Let Guidance Be Your Guide

Let Guidance Be Your Guide Bob Carey, Chief Market Strategist at First Trust Advisors L.P., discusses the latest developments in the market and reminds investors to listen closely to guidance forecasts during the upcoming earnings season. Let Guidance Be Your Guide.

A Better Way to Invest

First Trust Portfolios L.P. and its affiliate First Trust Advisors L.P. (collectively ”First Trust”) were established in 1991 with a mission to offer investors a better way to invest. At First Trust, we are single-minded about providing trusted investment products and advisory services. We’re inspired every day by how financial advisors and their customers use our products and services to define goals, solve problems and develop long-term strategies. Everyone in our company is encouraged to work diligently and respectfully to deliver superior products, services and results that will contribute to the prosperity of our clients. This philosophy is carried through to our approach to investing. Our approach is simple, and our company was built with these core principles in mind:

Know what you own – When it comes to investing, it is critical to know what you own. We believe that transparency is enormously valuable in aiding investors and advisors in making informed investment decisions.

Invest for the long-term – We view market timing as an investment strategy that results in undue risk. Because it is virtually impossible for even the most experienced investors to predict market movements with certainty and consistency, we believe investors are best served by following a well-considered, long-term strategy.

Employ discipline – Disciplined investing does not guarantee a profit or protect against loss, but it does reduce the probability of making emotional investing decisions which can result in entering or leaving the market at precisely the wrong time.

Rebalance – Over time, the asset mix in a portfolio can begin to drift from its original allocation. Rebalancing ”forces” you to periodically reset your portfolio back to its intended allocation. By setting a pattern of rebalancing, you become accustomed to taking profits from winners and adding to losers. This process has the added benefit of helping to remove emotion and avoid the temptation to chase performance or shy away from value.

Control taxes – Minimizing taxes is an important part of an overall investing strategy for any investor with securities in a taxable account. Certain of our products are designed to minimize the effect taxes have on your portfolio. This is accomplished in part, due to the tax efficient structure of many of the investment vehicles that we offer.

We take these investing principles into consideration in all aspects of our business. Our reputation has been built on these principles and our reputation is everything. We are committed to providing original ideas, inventive products and the highest level of service. We have a relentless focus on the needs of our clients in fulfilling our mission of providing a better way to invest.