At Peachtree Investment Partners, we have a long-term relationship with our clients. We work with you to build a customized portfolio that reflects your goals, your financial situation and your approach to risk. Our primary focus has been and remains on preservation of principal.
We use a number of criteria to evaluate companies for client portfolios. We look at a company’s historical performance as well as the potential for future performance. In particular, we consider a company’s profitability and its positioning in the market. We also prefer companies that pay dividends.
We make dividend-paying stocks the centerpiece of our clients’ portfolios. Dividend-paying stocks can add significantly to overall returns and also can help smooth out volatile markets. Although we do invest in some select stocks that do not pay dividends, we focus mainly on those that do.
When the markets are going well, it can be easy to forget that over time they are cyclical. And right now, we are in a down cycle. In fact, this is the worst first half for the Standard and Poor's 500 in more than 50 years.
To paraphrase Thomas Paine, these are the times that try investors' souls. When the market is strong, you probably don't spend much time looking at your portfolio. But in turbulent times, you might be getting a little queasy.
Did you have a favorite roller coaster as a kid? Mine was the Shooting Star at Coney Island in Cincinnati, where I grew up. The Shooting Star has been gone for decades, but I still remember the breathtaking rises and the stomach-churning drops.
That sensation is great for a ride, but not so good for a portfolio. And recently, it seems as if the markets have been on a roller coaster.
