​2026 Vision and Commentary

I’m happy to report on another very successful year in our plan for the pursuit of your most cherished financial goals. Our plan, and therefore your portfolio, continue to be driven by these goals, rather than by any turmoil or crisis du jour around the economy or the markets. That will always be the case, throughout the coming year, and beyond. I’ll start by restating some of the core beliefs that guide our planning and investment approach, and then offer a few comments about the economic/financial backdrop.

General Principles:
• We are long-term, goal-focused, plan-driven investors. Our core investment policy is to pursue your goals by investing in broadly diversified portfolios of quality companies.

• We believe that the economy cannot be consistently forecast, nor the markets consistently timed. Moreover, we find no predictable pattern in the way markets react to, or choose to ignore, economic developments.

• We conclude from these beliefs that the only way to be reasonably confident of capturing the full return of equities is to ride out their frequent, sometimes significant, but historically always temporary declines.

• We do not react to, much less try to anticipate, economic and/or market events. As long as your long-term goals remain unchanged, so will our plan for their achievement. And as long as our plan remains constant, so will your portfolio.
​
• We believe that long-term compounding of quality equities is the most important force guiding us toward the achievement of your goals. And we’re obedient to the late Charlie Munger’s quote, “The first law of compounding is to never interrupt it unnecessarily.” Trying to time the market and thinking you can avoid economic downturns by going to cash is a losing strategy and one we will not employ for clients. Our portfolios are built to withstand economic volatility and this has been proven over time.

Current Market Commentary:
In 2025, the broad equity market completed its third straight year of double digit returns,
driven by a strong economy and significantly increased corporate earnings. The S&P500 ended the year up 15%. You might wonder, how can this continue? We can also look back to pundits in 2022 who said the sky was falling (this time for certain) only to have missed out on 3 years of double digit returns. All the while, those that blissfully ignored the news and stayed focused on their plan have created more wealth for their family then they could have possibly dreamed of.

Without a doubt, we are hearing more of AI than ever before and we are still in the early
days of the AI revolution. To try and predict what life will look like in 3, 5 or even 10 years is truly hard to wrap my head around, we simply don’t know. What we do know, is that diversification is more important than ever in 2026. Not trying to pick stocks but rather having a globally diversified portfolio of the highest quality companies in the world is how we not only protect our wealth but continue to grow it sensibly.

All of this suggests to us that the next significant market shock, and there always is one; will probably come out of deep left field. And like all the shocks past, and all those yet to come, it will have very little to do with us, other than as a potential bargain- hunting exercise. I’m reminded of the Morgan Housel quote, “Risk is what’s left after you’ve planned for everything”.

We are following a plan that has always “worked” in the very long run, in that it has ultimately achieved the goals of investors like us. We do not accept that “this time is different” regardless of what “this” may be at any given moment.

We don’t go to cash during market panics, and we don’t bet the ranch on “new era” miracles…like AI. We are building and preserving our wealth sensibly through proven
investment strategies, this will never change.

Finally, I wish all my friends and clients, because to me they’re the same thing, a healthy,
happy and prosperous 2026. I'm always here to address your questions and concerns. Thank you for being clients. It is a privilege to serve you.