Monica McCarthy, CFA®, CDFA®, CPWA®
July 2022- Rising inflation, increasing fears of a recession, the ongoing war on Ukraine, and the Federal Reserve’s aggressive tightening have continued to shock markets. Developed market equities fell over 20% turning in their worst first six months in over 50 years. To make matters worse, asset class diversification didn’t work this quarter. Equites and bonds rarely fall in tandem since bonds are the safe harbor investors seek in a storm. However, rapid interest rate increases hit government and investment grade bonds nearly as hard as equities. Fixed income securities fell 10%-20% depending on the maturity. Though generally in line with benchmarks over the quarter, portfolios experienced this pain as well.