This past Thursday and Friday, I attended the Fidelity FOCUS 2022 conference in Scottsdale, AZ. Fidelity is one of the biggest investment companies in the world and I always look forward to their events. It was a nice to hear directly from many of the fund managers and strategists I follow throughout the year. I enjoy these live events as they provide a great opportunity to determine how other money managers are feeling and thinking about the current market environment.

In reflection about the 2 days spent in sessions, a few notes stood out more than others:

• In 2022, the only asset class that isn’t negative is cash.
• Inflation is likely with us for longer than most people expect.
• Most fund managers are down at least double digits and more pain is expected by many.
• Active management and stock pickers are expected to beat the passive indexes for the next many years.

Overall, I’m feeling satisfied that we are positive in 2022 while bond and equity investors have been struggling. Investing in October is not for the faint of heart, but the best historical 6-months of the year are only a couple of weeks away. Until more higher probability investment set-ups proliferate, we remain in heavy cash positions. The environment for the best gains gets closer and closer every day. Stay patient.