one of the most widely followed and quoted major market indexes.
The MSCI EAFE Growth Index captures large and mid-cap securities exhibiting overall growth style characteristics across developed Markets countries* around the world, excluding the U.S. and Canada. The growth investment style characteristics for index construction are defined using five variables: long-term forward EPS growth rate, short-term forward EPS growth rate, current internal growth rate and long-term historical EPS growth trend and long-term historical sales per share growth trend.
The MSCI EAFE Dividend Masters Index is an equity index which captures large and mid-cap representation across Developed markets countries* around the world, excluding the US and Canada. The index is designed to capture the performance of companies in MSCI EAFE that have consistently increased dividends every year for at least 10 years. The index is constructed by targeting a minimum of 40 securities and the index constituents are equally weighted. The sector weights are capped at 30% and country weights are capped at 50% to mitigate potential concentration risks.
S&P 500 Dev. Small ex. US: A subset of the S&P Global BMI, the S&P Developed Ex-U.S. SmallCap seeks to measure the stocks representing the lowest 15% of float-adjusted market cap in each developed country, excluding the U.S.
Bloomberg U.S. Government: The index measures the performance of the U.S. Treasury and U.S. Agency Indices, including Treasuries and U.S. agency debentures. It is a component of the U.S. Government/Credit Index and the U.S. Aggregate Index.
Bloomberg U.S. Government Long: The index measures the performance of the U.S. Treasury and U.S. Agency Indices, including Treasuries and U.S. agency debentures. It is a component of the U.S. Government/Credit Index and the U.S. Aggregate Index.
Bloomberg U.S. High Yield: The index measures the performance of USD-denominated, non-investment grade, fixed-rate, taxable corporate bonds. It follows the same rules as the uncapped index but limits the exposure of each issuer to 2% of the total market value and redistributes any excess market value index-wide on a pro-rata basis. 
Bloomberg U.S. TIPS: The index measures the performance of rules-based, market value-weighted inflation-protected securities issued by the U.S. Treasury. It is a subset of the Global Inflation- Linked Index (Series-L).
Bloomberg Municipal: The index measures the performance of the Bloomberg U.S. Municipal bond, which covers the USD-denominated long-term tax-exempt bond market with four main sectors: state and local general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, insured bonds and prefunded bonds.
JPM EMBI Global Diversified: The index measures the performance of fixed rate, USD denominated debt instruments issued by emerging market sovereign and quasi-sovereign entities, including Brady bonds, loans, and Eurobonds. The Diversified version limits the weights of those index countries with larger debt stocks by only including a specified portion of these countries eligible current face amounts of debt outstanding.
JPM GBI EM Global Diversified: The index measures the performance of fixed-rate, investment-grade local currency debt securities, including regularly traded, liquid fixed-rate, domestic currency government bonds to which international investors can gain exposure. The GBI-EM Global consists of treasury securities from emerging markets and is diversified weighted.
The Dow Jones U.S. Select REIT Index tracks the performance of publicly traded REITs and REIT-like securities and is designed to serve as a proxy for direct real estate investment, in part by excluding companies whose performance may be driven by factors other than the value of real estate. The index is a subset of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Real Estate Securities Index (RESI), which represents equity real estate investment trusts (REITs) and real estate operating companies (REOCs) traded in the U.S.
DJ U.S. Commodity Index: The Dow Jones Commodity Index is a broad measure of the commodity futures market that emphasizes diversification and liquidity through a simple, straightforward, equal-weighted approach.
Fixed income 2-year U.S. Treasury: The 2-year Treasury is a US government-issued treasury security that has a maturity of 2 years.
Fixed income 10-year U.S. Treasury: The 10-year Treasury note is a debt obligation issued by the United States government with a maturity of 10 years upon initial issuance.
Fixed income Investment Grade Corporates: A Corporate bond that has an investment grade rating signals that the company has a relatively low risk of default.
Fixed income High Yield Corporates: A type of corporate bond that offers a higher rate of interest because of its higher risk of default.
Fixed income Emerging Markets Debt: The fixed income debt that is issued by countries with developing economies as well as by corporations within those nations.
Fixed income Municipal Bonds: Debt obligations issued by states, cities, counties, and other governmental entities to raise funds to pay for public projects.
Standard Deviation: The statistical measure of market volatility, measuring how widely prices are dispersed from the average price.
CMA Disclosure: The information presented is shown for illustrative, informational purposes only. Forecasts are based on subjective estimates about market environments that may never occur. This material does not reflect the actual returns of any portfolio/strategy and is not indicative of future results. Management fees, transaction costs, taxes, and potential expenses are not considered and would reduce returns. Expected returns for each asset class can be conditional on economic scenarios; in the event a particular scenario comes to pass, actual returns could be significantly higher or lower than forecast.

The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Steward Partners or its affiliates. All opinions are subject to change without notice. Neither the information provided, nor any opinion expressed constitutes a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Bonds are subject to interest rate risk. When interest rates rise, bond prices fall; generally, the longer a bond’s maturity, the more sensitive it is to this risk. Bonds may also be subject to call risk, which is the risk that the issuer will redeem the debt at its option, fully or partially, before the scheduled maturity date. The market value of debt instruments may fluctuate, and proceeds from sales prior to maturity may be more or less than the amount originally invested or the maturity value due to changes in market conditions or changes in the credit quality of the issuer. Bonds are subject to the credit risk of the issuer. This is the risk that the issuer might be unable to make interest and/or principal payments on a timely basis. Bonds are also subject to reinvestment risk, which is the risk that principal and/or interest payments from a given investment may be reinvested at a lower interest rate.

Equity securities may fluctuate in response to news on companies, industries, market conditions and the general economic environment. Companies cannot assure or guarantee a certain rate of return or dividend yield; they can increase, decrease, or totally eliminate their dividends without notice.

Diversification does not guarantee a profit or protect against loss in a declining financial market.