September 2012 Market Recap

September Recap

As was widely expected, central banks in the U.S. and Europe stepped up to the plate announcing aggressive bond buying programs to inject   much needed liquidity into the economies in an effort to spur economic growth. Markets reacted positively with all markets showing gains in September. Thanks to this rally, all markets, except for Japan finished the third quarter in positive territory.

After vowing to do “whatever it takes” to save the Euro back in July, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi announced plans for an unlimited bond buying program for distressed government bonds. The plan for this program is to help to keep interest rates in check, buying more time for European governments to get a firm grasp on their debt issues. This plan will   not solve the problems, but it will buy more time and provide a safety net for bond investors. The end result is that because of this, the tail risk has effectively been removed from the European crisis. While volatility is expected to remain high while the crisis is sorted, the likelihood of a blowup or collapse is greatly reduced.

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September Fund Ranking Report

Each month, we analyze more than 1200 mutual funds, pooled funds, and hedge funds putting them through our proprietary quantitative valuation model. We then prepare our Monthly Fund Ranking Report which rates and ranks each of the funds in our universe.

You can download our September 30, 2012 Investment Fund Ranking Report here.

September Socially Responsible Investing Report

With environmental and human rights concerns becoming more important to people, interest in the Socially Responsible Investing segment has never been stronger. In an effort to help keep investors and advisors informed on the SRI funds available, we have created our monthly Socially Responsible Investing Fund Report, which will be published on a monthly basis.

You can download the September 30, 2012 Socially Responsible Investing Report here.

September WRAP Funds Report

Fund of Fund or WRAP funds have consistently led the mutual funds sales stats in the past few years. Investor and advisor interest in the products are at an all time high, given the unprecedented levels of market volatility and uncertainty that is prevalent in the markets today. To help you zero in on the best WRAP funds available, we have created our new Monthly WRAP Funds Report that will be published on a monthly basis. If there is a WRAP fund that you would like to see added to this report, please contact us and we will add it for our next edition.

You can download the September 30, 2012 WRAP Fund Report here.

September Portfolio Review

The portfolios were again positive, but slightly underperforming their respective benchmarks. As is to be expected in a market rally, it was the Ivy Foreign Equity being the main detractor from performance in all portfolios. The fund places a big emphasis on downside protection and tends to lag in sharply rising markets. However, in volatile markets, the fund is expected to significantly outperform. Despite this recent underperformance, the risk reward metrics for the portfolios remain within expected ranges.

You can download our detailed Portfolio Review here.