Thinking About Stock Market Volatility

Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles

By Kent Kramer

07/11/2022

What caused the stock market to rise by over 20% in the second quarter of 2020 even as the COVID pandemic was out of control? How about the over 11% rise in the fourth quarter of 2021 as inflation ticked up and the Fed was warning of rate increases? It seems a little more obvious why the US stock market has fallen in the first 6 months of 2022, but should it have fallen more…or less?

ESG Investing. What Does It Mean to be a Responsible Investor?

Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles » Advance with Science

By Kent Kramer

06/10/2020

ESG investing is growing in popularity and public interest. The values being expressed through ESG related portfolio decisions are as diverse as the universe of investors participating in global markets today.

Webinar Replay: Prediction, Expectation, Speculation, & Preparation

Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles

By Kent Kramer

03/06/2020

Foster Group's Chief Investment Officer, Kent Kramer, explains how to position both your investments and your thinking to better avoid predictable disappointments.

Predictable Success vs. Predictable Disappointment

Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles

By Kent Kramer

12/05/2018

Selecting the Best Ingredients for Your Portfolio

Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles

By Kent Kramer

11/26/2019

In this third piece of our series on building a better portfolio by thinking of it in terms of tastes, recipes, and ingredients, we’ll focus on the benefits of selecting better ingredients.

Is Your Portfolio Tailored to Fit Your Needs, or Just ‘Off-The-Rack’?

Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles » Advance with Science

By Kent Kramer

11/18/2019

While the alterations may be small and subtle, they make a big difference when it comes to comfort and fit. Our experience is better. For an investment thought experiment, think of the “off the rack suit” as the broad market; we simply take what we get off the shelf with no alteration. Now think of Foster Group as the tailor and the alterations as portfolio personalizations called factor allocations.

Is the Stock Market a Glass Half Full?

Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles » Accept Uncertainty

By Kent Kramer

02/08/2022

The month of January was marked by negative returns for global stock markets. But, as the well-worn phrase, “Is your glass half full or half empty?” implies, our view of, or the way we feel about the state of markets as investors, may be more related to our personal dispositions than what the numbers indicate.

How Should an Investor Position Their Overall Investment Portfolio Now and in the Future?

Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles

By Kent Kramer

01/22/2024

Right after, “What will the stock market do next?” the positioning question may be the most asked and re-asked question by investors of all types.

Embracing Uncertainty

Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles

By Kent Kramer

04/23/2024

Educated optimism is an antidote for anxious uncertainty, and it can be of great help in enabling investors to embrace the uncertainty that is with us all the time.

Why You MUST Risk Failure

Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles

By Jason Brown

08/29/2016

Taking the Long View in a Short-Term World

Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles

By Jason Brown

04/13/2021

One of the primary roles we play as financial advisors is to help our clients remember to take the long-view.

What Does It Mean to Be an Investor? – Part One

Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles

By Jason Brown

05/11/2022

For a minute, I want to think broadly about the question, “What does it mean to be an investor?”

What to Do When the Market Is in a Bad Mood

Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles

By Jason Brown

07/11/2022

When the going is good, we’re not all that concerned with asking or answering the question. It is when the going gets tough, like right now, that we find ourselves more interested in asking. So, “What should we do?”

Still Searching for the One?

Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles » Accept Uncertainty

By Jason Brown

12/14/2021

You do not need to pick the next big winner in order to have a successful investment experience. As a matter of fact, behaving as if this were possible is an almost certain way to have a terrible investment experience. What are the hallmarks of a more successful approach?

Are You Checking Your Accounts Every Day? Stop it.

Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles » Accept Uncertainty

By Caleb Brown

05/17/2022

Does it help or harm the average long-term investor to peek at their own accounts or pay attention to the market every day?

Are You in the Bear Market Buyer’s Club?

Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles » Accept Uncertainty

By Caleb Brown

07/08/2022

For the person who is currently contributing to a portfolio and does not need to take distributions anytime soon, this is a gift. That’s right, a bear market is a gift to those investors. If you are contributing to an investment account right now, you are already in the Bear Market Buyer’s Club.

Do Headlines Cause You to Take Action?

Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles » Accept Uncertainty

By Jason Brown

09/18/2023

Takeaways from a smattering of the headlines across a wide range of news sources in 2022 and early 2023.

My Top 9 + 1 from Morgan Housel’s The Psychology of Money

Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles » Accept Uncertainty

By Jason Brown

11/08/2021

Morgan Housel, author of The Psychology of Money, spent some time with us last month. Here are my takeaways.

What Do You Want?

Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles » Align Purposes and Portfolio

By Jason Brown

01/19/2022

Tragically, we humans are, to put it bluntly, awful at wanting the things that will create the most meaning and satisfaction in our lives.

What Does It Mean to Be an Investor? – Part Two

Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles » Align Purposes and Portfolio

By Jason Brown

06/30/2022

As you peek into the future – hopefully one with greater discretionary time and money – do you envision yourself increasing or decreasing your investment in the well-being of the people close to you and the world in general? Do you see yourself sticking close to the mess of the world or investing in ways that escape it? 

The Once a Year Approach to Looking at Investments

Category: Investing » Foster Group Investment Principles » Align Purposes and Portfolio

By Jason Brown

02/13/2024

Last year was a very up and down year in the market. That’s not abnormal. In fact, it’s what happens most years. December 12 was the only time last year that I looked at the numbers. In not looking at the numbers throughout the year, I not only minimized worry, but also created the opportunity for a happy surprise.