​Tactical Investment Management Basics

Tactical investment management is an active management system that attempts to stay in harmony with market trends while protecting against large loss. Two goals of every tactical process should be to: 1) grow portfolios, and 2) not lose money.

In our opinion, today’s economic market is more complex than ever before. Now, the investor needs to be able to deal with the rapid speed of change, information overload and globalization. Our philosophy is that in today’s market the best way to achieve growth while protecting what you’ve earned is through tactical investment management. Take a closer look at what tactical investment management offers with regard to three of the greatest challenges to the investor today.

Market conditions change frequently. If you do not regularly compensate for these changing conditions, you are simply trusting that the plan you have in place will succeed.

Usually, there are indicators providing advanced warning of impending change. Some tactical systems can look at the economic horizon and see that change is coming, but they will not know the day or the exact nature of the impact. However, through scenario analysis, or “what if?” planning, tactical investment management will have prepared courses of action to remain in harmony with the market trends.

Tactical systems should have the capacity to filter through competing information on market movements and be able to distinguish between optimal investment opportunities and market noise. Based on our experience, tactical systems are generally better equipped to evaluate which information in this rapid-fire market is actually worth considering.

Asset allocation-based portfolios often end up being rebalanced without regard for market conditions. This is one reason classic asset allocation does not perform well today; portfolio assets are shifted based on a time frame, without regard to the market trends of individual investments. Automatically moving money from a well-performing asset to a poorly performing one makes little sense.

Due to instant information technology, conditions from around the globe can have immediate impact. New levels of agility and risk awareness are now required to navigate through often volatile market trends. This is accomplished by applying complex quantitative market analysis, including a combination of technical, fundamental and geopolitical/economic conditions. Adding the impact of domestic and world economic news can provide a full spectrum view of market activity and likely impending changes in trends.

You’ve probably been planning for retirement in some way, shape, or form for many years. Maybe you participate in your company’s 401(k) plan or set aside money in a traditional or Roth IRA. Maybe your employer offers a pension plan. All of those are important retirement income planning actions. As you get closer to retirement, it’s important to plan for your retirement income in specific detail.

• How much money will I have coming in the door every month?
• Will I have enough income to cover my expenses in retirement?
• Is my retirement income guaranteed or could it fluctuate?

Download our Free, No Obligation Guide “5 Things Everyone Should Know About Retirement Income”, to help begin asking some very important questions regarding your retirement income.