Imagine your client losing 20% of the value of their investment, yet receiving a capital gain distribution that’s also a double-digit percentage. Impossible you say? Well, for some mutual fund investors that is exactly the scenario they face as we approach the U.S. tax filing deadline.

What lessons can we glean from 2022 and the sticker shock many investors are undoubtedly facing?

Something that unites almost every asset manager that believes it uses a disciplined, repeatable investment process is our annoyance with performance chasing. The root of this frustration is how performance becomes a shiny object that can distract some investors, and even some financial advisors. It can be particularly difficult to look away from the shine during prolonged bull markets, when human nature makes investors feel more invincible.

Here’s an ironic twist: The other day I realized that Blueprint Investment Partners, as a trend follower, actually has plenty in common with performance chasers. Except for one (gigantic) difference.

When I talk to executives and business owners as part of my work with family offices, private equity firms, and boards, I often hear comments like this: “I want to grow my business, but I do not have the time to address [you name the issue].”

The REAL issue is often that they are so busy working IN their business that they do not take the time to work ON their business. There is a tremendous difference.

Not 2008, not the early 1980s, but 2022 was the worst year for bonds on record, according to an analysis by investment historian Edward McQuarrie.

That’s more than a headline for financial advisors who have relied on fixed income as the less-volatile portion of their 70/30 or 60/40 portfolios – especially for their retirement-age clients. It’s a breakdown that can have lasting effects on those who can afford it the least, unless the advisor has a strategy for mitigating the risk of those impacts.

I happen to share a trainer with a local advisor. I hadn’t seen him since early 2022, so when I saw him recently, I asked him how his clients responded to the minting of a bear market in U.S. equities.

He shared that he was satisfied with the planning and preparation he had done with his clients because it yielded constructive dialogue and (mostly) content clients. However, he did join me in lamenting over the change in how many clients evaluate success during a bear market versus a bull.

We joked about how, when things are going well, the phone doesn’t ring and clients are fine with the occasional update in percentage terms. On the flip side, when markets decline, clients suddenly become very attuned and only want to know how many dollars they have lost. In short, the benchmark to which a client compares performance changes.