Next Thursday, February 9, at noon, I am hosting a webinar to discuss the likely impact Donald Trump policies may have on your portfolio.

It is not useful to discuss what should or could be, but instead to discuss what is. Which means we need to reckon with a very different leader for our country and for the world.

In the webinar I will tell you why (I think) Mr. Trump won the election, and how you can see him through the filter of a “Persuader.” Only if you have read Art of the Deal, and studied the work of Dr. Robert Cialdini, who has written several books on “persuasion,” can you understand how Trump operates.

Which means he may not be who you think he is. You are right to question his motives. Only time will tell who is right, whether his motives are indeed to “Make America Great Again” or whether he has some other intention like rolling back human rights.

It is important for everyone, of every political persuasion, to understand that President Trump is not really a “conservative,” or a “Republican.” He is also not a “liberal” or a “Democrat.” Instead, he is a pragmatist. Which means he will do some things that both sides won’t like.

According to Morning Joe Talk Show Host Joe Scarborough this morning, he is creating a “meritocracy.”

And because he is a “persuader” his tactics are often misunderstood.

In the backdrop of low approval ratings on the one hand and unambiguous green economic shoots in the economy on the other, I will try to make sense of this and tell you what we believe this means for your portfolio.

Because interest rates will likely rise, it may be difficult to continue to do well in “safe” bonds. And because valuations in the US are high, it may prove difficult to do well in US stock index strategies. But with low valuations outside of the US and an improving global economy, we see opportunity.