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Transcript of !!FORMAT DRAFT_Investment Outlook & Issues_JL PGedits_ 2016_11_17_15
PERSONAL ASSET M ANAGEM ENT GROUP
OF 1ST SOURCE BANK
Investment Outlook
& Issues
—2016
S t r o n g S t a b l e L o c a l P e r s o n a l
2015, like most years in the investment
markets, had its challenges. The U.S.
equity markets experienced a first drop of 10%
since 2011, not so gently reminding investors
of the risks to investing. Additionally, many
investors became frustrated by the prolonged
indecision of the Federal Reserve whether or
not to raise short-term interest rates for the first
time since 2006. China experienced a decline
of one-third the value in their equity markets
during the summer of 2015, which contributed
to the drop in U.S. markets.
In this year’s publication of Investment Outlook
& Issues we review 2015 and project into
2016 and beyond. The Federal Reserve,
China and the political elections are each areas
of considerable interest in our collective mind.
We of the 1st Source Corporation Investment
Advisors thank you for trusting us to work
with you and your family.
PAUL GIFFORD, JR., CFA
Chief Investment Officer
INTRODUCTION
VOLATILITY RETURNS WITH FLAIR
The U.S. equity market, as measured
by the S&P 500® Index, produced
six straight years of positive returns through
October 31, 2015, including a gain of almost
200% from the lows recorded in March
of 2009. During the past four years, the
equity markets have experienced a period
of unprecedented low volatility. In fact,
this duration has been the third longest period
in nearly 90 years that U.S. equities did not
weather a 10% correction. In the third quarter
of 2015, equity markets succumbed to a
correction brought about by a host of concerns
including: the unwinding of the commodities
supercycle, slowing growth in China, a less
accommodative Federal Reserve (Fed) policy,
and slowing corporate earnings due to a strong
U.S. dollar. On Monday, August 24, the
Dow Jones Industrial Average, which contains
30 primarily industrial blue chip stocks,
opened down 1,100 points and rallied intraday
to down 135 points before finishing down
588 points. On this day, the market exhibited
a period of climax selling. The Chicago Board
Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index
(VIX), a measure of market risk often referred
to as the “investor fear gauge,” rocketed to 55
— a level not seen since 2011 when the stock
market corrected 19%. When the VIX is over
40, it suggests that selling has been overdone
and that the markets are ripe for a rebound.
Historically, markets have generated positive
returns over a 12-month period after the VIX
exceeds a level of 40. We observed increased
volatility this year with 24% of trading days
showing a move of 1% or more compared
to 15% of trading days in 2014. The equity
markets will likely need some time to repair
the technical damage suffered in the third
quarter of 2015, as 85% of stocks were down
10% or more, and 39% of stocks were in bear
market territory (down at least 20%). Market
bottoms are typically not V-shaped and
require a period of sideways action to build
a base and retest the lows to see if they hold.
1
We believe lift off is less important than trajectory...
EQUITY
i
i Introduction
1 Equity 1 Volatility 2 Commodity Markets and China 3 Energy 4 Corporate Earnings
5 Fixed Income 5 Federal Reserve Rate 6 Fed Policy 7 Municipal Bonds 8 Alternative Bonds
10 Economic 10 Global Growth 11 Auto Sales 11 Housing 12 Labor Force Participation
14 Wrap Up: Elections, Federal Reserve and China
16 Our Investment Management Team
1 S T S O U RC E . C O M / PA M G
2 32017 2018
prices only to witness overproduction and
conservation, followed by secular periods of
declining prices. China’s impact on the global
commodity markets has been tremendous.
China is the world’s top consumer of
aluminum (54%), copper (48%), steel (45%),
and soybeans (28%). An illustration of China’s
worldwide consumption is on the next page.
China’s industrial growth and investment
spending to support infrastructure projects
(e.g., roads, bridges, and housing) drove
demand levels for several commodities.
Now, as the country transitions to a more
service-led economic model, we are
witnessing a decline in the demand for both
hard and soft commodities, as well as the
conclusion of the commodities supercycle
that spanned from 1998 through 2011.
