Are you looking to put money to work in the market?

Vanguard research shows that time “in” the market is better than time “out” of the market. This is not a glib statement, as it is very difficult to time the market and significant market downturns (i.e., a potential buying opportunity) have been relatively scarce these last seven years. Additionally, with the market having already recovered the vast majority of its losses from the March 2020 COVID-19 selloff, not many fairly valued opportunities remain. Nevertheless, purchasing a broadly diversified low-cost index fund, even at recent market valuations, should remit a handsome gain over a long-term investment horizon. It’s hard to beat “stay the course and invest steadily.”

That being said, some folks still like a bargain. And the decade long (plus) dominance of growth stocks over value stocks may present such an opportunity. By some estimates, value stocks are trading at their largest discount ever. Yes, value stocks may be facing some accelerated generational market shifts/trends with social distancing, e-commerce, and work-from-home movements, but value stocks became value stocks for a reason - they typically are mature companies. And, notably, you can find some of these mature companies right now that are paying a nice dividend (over 3%), while also exhibiting a low price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio - a potential indicator of future stock price appreciation. Barring any extended, long-term hit to these companies earnings or their ability to pay down debt, one would expect a long-term investor to potentially profit from purchasing these assets at their current discounted valuations. As such, you may want to consider adding a small sliver or sleeve of a value oriented fund to your overall investment portfolio.

If you have questions about value investing, your retirement plan, or your investment portfolio, please feel free to contact Intelligent Investing at www.mynmfp.com/new-clients for a no-obligation consultation.