Taking the Long View The risk to both retail and professional investors is tinkering and tweaking portfolios in response to short-term “noise” and recent performance. The primary objective for investors with long-term goals should be to achieve their goals on time. Long-term goals require a longer-term view of the markets and risks.

The Dire Outlook for Bonds 2021 Over the coming decade or two, bonds are unlikely to fulfill their dual role of income and capital preservation. Bond investors will be forced to choose between income or capital preservation, and there is a good chance they could end up with neither. In the summer of 2019, Swan Global Investments published a well-received white paper, “The Bleak Future of Bonds.” The main thesis was the economic fundamentals are unfavorable for fixed income securities across the credit spectrum creating portfolio construction challenges for many advisors. Less than a year later, the global economy was devastated by the coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately for investors, the monetary and fiscal consequences of the pandemic have made the outlook for bonds even worse. The trends and concerns raised a year ago have been exacerbated by the pandemic. What was bleak a year ago is dire today.