2015
The Commodity Markets and Slowing Growth in China
China’s economic growth since 2009 has
been responsible for about 50% of overall
global economic growth. China’s slowdown
will reverberate throughout the commodities
markets. In the realm of commodity markets,
there are two competing visions: One perceives
China’s insatiable demand for commodities
to result in an era of higher prices and a
commodities supercycle. The other perspective
is to see a continuation of the “boom and bust”
cycles that have historically characterized the
commodity markets. 1st Source tends to be
in the latter camp. We believe the commodity
markets will act the same way they always have,
with secular periods (10 years or more) of rising
Energy
With regard to
energy, 1st Source
is among those who
believe that prices
will be “lower for
longer” as the rise of
shale production in
the U.S. increased
from about five
million barrels per
day in 2006 to
averaging slightly
over nine million
barrels nearing the
end of 2015.2016
5
FIXED INCOME
FEDERAL RESERVE RATE
The Federal Reserve (the “Fed”) continues to be at the epicenter of global markets as the
governors maintained a zero-interest rate policy through September 2015. Whether the Fed
decides to raise rates before the end of 2015 or during the first quarter of 2016, interest rates
will continue to be low across the curve. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen has stated that the
Fed will be “broadly accommodative” even well after the first rate increase.
As the Fed raises rates — likely at a very slow pace — the front-end of the Treasury curve
(Treasury securities with maturities of two years or less) will experience a greater increase in yield
than the longer maturity bonds. The reason why longer-term bond (specifically U.S. Treasuries)
yields will remain lower is driven by the Fed’s decision to roll over maturing Treasury securities into
new issues at auction and reinvest principal payments from the Fed’s holdings of agency debt and
agency mortgage-backed securities (“MBS”). The yield curve should flatten out in 2016 as the yield
on shorter-maturity bonds increases and the yield on longer-term bonds increases less.
Bond portfolios should react in a tame manner to the expected, slow, periodic rate increases in the
Federal Funds Target Rate. As the target rate increases bond prices will move downward, which
will lower the overall return on bonds. 1st Source continues to stay invested primarily in intermediate
bonds where we have been able to obtain additional yield relative to short-term bonds, however we
also expect to be positioned to reinvest in bonds with higher yields relative to longer-term bonds.
4
best since 2007. Healthcare led all sectors
with deals worth $482 billion year-to-date
through September 30, 2015 — the highest
year on record, and the technology sector
followed with $382 billion. Two of the larger
deals of the year were Indianapolis-based
Anthem Inc.’s purchase of Cigna Corporation
for $54 billion, and Avago Technologies Ltd.’s
purchase of Broadcom Corporation for
$37 billion. We believe acquisition activity
will finish the year with an all-time record
based on low-cost available credit. An Ernst
& Young survey suggests that more than
50% of global company executives plan to
acquire a company in the next 12 months.
Developed international markets have
underperformed compared with U.S. markets
since the economic recession of 2008-2009
through October of 2015 with the MSCI
EAFE Index gaining 111% versus the S&P
500® Index’s return of 199%. In Europe,
economic conditions have improved at a
much slower pace than the U.S., however
many countries are finally showing positive
economic growth. We recently upgraded
our view on developed international markets
based on the improving economic conditions,
higher dividend yields, improving corporate
margins, and most importantly, the easy
money policy from the European Central
Bank versus the Fed (which is becoming
less accommodative).
Corporate Earnings
Lackluster economic growth and a strong U.S.
dollar pressured corporate earnings in the first
half of 2015. During the third quarter of 2015,
72% of companies in the S&P 500® reported
earnings above the mean estimate. Earnings
declined 3.1%. The last time the S&P 500®
components reported a year-over-year decrease
in earnings was in the third quarter of 2012
(-1.0%). The strong U.S. dollar (up 5% this
year) has pressured sales growth for many
multinational companies as 40% of revenue
for S&P 500® companies is garnered from
abroad. As an example, Dow Jones Industrials
component 3M missed analyst consensus
expectations for sales, reporting year-over-
year numbers down 5.2%. The year-over-
year decrease in sales was driven by the effect
of significant negative foreign currency
translations, which shaved off 6.4%. However,
the company achieved organic local-currency
sales growth of 1.2%. In 2015, corporations
have been aggressively pursuing acquisitions
as a way to boost top-line revenue growth.
