[ WEALTH MANAGEMENT ]

Managing Wealth In Times of Uncertainty

A number of surprising political events have occurred in the past few months both in the U.S. and around the world. We are living in unprecedented times and uncertainty has been the norm rather than the exception.

In the past decade, the U.S. economy has seen a series of booms and busts across a variety of asset classes. The global markets were able to find their footing after a series of central bank policies were able to stabilize and restore confidence in the global financial system. Since the recent election, the financial markets have had a strong run.

While unexpected events impacting global markets will continue to occur and there will always be reasons not to invest, a successful wealth management strategy requires a focus on a variety of factors that we are able to control.

Managing wealth in uncertain times requires a consistent repeatable process that takes into consideration a client’s long-term strategic needs and balances them against short- and intermediate-term risks and opportunities that avail themselves in the natural course of a market economy. 

At the core of our investment approach is the principle of capital preservation and a keen focus on managing market risk.  Our process begins with gaining a thorough understanding of our client’s objectives based upon the requirements for cash flow, liquidity, taxes, and estate planning. 

The next step involves an analysis and discussion of market risk. Our approach looks at risk beyond the basic understanding of market fundamentals to include a broad study of structural risk, technical risk analysis as well as behavioral risk analysis to have as complete a picture as possible of the investment landscape before putting the client’s capital to work. By matching the client’s needs and objectives to an appropriate risk profile we can proceed to the design and implementation of a strategic investment plan.

The portfolio construction phase of our process takes into account the client’s unique circumstances and risk appetite and matches it to our firm’s investment outlook to ensure we are creating a strategic asset allocation that achieves the dual mandate of preserving capital while meeting the client’s objectives.

By focusing on capital preservation as the cornerstone of our approach, we attempt to lower the volatility that markets have experienced in recent years and grow our clients’ portfolios in a consistent and steady manner.  By monitoring our progress and communicating with our clients on an ongoing basis, we can make adjustments along the way to ensure we are keeping up and meeting the client’s needs.  While we have seen an improvement in the global financial markets, we continue to believe that this process is essential to provide excellent results to our clients despite living and managing wealth in uncertain times.

Orlando Roche is the regional president of Sabadell Bank & Trust Miami-Dade County. He is responsible for overseeing private banking, wealth management and fiduciary services within the region. Roche can be reached at orlando.roche@sabadellbank.com - 305-347-4175.