The end of March did not produce an exciting account summary for most investors stemming from the events in Iran and the global reactions that followed. Our encouragement to clients was to tune out the noise of the news and to not try to time the markets. The aftermath of March has left many feeling the weight of the negative news they heard as shown in the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index which reflects the most pessimistic view of the economy since mid 2022. While consumers are truly feeling the impact of inflation and geopolitical conflict, the good news is that the markets are a gauge of expected cashflows and have since made a tremendous recovery.
The recovery of Small Cap Value as compared to Large Cap Growth is especially exciting, considering that our investment philosophy puts us over-weight in Small Cap Value. This is evidenced by the Russell 2000 being up 12.92% YTD versus the S&P 500 being up 5.62% YTD (as of 5/1/26). Geopolitical events can make it difficult for us to step back and see the big picture. The past 2 months have shown what the benefits can look like for you to stay true to your investment allocation despite the negative news reports that come with down markets.
*Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Indices are not available for direct investment. Their performance does not reflect the expenses associated with the management of an actual portfolio.
Credits: Yahoo Finance YTD chart ending on 5/1/26 of Russell 3000 in USD https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/%5ERUA/
Reference to University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index https://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/files/chicsr.pdf