Quarterly Rebalance Update

Andrew Chatham |

QUARTERLY ALLOCATION UPDATE OVERVIEW:

After a brief hiatus to close out election season, we are resuming our risk-on
stance. We are reinstating a 4% lean into equities across our Eight Oaks
Financial strategies, emphasizing the momentum factor as we see
opportunity through the end of the year for delayed business activities to push
markets higher. We slightly increased our allocation to high-yield corporate
bonds. We also swapped out a couple mutual funds for similar ETF
counterparts.


REASONING FOR ADJUSTMENTS:

The relief rally began immediately after the US election results came in. With
the election in our rear-view mirror, businesses and investors can move
forward with actions they may have delayed during the period of uncertainty
before the election. We believe there will be a surge in market activity moving
into the last few weeks of the year, providing a tailwind to stock markets. We
moved further into equities and specifically into the momentum factor to
capitalize on that tailwind.
Strong economic fundamentals and resilient consumer spending continues to
support corporate profits. We see some opportunity to capitalize by slightly
increasing our allocation to high-yield corporate debt. Not only are the offering
historically attractive yields, but credit quality in this area has improved as
issuers have become more resilient.
Finally, we swapped out two mutual fund strategies for similar Exchange
Traded Fund (ETF) strategies. ETFs offer a similar product in a more cost-
effective and tax-efficient vehicle.


ADJUSTMENTS:

• Increase lean to equity over fixed income by 3% - bringing the total
equity lean to 4%


• Introduce Invesco S&P 500 Momentum ETF (MTUM)


• Slightly increase weight to high-yield corporate bond issues by
introducing BlackRock Flexible Income ETF (BINC)

• Swap out American Funds Capital World Growth and Income (WGIFX)
for Capital Group Dividend Growers ETF (CGDG) and Hartford Equity
Income (HQIIX) for Capital Group Dividend Value ETF (CGDV)


HIGHLIGHTS IN THE PORTFOLIO:

We have been happy with the management of the iShares US Equity Factor
Rotation ETF. The fund managers rotate between factors such as small vs
large size (capitalization), high vs low quality, and high vs low growth. See the
image below for a breakdown of the fund’s most recent positioning.

 

See the link below for a product brief about iShares US Equity Factor Rotation
ETF.
DYNF Factor Positioning

 

Disclosures
Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. No investment
strategy can guarantee a profit or protect against loss in periods of declining
values.
Asset allocation does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss.
High yield/junk bonds (grade BB or below) are not investment grade securities,
and are subject to higher interest rate, credit, and liquidity risks than those
graded BBB and above. They generally should be part of a diversified portfolio
for sophisticated investors.
ETFs trade like stocks, are subject to investment risk, fluctuate in market
value, and may trade at prices above or below the ETF's net asset value (NAV).
Upon redemption, the value of fund shares may be worth more or less than
their original cost. ETFs carry additional risks such as not being diversified,
possible trading halts, and index tracking errors.
Investing in mutual funds involves risk, including possible loss of principal.
Fund value will fluctuate with market conditions, and it may not achieve its
investment objective.

Tracking # 658907

Best,

Andy Chatham