Mergers and acquisitions are on pace to be the
curve and then be forced to compensate by
increasing rates in a series of moves that are
faster than what the markets expect.
We do not suspect this will be a likely
outcome, but we do acknowledge the risk.
More likely, the Fed’s interest rate policy
will move in a stair-step fashion with a hike
in interest rates followed by an extended
pause and then additional increases based on
economic data.
Fed Policy
Investors have been keenly tuned to
communications surrounding the Fed’s interest
rate policy, with particular attention to the
anticipated timeline when the Fed will start
raising interest rates. We believe lift-off is less
important than trajectory. Financial markets
move on unexpected events. The hazard to
the markets is that the Fed may fall behind the
6
First Fed Rate Hikes vs. Speed of Hikes
7
MUNICIPAL BONDS
The year of 2015 was fairly calm for
the municipal bond market, despite
peripheral news from Puerto Rico (a territory
of the United States) and Illinois, which are
both experiencing credit issues. The 1st Source
core strategy within municipal bonds is to
own general obligation municipal bonds and
essential-service revenue bonds that we consider
to be high quality. Amidst the aforementioned
issues, the 1st Source strategy helped us
move through the headline news without a
concern. To create additional value for our
municipal bond portfolios, we use managers
that we believe are the best within the high
yield municipal bond sector to add yield while
remaining diversified within that segment.
We expect to stay true to this strategy into the
future and believe that chasing additional yield
through increased credit risk is of little value
in this low interest rate environment.
In light of the political cycle — specifically
the presidential election in 2016 — there is
no prospect for a change in personal income
taxes over the near term, which is a benefit
to municipal bond buyers over the next year.
A decrease in individual income tax rates is
also unlikely given the absence of Congress
passing a bipartisan bill of that nature.
Lower personal income tax rates would not
be a direct benefit to municipalities or
municipal bond buyers. There is greater
pressure on the federal government to lower
corporate tax rates within the United States.
Given the expectation of low interest rates
in 2016 in addition to: a yield curve primarily
affected on the front-end, very low correlation
with global bond markets, and domestic
economic stability, we believe our municipal
bond strategy is positioned to continue to
perform well in 2016. As we see a slow
increase in interest rates and yields, we will
be positioned to invest at higher rates based
on our laddered municipal bond portfolios.
8
ALTERNATIVE BONDS
In an asset class built on income and
preservation of capital, alternative bonds
have been starved of the prior. Within fixed
income, we have used multiple asset classes
to gather additional yield and maintain
an approach that allows for preservation
of capital and additional income. We allocate
approximately 15% to 20% of our total fixed
income investments to four alternative
fixed income asset classes as noted below.
1. HIGH YIELD
High yield is an asset class that has been
under some pressure from the effect of
a weak energy sector and that same sector’s
contribution to high yield performance.
We expect the high yield asset class to
continue to perform well as developed
nations continue to grow at a slow and
steady pace.
2. GLOBAL BONDS
Emerging market debt (EMD) and other
non-USD sovereign bonds performed poorly
in 2015 as the strengthening U.S. dollar
affected their performance. Though the
yields on EMD and sovereign debt have
been attractive, the price decline from
weakening currencies caused them to
detract from performance in 2015.
1st Source continues to be invested in the
global bond market, but are well under-
weighted. We continue to diligently look
for opportunities to invest in global bonds.
3. PREFERRED STOCKS
Preferred Stocks is an asset class that provides
additional yield and much less volatility than
common stocks. We plan to continue to utilize
preferred stocks in 2016. We like the potential
for additional yield that preferred stocks
can provide. Preferred stocks are like debt
instruments, though with less interest rate
sensitivity, and they tend to be less volatile
than investments in common stocks.
By investing in preferred stocks, we seek
to avoid the much greater credit risk inherent
in comparable debt securities.
