By Ranga Srinivasan and Ramprasad Satagopan

As financial advisors in Cupertino, CA, Everest strives to provide guidance and education on wealth management matters. We hope this article sheds some light on your questions and concerns. 

Recent tariff-related policies have injected fresh uncertainty into the markets, leading to sharp swings in asset prices and increased anxiety for investors. As your financial advisor, we believe this is a timely moment to revisit our core investment principles and reiterate the approach we are taking to navigating market volatility.

Our philosophy is grounded in discipline, diversification, and focusing on what we can control, not on trying to predict the future. Below, we will share our perspective on what both advisors and clients can do during such turbulent times.

Our Investment Philosophy: Staying the Course

One of the core principles here at Everest for successful investing is not about timing the market, but about time in the market. Attempting to jump in and out based on short-term news or market movements often leads to missed opportunities and increased risk. 

As an example, during the past 20 years, if one were to miss the 10 best days of performance for the S&P 500 Index, the returns would be significantly lower than if the investor had just waited through the troubled periods. Instead, we focus on:

  • Controlling what we can: Taxes, fund costs, and risk are knobs we control and can make a significant difference over the long term.
  • Diversification: We diversify across public equities, bonds, and private market assets such as private credit, private equity, and private real estate to reduce risk and smooth returns.
  • Strategic hedging: We use managed futures and Treasury bonds to help hedge against equity market drawdowns, providing additional resilience during periods of stress. For example, during the 2008 financial crisis, while stocks lost anywhere between -37% to -45%, in a calendar year, the U.S. Treasury bonds rose +13%. Similarly, during the inflation crisis of 2022, both stocks and bonds were down between -16% to -19%, while the managed futures funds we recommend gained +50%.

During Times of High Volatility: Advisor Actions

Our role as your advisor is to remain proactive, vigilant, and calm. Here’s what we do when volatility spikes:

  • Portfolio review and rebalancing: We review portfolios to verify they remain aligned with your long-term goals and risk tolerance. If market swings have knocked allocations off target, we rebalance, selling what’s become overweight and buying what’s underweight.
  • Tax-loss harvesting: Volatility can create opportunities to realize losses for tax purposes, offsetting gains elsewhere and improving after-tax returns.
  • Fee and expense management: We continually monitor investment costs to see that you’re not paying more than necessary, and switch you to lower fee offerings when possible.
  • Improving diversification: We are continually researching products and asset classes that can improve the diversification of your portfolio. As these efforts bear fruit, we bring it to your attention to incorporate them. These efforts have resulted in Everest recommending private credit, private real estate, and managed futures funds to a majority of our clients. 

During Times of High Volatility: Client Actions

While we handle the technical aspects, there are important steps you, as a client, can take to help experience long-term success:

  • Balance sheet review: Many clients hold highly risky assets like individual company stock outside of Everest’s purview. Risks may be additive at the household level, and this can result in large drops in wealth if the family’s balance sheet is not properly managed for risk. We encourage a holistic review with the Everest team so we can advise you of potential actions you can take.  
  • Avoid emotional decisions: Resist the urge to make impulsive moves based on headlines or short-term market moves. The recent tariff situation presents a great example of how things went from gloomy to normal within a matter of weeks. Selling or making big portfolio changes in April would not have served most families well.
  • Stay focused on your plan: Remember that your investment strategy was built for the long term and designed to weather periods of volatility.
  • Communicate openly: If you have concerns or your financial situation changes, let us know. Open dialogue helps us keep your plan aligned with your needs.
  • Trust the process: Diversification, discipline, and a focus on controllable factors have historically delivered strong outcomes for patient investors.

We’re Here to Help

Market volatility (whether sparked by tariffs, geopolitics, or other factors) is an inevitable part of investing. At Everest Management Corp, our commitment is to guide you through these periods with a steady hand, a disciplined process, and a focus on your long-term success. 

By working together and staying true to our philosophy, we can navigate volatility and continue building toward your financial goals. And as fiduciary advisors, you can always have confidence we’re putting your interests above all else.

