Ali Phillips in Barron’s: Why I’m a Cautious Optimist on the Market
Ali Phillips, executive vice president and partner, was recently interviewed by Barron’s as part of its “Advisor Q&A” series. Phillips talked about her journey from Wall Street to the Rocky Mountains, her views on the state of the markets, and how we are investing in our team to serve our clients’ evolving needs now and in the future. Below are featured highlights from her interview, and you can read the full article by clicking here.
On the markets: “Bear markets and recessions are part of a natural business cycle; they reset the markets in a healthy manner and set smart investors up for success going forward.
I think that to be a good long-term investor, one always has to be cautiously optimistic: cautious because you’re never quite sure what risks are out there, but optimistic in the belief that economies evolve, business will generate profits, and high-quality assets will rise over time.”
On working with different generations of clients: “Clients who are closer to retirement just want to make sure that their plans aren’t altered. We’ve prepared for things like this with high-quality assets, and assuming they’re living reasonably, these markets shouldn’t derail things. Our younger clients are viewing this as a great long-term opportunity, and they’re trying to make sure they are making smart decisions that will set them up over the long run. It’s interesting how different the dialogue is with these different generations of clients. But the underlying themes are the same—of focus on valuation, quality, and risk management. You also try and encourage both groups to have that longer-term perspective. For a retired client, you’re talking about a few years, and for a younger client, you’re talking about the decades to come.”
On investing in our team: “As we’ve built out the team, we’ve built out our capabilities. That means having more of a focus on financial planning, making sure to have a really robust client service team to help coordinate with accountants and attorneys. And on the investment side, hiring a few more analysts, knowing that as the markets get more complex, you want to have great minds thinking about these things. And knowing that as we’ve gotten bigger, we should have more human capital to address client needs. And we’re investing in those people, mentoring them, making sure they recognize this is a great career, encouraging them to get accreditations, encouraging them to attend conferences. The smarter they get, the more capabilities we have, and the better we’re able to serve our clients."