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!