4. ALTERNATIVE FIXED INCOME
We use an outside manager for our alternative
fixed income allocation. We believe this
strategy gives our fixed income portfolios
a better opportunity to perform well
in all interest rate cycles and scenarios.
We believe our allocation to alternative
fixed income investments will allow us
to be defensive as interest rates slowly rise.
Visit us online: 1stsource.com/pamg
9
PROVIDING EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE FOR CLIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES
Founded in 1863 in South Bend, Indiana, 1st Source Bank is honored to be a
top-rated bank, and continues to be recognized for integrity, outstanding
performance and exceptional service to clients. 1st Source is rated in the Top 50
of 2,600 U.S. Banks with trust services, and receives a 5 Star “Superior” Rating
from BauerFinancial – the highest rating possible, and based on capital ratio,
profitability/loss trend, credit quality and CRA ratings. FORBES recognized
1st Source Bank as one of the “100 Most Trustworthy Companies” from among
more than 12,000 public companies. The 1st Source Bank Annual Report may
be viewed through the annual report link on our webpage: 1stsource.com/pamg.
10 11
AUTO SALES
A particularly bright spot in the U.S. economy has been the resurgence of domestic auto sales.
Auto sales in the U.S. could reach 18 million in 2015 and 2016 is forecasted to have a similar
number of sales. Today, the average new car sales price is $35,000. Wages within the industry, while
stagnant the last several years, are still above the median household income. The steady climb of sales
back to levels last seen in 2006 have been attributed to low interest rates, lower unemployment and
modest wage growth. Low oil prices are helping sales of trucks and SUVs, the most profitable vehicles
manufactured. The factors supporting auto sales should remain in place for 2016 continuing to make
the auto industry a strong part of the U.S. economy.
HOUSING
The housing market has clearly benefited from the low interest rates available during the last
six years. Housing prices in many parts of the country have regained the value lost in the
Great Recession. While this is good news, home ownership is struggling to recover. The case for
renting versus buying has been
weighing on the minds of many
after seeing what happened
to housing in 2008-2009.
Residential rentals have been
doing well and rents are rising.
Housing starts have improved
but are nowhere near as robust
as in prior recoveries. The
average age of buying a first
home has increased to 33 from
29 over the last decade as, among
other things, college debt has
delayed home ownership for
many young people. We expect
housing to be positive for the
economy in 2016, but not as
much as it has been historically.
export opportunities. This action raised concerns
that other countries might also devalue their
currencies to remain competitive. If devaluations
did occur, in the long-run any benefits would be
fleeting, and therefore a wash or no-win result.
Central banks around the world are continuing
to lower interest rates or are buying bonds
(quantitative easing) to spur economic growth.
The European Central Bank recently expanded
its operations and the amount of bonds it can
purchase. These actions have resulted in some
improvement in the European economy and
a very slow drop in unemployment.
Slow and steady growth should characterize
the global economic picture in 2016.
The combination of low interest rates,
low inflation and low oil prices should help
consumers as they continue to gain employment.
ECONOMIC
GLOBAL GROWTH
Global growth has been hampered by
the slowdown in economic activity in
China and in major oil producing countries.
By many accounts, China has contributed to
almost half of global economic growth since
2009. The United States and India have been
the bright spots this year, while Europe has
been stabilizing and showing signs of growth.
China’s slowing growth effected significant
volatility in the equity markets this summer.
In response to slowing growth, China
devalued its currency in August to improve
13
LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION
12
T he unemployment rate in the
U.S. has been steadily declining
since its peak of 10.8% in 2009.
As of October 2015, the
unemployment rate was 5.1%.
Slow but steady economic growth
has been observed in improving
employment numbers, and we also
have been observing improvement
in wages. Some national retailers,
including Walmart, T.J.Maxx and
McDonald’s, have made headline
news by raising the minimum pay
for employees.
