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Dear Clients and Friends, Welcome again – we hope that the all-too-quick summer has been good to you! Markets have become more volatile in recent weeks, driven by headlines about economic activity, inflation, interest rates, elections, and geopolitics. Sharp selloffs have garnered attention and understandably caused concern, but have been followed by quick rebounds – proving once again that timing the markets is impossible, and that steady, managed diversification is key to long-term investment returns. Internally, we have been hard at work enhancing our services and capabilities. Some of the more visible examples, like our new financial planning tools, have been introduced in earlier pieces – and more are on the way! Most recently however, our focus has been a bit more behind the scenes, particularly in the area of compliance. This may not be quite as exciting as a shiny new software tool, but it is absolutely critical to the future of StraightLine and to the services we provide. As you would expect, compliance requirements for firms in our industry continue to increase dramatically – and with good reason. Regulatory agencies have beefed up their rules and personnel to try and keep pace with an investment landscape that seems to add complexity by the day. A deep dive into this world has resulted in our decision to enhance our in-house compliance functions with a new compliance and legal partner. This brings additional expertise and a broad industry perspective to further enhance our compliance function. As is required with an addition of this kind, we have updated our regulatory documents, including our Client Relationship Summary form, which can be viewed on our website (www.straightline.com/formcrs). We welcome our new partners to the StraightLine team! The subjects of compliance and security have been very much front of mind – including last quarter in this very letter. Unfortunately, we all recently learned about another high-profile data breach at a national background check company that affected millions of personal records and social security numbers. This is just another reminder that we all must remain vigilant in the protection of our records and assets. Whether related to this breach or not, we at StraightLine have noticed an uptick of instances of scammers reaching out to people by phone and email claiming to be from firms such as Charles Schwab, TIAA, and others. They have attempted to trick people into revealing things such as their social security numbers and other personal information. To be clear, no one from these firms will ever call you and ask for these things. If you receive a call, email, or text asking for this, do not respond – and feel free to reach out to us anytime with concerns. Thank you as always for your continued trust in StraightLine and please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions.
Important Reminder At StraightLine, your financial well-being is our priority. If there have been any updates or changes in your financial situation since you last met with your Financial Advisor, it is important that we meet with you as soon as possible. We ask that you please contact our office at 248-269-8366 or email us [email protected] to schedule a meeting, so we can review those changes together. StraightTalk Blog
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Market Updates
Second Quarter 2024 UpdateMarkets were mixed during the second quarter, though the solid start to the year helped overall first- half returns. Many of the themes that were in focus during the first quarter carried over into the second and remain areas of interest. The biggest of these are the path of monetary policy and the ongoing AI buildout. As we move through the summer and into the fall, the upcoming elections will increasingly factor into market discourse. While we generally refrain from getting too in the weeds on politics, some policy implications will be too important to ignore. The outcome of the elections, and the makeup of Congress in particular, will drive the important policy decisions that need to take place in the coming years. From a market perspective, we maintain a constructive medium-term view towards equities, even as certain areas appear stretched in the short term. On the fixed-income side, we see the likelihood of rate cuts as a positive short-term catalyst for bonds, while longer-term uncertainty has us continuing to favor less risk. Read the rest of the Update here. If you missed the June Virtual Quarterly Update, watch it here. Copyright© 2024 StraightLine Group, All rights reserved.
DISCLOSURE: Information presented is for informational purposes only. StraightLine Group, LLC (“StraightLine”) is a registered investment adviser. Registration as an investment adviser does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Investing involves risk, including the possibility of loss of principal. The ideas and opinions expressed herein do not constitute legal, tax, or investment advice or a recommendation of any particular security or strategy. Before making any investment decision, you should seek expert, professional advice and obtain information regarding the legal, fiscal, regulatory and foreign currency requirements for any investment according to the laws of your home country and place of residence. Any forward-looking statements or forecasts are based on assumptions and actual results may vary. Information presented from third parties is believed to be reliable, but no warranty is provided. StraightLine is not required to update information presented, unless otherwise required by applicable law. For more information about StraightLine, including our Form ADV Part 2A Brochure, please visit www.adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/127401 or contact us at 248-269-8366. Comments are closed.
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