"At all times, in all markets, in all parts of the world, the tiniest change in rates changes the value of every financial asset." - Warren Buffet

PHOENIX - Sept. 25, 2024 - PRLog -- Trajan Wealth's August 2024 Market Review, by Chief Investment Officer Udayan Mitra, CFA, highlights key trends in U.S. and global markets. Read the full review.

August 2024 Market Review

• The US economy showed signs of slowing in the second half of 2024, with job creation decelerating and inflation moderating. These trends give the Federal Reserve room to reduce interest rates, with the market expecting 2% in cuts over the next year.
• Equity markets, particularly in the Big Tech sectors, underperformed, while bonds gained from falling yields. Expectations of interest rate cuts have helped keep the broad S&P 500 index flat since the end of June, and falling bond yields have driven appreciable performance in the fixed-income sector.
  
  
• Cuts in the overnight Fed Funds rate are expected at the September, November, and December FOMC meetings. We caution against the expectation of significant tailwinds across all risk assets because of a decline in short-term money market rates.
  
  
• The growing national debt and ongoing deficit spending remain significant concerns. Investors are advised to diversify into fixed income and alternative assets for stability.
  
  
• The federal government faces funding gaps that will likely be addressed through debt issuance, as raising taxes or reducing spending is politically challenging. With Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, and defense accounting for 60% of spending, cutting costs is difficult.

• Clients with highly concentrated allocations to large-cap US equities should consider increasing the weightings of fixed-income assets in their overall portfolios.
  
  
• For eligible clients, investments in Private Equity, Real Estate, and Infrastructure through limited private partnerships may help further diversify their asset allocations and capture a certain level of uncorrelated returns (alpha) from uncrowded off market deals, and various tax-efficient structures.