Selecting a trustee is a critical decision in the estate and wealth transfer planning process. People often ask a family member or trusted advisor to serve as trustee. This note outlines factors to consider when selecting a trustee, and when a corporate trustee might be the appropriate choice.

We maintain our tactical positioning this quarter. We weigh a positive economic environment, as indicated by our Market Cycle Dashboards, against stretched equity valuations, as highlighted in our forward-looking Capital Market Assumptions and our Stress Test Scenario Analysis. We encourage a review of portfolio allocations and rebalancing needs after a robust first quarter for equities and a weak quarter for fixed income. Look for opportunities in areas that have not participated as strongly. Be prepared to take advantage of increasing volatility, including divergence in valuations between public and private markets. Despite the recent rally in public markets, private market purchase multiples continue to reset to lower levels.

This is a summary. Please contact your client advisor for the full Tactical Allocation Viewpoints report.

After three months of idyllic economic data and commensurately strong equity performance to start the year, April introduced a more mixed picture of economic data, raising doubts about a soft-landing scenario and causing equity markets to sell off.  Fixed income markets continued their suffering as inflation data disappointed, which caused interest rates to rise. The economic data was viewed negatively by investors because it further pushed out the timing of interest rate cuts from the Fed but did not indicate signs of a recession.