The prospect of unpredictable market swings can create a sense of unease for many professionals, executives, and business owners. You've come to the right place if you're seeking ways to protect your hard-earned wealth during the economic and social uncertainty that we find ourselves in today. 

As a Greenville based Wealth Management Firm since 2004, the Global View Investment Advisors team has helped countless individuals and families navigate various economic conditions.  Today, we'll share some of our financial planning and investment strategies to help you navigate volatile securities markets' choppy waters.

• Tip #1: Why Engage the Services of a Greenville Fiduciary Financial Advisor?
• Tip #2: What Is Your Risk Tolerance
• Tip #3: The Power of Diversification
• Tip #4: Stay Disciplined and Invest for The Long-Term

Don’t become a retirement disaster! Read our Quick Guide, “Threats to a Successful Retirement.” 

Tip #1 Why Engage the Services of a Greenville Fiduciary Financial Advisor?

The reason is simple. A fiduciary financial advisor is a professional who is legally and ethically required to always act in the best interests of their clients - not some of the time when it is convenient, but ALL of the time. 

This means the advisors must provide advice and recommendations that they believe are in the best financial interests of their clients. Their interests and need for income are independent of the advice they provide their clients.  This eliminates several potential conflicts of interest.

Why is this important? All financial advisors are not held to the same ethical standard. At Global View, we serve as your financial advocate. 

Some advisors operate on a "suitability standard," meaning they must only provide suitable advice at the time of the recommendation. The advice does not always have to be in clients’ best interests. For example, this enables them to sell inferior financial products that pay the highest commissions.

On the other hand, Fiduciary advisors are obligated to consider your long-term needs and financial circumstances and put your interests before their own. This is one way to ensure the investment advice you receive from advisors is in your best interest. 

Tip #2: What is Your Risk Tolerance?

In a nutshell, risk tolerance can be determined by how comfortable you are during down markets or corrections. Does a decline in the value of your portfolio keep you awake at night? Your risk tolerance may change over time. For example, it can be impacted by:

• Changes in your financial goals
• Your investment horizon (when you need the money)
• A catastrophic event (divorce, premature death, major illness)
• Your capacity to absorb realized and unrealized losses
• Your emotional comfort level for taking risk

For example, you may be uncomfortable with the possibility of temporary declines in the market value of your assets consider lower-risk investments, which may produce lower returns, but your capital base is more stable. Investments with the potential for higher returns may also carry an increased risk of market value declines. 

Reviewing risk tolerance regularly with your financial advisor when life circumstances and economic conditions change is an important part of the relationship. These changes can impact your financial goals, capacity or tolerance for risk, and emotional comfort with what is happening in the securities markets. 

Tip #3: The Power of Diversification

Another investment tactic many Greenville fiduciary financial advisors use is the power of diversification. Diversification's primary objective is to reduce your portfolio's volatility and minimize the risk of large losses. The old proverb applies here: “Put your eggs in several baskets and watch them closely.” 

Following are a few ways that diversification can protect your assets from excess risk, in particular during times of market volatility:

Reduce Your Risk: This is the most important advantage of diversification. Asset classes (such as stocks, bonds, and real estate) often react differently to the same economic event. For example, in general, inflation is bad for stocks and good for income-producing real estate because rents are indexed to inflation. 

Use Different Industries and Geographies: Diversification means you allocate your assets to different industry groups (technology, healthcare, financial services). Even then, you might own five or six technology stocks (another level of diversification). If you are a global investor, you may invest in different countries. 

Capital Preservation Investing: Keeping a portion of your assets invested in low-risk investments (money market, CDs, T-Bills) is also a way to protect some of your assets from excess volatility exhibited by other asset classes. Unfortunately, these investments have relatively low yields; however, while these assets may not offer high returns, they can provide some stability for part of your assets, which reduces your overall risk profile. 

Potential for Higher Long-Term Returns: The role of diversification is reduced risk. If you knew the best-performing investments in advance, you would put all or most of your assets in those investments (a concentrated portfolio). Since no one has that knowledge, your best bet is diversification to minimize excess risk. 

Flexibility: A diversified portfolio strategy allows you to make changes based on your financial fiduciary advisor’s outlook for the performance of the securities markets for the next six months. This outlook may cause your financial advisor to recommend changes to your current portfolio, or staying put could make more sense. And, if the outlook is correct, you can make changes that can improve your rate of return over longer periods.

For example, you may want to increase your exposure to equities in a bull market to take advantage of rising prices. In contrast, you might want to increase your exposure to conservative bonds and other less risky assets in a bear market.

Working with an experienced Greenville wealth management firm, like Global View, can help you develop a comprehensive financial plan and create a diversified investment strategy that aligns with your current circumstances, financial goals, and tolerance.

Tip #4: Stay Calm and Invest for the Long Term

Patience is an underappreciated virtue in the world of investing. The temptation to react quickly to changing market conditions can lead to hasty, poorly thought-out decisions that may not produce your desired assets. Market fluctuations are a natural part of economic cycles, and it's crucial to maintain a long-term perspective. 

An experienced Greenville wealth management firm like Global View Investment Advisors can help you stay on track and avoid making impulsive, emotion-backed financial decisions.

Navigating retirement during volatile markets can present unique challenges. If you’re concerned about preserving your nest egg for the financial well-being of both spouses, then you would benefit from an introductory conversation with our team of fiduciaries in Greenville, SC. 

We can help you create a sustainable appreciation strategy and incorporate other income sources, like Social Security and 401k, into your retirement plan. If you're seeking peace of mind and expert guidance in your wealth management journey, we invite you to contact our financial advisors in Greenville, South Carolina, today.