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By Kevin Chambers

By Kevin Chambers

Over the first weekend of May, Emmanuel Macron was announced the victor in the presidential election in France with over 60% of the vote, demonstrating the commitment of the French people to the European Union and providing an encouraging sign for European companies. We will take the time to look back on the last few years of European investments and what we can expect for the future.

European Union

The European Union is an organization of 28 countries. It is an agreement to share political and economic legislation. The EU makes up 7% of the global population; however, the EU accounts for 20% of global trade (The Economy, 2017). The GDP of the EU is over $16 trillion, just behind the United States, making it the second biggest economy in the world and an important economic hub for the world.

Recent Economic History

The recent economic history of the EU can be boiled down to three major events. First was the 2007-2008 crisis. Europe suffered more from the 2008 financial crisis than the US and other developed nations. While the US stock market lost 37% and the Japanese stock market lost 29%, the EU markets lost 46%. The second was the European credit crisis in 2011. Greece, Portugal, Spain, Cyprus, and Ireland all faced collapsed and needed to be bailed out of debt. Finally, the recent announcement of the UK leaving the union. These events, one after another, have hampered European growth over the last 10 years. Europe lags behind most other developed nations, including Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, The US, and Japan.

Compounding the problem to some degree, the most financially successful European country recently has been Switzerland, which is not part of the EU. In previous blog posts and papers, we have reviewed the different crises and explained their outcomes as well as looked at specific markets and the challenges they face. Here we will consider the current state of Europe after the French election.

By Kevin Chambers

By Kevin Chambers

On this kick off day for the NCAA March Madness, you may well be thinking of your bracket and watching your team steamroll to the top.  However, there is another team you should also be thinking about: your Estate Planning Team.

By Kevin Chambers

By Kevin Chambers

As part of my MBA program through Willamette University, I spent the first week of January 2017 in China. We visited companies and organizations in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. Here are some highlights of my trip.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange

Client received a new notification message for Quarterly Reports. One more step closer to increased efficiency in our quarterly process! This frees us up for the more important tasks...like taking care of your investments.

As 2016 comes to a close, we want to thank our clients for entrusting us with the management of your investments.  We look forward to serving you in 2017 and the coming years.  Our office will be closed on Monday, January 2nd, 2017, in observance of New Year's Day.  Regular business hours will resume on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2017.

As we enter this holiday season, we hope that you have much for which to be thankful.  We are thankful for all of our clients and for the chance to serve you while doing what we love!

For the week of Thanksgiving, our office hours are as follows:

By Kevin Chambers