FINANCIAL INSIGHTS
MARKET COMMENTARY: Fourth Quarter
January 17th, 2018
Your Petersen Hastings team would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year!
As the fourth quarter and the 2017 year came to an end, the overall market provided a
strong positive return, and most investors seem happy. Our commitment to global
diversification proved a key factor for client returns as we saw a shift from the US
outperforming International markets, to the International markets outperforming the US.
Both Developed International and Emerging Markets provided the strongest overall
returns for 2017. US Small Cap which was the top performing asset class in 2016 spent the
first part of 2017 in the red. It did manage to turn positive in the third quarter with double
digit year-end returns, of which resulted in all equity funds being positive for the year.
Fixed income investments also finished positively for the year, even though there were
three interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve. There is an expectation for the
Federal Reserve to continue to raise interest rates three more times in 2018, but as history
has shown us, those rate increases are dependent on the Federal Reserve’s interpretation
of the health of both the economy and the stock market.
As we get further into the first quarter of 2018, taxes come to mind. While the new tax bill
that was signed into effect January 1st, 2018 has received much of the news, it is not
retroactive to the 2017 tax year. Petersen Hastings is working diligently to digest the new
tax provisions for 2018 in order to best provide guidance in conjunction with your trusted
tax professional. As your trusted advisor, we will work with you to best coordinate how to
benefit from the new tax bill. We have an article on our website that includes links to the
overall breakdown of the new tax bill for both individuals and business owners, and we will
continue to provide helpful information on the website.
You should be receiving the 2017 tax documents between the end of January and mid-
February. These documents will be accessible online prior to being received in the mail. If
you have any questions about your tax forms please contact your Petersen Hastings
advisor.
We appreciate your trust in us. Here is to a fantastic 2018!