Q4 2021 Market Review

2021 has come to an end with global stock markets continuing to generate positive pandemic performance numbers. The US stock market finished the quarter up 9.28% and international developed markets up 3.14%.  The Dow closed above 36,000 for the first time in early November. However, the markets dipped later in the quarter with the Fed announcing a possible rise in interest rates in early 2022, and the global concern for the spreading of the Omicron covid variant. 

Look closely at the chart below and you will notice something consistent with the belief that the only reliable way to capture the full long-term return of the stock market is to ride out the sharp but historically temporary declines. In the last 20 years, the worst-performing quarters continue to be the fourth quarter of 2008 and the second quarter of 2020. When did the best-performing quarters happen? Global stocks had their best performing quarters all within just 6-months of those steep declines. Can you say, "stay the course?"

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Quarterly Market Summary

Index Returns

Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Indices are not available for direct investment. Index performance does not reflect the expenses associated with
the management of an actual portfolio. Market segment (index representation) as follows: US Stock Market (Russell 3000 Index), International Developed Stocks (MSCI World
ex USA Index [net dividends]), Emerging Markets (MSCI Emerging Markets Index [net dividends]), Global Real Estate (S&P Global REIT Index [net dividends]), US Bond Market
(Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index), and Global Bond Market ex US (Bloomberg Global Aggregate ex-USD Bond Index [hedged to USD]). S&P data © 2022 S&P Dow Jones
Indices LLC, a division of S&P Global. All rights reserved. Frank Russell Company is the source and owner of the trademarks, service marks, and copyrights related to the Russell
Indexes. MSCI data © MSCI 2022, all rights reserved. Bloomberg data provided by Bloomberg.