Don’t be spooked because the stock market is making new highs and some clients are fearful of another crash or bad things happening owing to political turmoil. However, given the run-up of the U.S. stock market over the past six months, the best equity buys are now outside of the U.S.
Or so a small sample of advisors told Financial Advisor on Wednesday.
“I don’t believe that the stock market is overvalued,” said Anthony Ogorek, CFP, an advisor in Buffalo, N.Y.
Ogorek argues that it's a bullish indicator that some investors are worrying about stocks being overvalued.
“The time to worry is when clients are all optimistic and think things will keep going up and up,” he said. “You should be nervous when your cabdriver is telling you how much money he is making.”
In that vein, two other advisors don’t believe the “C” word is in the offing.
“The stock market is not going to crash because the banks are in much better shape than they were in 2008,” said Jeanie Wyatt, CFA, the founder, chief investment officer and chief executive officer of South Texas Money Management in San Antonio. She said the biggest U.S. banks just went through a stress test and they “came out with flying colors. We will not have a 2008 style crash again in our lifetimes.”
Asked how she handles worried clients, Wyatt said, “Our number one piece of advice is to forget about trying to time the stock market.” Frequent buying and selling of stocks means a client is likely to miss big run-ups, she warns.
Lewis J. Altfest, CFP, an advisor in Manhattan, also sees no sign of a crash. Still, he thinks the “potential is rising for a 20 percent correction in the next few months.” And he adds that this pessimism amid a bull market is partly because of the dogfights on the Potomac.