Of particular interest to many economists
and investors is the number of eligible
participants in the job market who are not
engaged in obtaining a job. The chart on
the next page shows the steady decline in
the number of people participating in the
workforce. If an individual stops looking
for a job, he or she is considered to have
left the work force, even if able to
function in some role. Some of the
improvement in the unemployment data
is simply due to people leaving the
workforce who are no longer counted
in the calculation for unemployment.
As a result, the 5.0% unemployment rate
is not as positive as it might seem.
Contributing to the discussion of
the changing labor market are the
subjects of the lingering effects of the
“Great Recession” and the number
of retiring baby boomers. With some
people no longer looking for work
and others retiring, the long-term
impact of slower growth and a
marginalized (at least economically)
group of individuals is noteworthy.
While we have seen some pick up
in wages for entry level jobs and also
for specific skills, generally speaking
wages are following the economy,
growing at about 2 to 3% per year.
Source: Bloomberg L.P.
As a result, the 5.0%
unemployment rate is not as positive as it might seem...
Year
Age
1514
2016 WRAP-UP: ELECTIONS, FEDERAL RESERVE AND CHINA
As we look ahead to 2016, the financial
markets will be working through issues
related to the upcoming presidential election,
the Fed’s interest rate policy decisions and
China’s slowing growth. As discussed earlier,
the Fed and China have impacted the markets
in 2015 and will continue to do so in 2016.
The early start to the presidential cycle has already had some impact on the markets. For example,
Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s comments regarding health care profits sent biotechnology
stocks lower in September. As the large pool of candidates narrows to two, investors will learn
more about the candidates’ specific plans and will need to consider how these plans might affect
their investments and the markets. Wages, health care and regulation seem likely to be three of
the larger issues in the presidential race.
China is clearly going into a slower growth
phase as it transitions from an export-driven
economy to one more dependent on
consumer spending. China’s devaluation
of its currency this summer showed that
the country is experiencing a greater than
anticipated slow-down. The direct impact
to the U.S. is expected to be minimal and
not enough to push us into a recession.
The Fed’s recent actions have created much
uncertainty. A modest 0.25% increase in
interest rates seems likely by year-end or
in early 2016. The markets might actually
appreciate the action as confirmation
that the economy has improved enough
to move away from the days of the
zero interest rate policy.
Further delays by the Fed would serve
to confirm that the U.S. is still in a
fragile economic state.
1st Source has continued to maintain
equity exposure and have made small
changes to the mix of the investment
styles we use in our clients’ portfolios.
The equity markets should continue
to grow, even if at a slower rate than
the last several years, as corporations
generate more revenue and the economy
expands at an expected rate of 2% to 3%.
1st Source Corporation Investment Advisors, Inc. (Left to Right) Jackie Kronewitter; Erik Clapsaddle, CFA, CFP®; Rob Romano, CFA; Jason Cooper, MBA;
Noreen Kazi, MBA; Chris Davis, MBA; Jon Cisna; Tamara Simon, MBA, IACCP®;
Randy Thornton, MBA; Paul Gifford, CFA; Marie Alvarez
16
1ST SOURCE CORPORATION INVESTMENT ADVISORS, INC.
Understanding that each person and family have different financial goals, 1st Source
Corporation Investment Advisors design customized plans to suit each situation and with
the long-view in mind. As independent, unbiased advisors, we select from a wide variety
of investments, adding flexibility, using an open investment structure, and offering hands-on
investment advice and education if desired.
Some members of our investment team hold the investment industry’s highest professional
designation of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA); some hold advanced business degrees;
all are fiercely dedicated to their clients. By focusing exclusively to keep each client’s best
interest in mind, the 1st Source Investment Advisors provide clients with deep peace of mind.
17
The 1st Source Corporation Investment Advisors, Inc. team has over 195 years of combined
professional industry experience, and an average of over 19 years experience per investment professional.
Three (3) of our investment staff members have the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) designation,
one (1) member has the CFP® (CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER) designation, and one (1) member
has the IACCP® (Investment Advisor Certified Compliance Professional) designation.
The core investment team is supplemented by more than 85 other 1st Source team members
who provide investment-related support and services.
ABSOLUTE INTEGRITY YEARS OF DEDICATION—
Member FDIC