Spuds Powell, Managing Director, spoke with Investment News about how the current political climate might be influencing investors’ investment decisions. With strong opinions and political emotions running rampant, he says many investors may be inclined to make the mistake of applying some of those strong political sentiments and emotions on their investment judgment. “I’ve always felt that the most common mistake, and arguably the worst mistake investors can make, is letting their emotions influence their investment judgment.” Spuds notes that his priority as a wealth advisor is earning his clients trust so he can help them avoid making decisions that they might end up regretting.
While there are real concerns about how a particular candidate’s policies may affect specific sectors, it doesn’t pay to allocate portfolios based on what-ifs, as Spuds says there’s often “gridlock in Washington.”
“Right now, as an example, we have a Democratic president and a Democratic senate, but we have a Republican-led house. And if you have some balance in Washington, then you’ve got sort of the checks and balances that come with that,” he says.
Spuds encourages advisors to dissuade clients from the notion that their investments’ success is tied to the outcome of the election. “Facts can be a good way to ground people and provide a healthy perspective to offset some of their emotion-driven conclusions or predictions.”
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Spuds also sat down with Barron’s and Citywire to further discuss the topic of investing in election years. Read his piece with Barron’s here and his interview with Citywire here. (A subscription may be required to access.)