If you’re interested in learning more, schedule an introductory, no-obligation meeting by contacting us at 408-502-6015 or emc@everest-mgmt.com.

About Ranga

Ranga Srinivasan is co-founder and principal at Everest Management Corp, an SEC-registered wealth advisory firm based in Silicon Valley and serving clients across the United States. After graduating from the University of Cincinnati in the field of engineering, Ranga, witnessed the dot-com collapse in the early 2000s and sought to manage his own personal finances. He realized that many of the options available were unsatisfactory for a myriad of reasons. Knowing it could be done better, Everest was founded in 2007 to provide comprehensive wealth management. Ranga and the Everest team are dedicated to caring for the financial needs of the families they serve. With an emphasis on building trust and holding to the fiduciary standard of putting clients first, Ranga strives to offer financial solutions that inspire confidence. 

In his free time, Ranga is passionate about staying active; you can often find him swimming, golfing, biking, and playing tennis. He also has a great love for charity and philanthropy work. To learn more about Ranga, connect with him on LinkedIn.

About Ramprasad

Ramprasad Satagopan is co-founder and principal at Everest Management Corp, an SEC-registered wealth advisory firm based in Silicon Valley and serving clients across the United States. As a self-made, highly educated first-generation immigrant, Ramprasad became passionate about investing after witnessing the dot-com collapse in the early 2000s. He created Everest to help his peer engineering community to build household wealth in a systematic way. Everest has grown over the years while staying true to its fiduciary commitment. Ramprasad and the Everest team take pride in being a firm that brings a reputable, honest, and caring approach to all its clients.

Ramprasad graduated from both the University of Cincinnati and the University of Phoenix with a master’s degree in science and business administration, respectively. When he’s not helping families build a strong financial future, Ramprasad can be found enjoying traveling and reading. To learn more about Ramprasad, connect with him on LinkedIn.

Larry Swedroe 

We are excited to share an important development that we have recently engaged Larry Swedroe, a renowned industry expert, as an investment consultant to Everest. Larry’s extensive experience and thought leadership in portfolio construction will help validate and further sophisticate our proprietary investment process. More information can be found by clicking here

Disclosures

The information provided is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice and it should not be relied on as such. It should not be considered a solicitation to buy or an offer to sell a security. It does not take into account any investor’s particular investment objectives, strategies, tax status or investment horizon. You should consult your attorney or tax advisor.

The views expressed in this commentary are subject to change based on market and other conditions. These views may contain certain statements that may be deemed forward‐looking statements. Please note that any such statements are not guarantees of any future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected. Any projections, market outlooks, or estimates are based upon certain assumptions and should not be construed as indicative of actual events that will occur.

Investing in REITs involves certain distinct risks in addition to those risks associated with investing in the real estate industry in general. Equity REITs may be affected by changes in the value of the underlying property owned by the REITs, while mortgage REITs may be affected by the quality of credit extended. REITs are subject to heavy cash flow dependency, default by borrowers and self-liquidation. REITs, especially mortgage REITs, are also subject to interest rate risk (i.e., as interest rates rise, the value of the REIT may decline).

No investment strategy or risk management technique can guarantee returns or eliminate risk in any market environment. All investments include a risk of loss that clients should be prepared to bear. The principal risks of Everest Management Corp. strategies are disclosed in the publicly available Form ADV Part 2A. 

Asset Allocation may be used in an effort to manage risk and enhance returns. It does not, however, guarantee a profit or protect against loss.

There are a number of risks associated with futures investing, including but not limited to counterparty credit risk, currency risk, derivatives risk, foreign issuer exposure risk, sector concentration risk, leveraging and liquidity risks.

Generally, among asset classes, stocks are more volatile than bonds or short-term instruments. Government bonds and corporate bonds have more moderate short-term price fluctuations than stocks, but provide lower potential long-term returns. U.S. Treasury Bills maintain a stable value if held to maturity, but returns are generally only slightly above the inflation rate.

Everest Management Corp. is a registered investment advisor. Advisory services are only offered to clients or prospective clients where Everest Management Corp. and its representatives are properly licensed or exempt from licensure.