Resources

Strategic Asset Allocation During Uncertainty: OCIO Lessons About Resilient Asset Allocation

Asset allocation is one of the most critical aspects of the financial decision-making process. Whether you’re an individual CEO, a nonprofit organization, or an individual needing private wealth management, it is important to choose an investment advisor who understands different types of asset allocation models and how they function in different economies. 

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ACG’S February 2024 Capital Markets Review

US equities again led markets higher during the month with the S&P 500 ending February at an all-time high. Corporate earnings, consumer spending, and continued interest in AI provided tailwinds for equities.

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The Top Impact Investing Trends to Watch in 2024

As we usher in 2024, impact investing trends continues to redefine the investment landscape by aligning financial success with the pursuit of positive societal and environmental outcomes. This strategic approach to investing not only offers the potential for robust financial returns but also the opportunity to contribute to global betterment. With a growing awareness among investors about the significant role their capital can play in addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges, impact investing is increasingly becoming a key consideration for investors, investment committees, and firms looking to make a meaningful difference.

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Tighter Fed Expectations Not Slowing Markets

Market participants are beginning to recognize that interest rates may stay higher for longer (see chart), with expectations over the last few weeks moving from several cuts to 2-3 cuts by the end of 2024.

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Creating a Legacy: Wealth Management Philanthropy & Charitable Giving

When considering the future of your investments, wealth management philanthropy and charitable giving funds may not be the first things that come to mind. However, it is increasing in popularity and quickly becoming a staple factor in investment management. Allocating charitable funds for use in charitable giving strategies can prove to be beneficial when it comes to tax time and when it comes to your personal legacy or an organization’s impact on society. 

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Should You Time The Market?

The S&P 500 Index recently breached 5,000 for the first time and has hit new all-time highs multiple times in recent trading days. Intuition would likely say that new all-time highs for stocks would portend lower returns going forward due to elevated valuations, a peak in earnings growth, or maybe frothy investor sentiment...

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ACG’S January 2024 Capital Markets Review

US Large Cap equities maintained momentum into the new year and posted new all-time highs on the back of strong economic data. The S&P 500 was up +1.68% in January, again led by the Magnificent Seven. The Information Technology (+3.95%) and Communication Services (+5.02%) sectors, big winners over the prior year, enjoyed strong months. Financials and Health Care also rose more than +3.00%. 

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Wealth Planning: How Private Wealth Managers Mitigate Risk and Navigate Volatility

When it comes to wealth preservation, the role of private wealth managers in helping to mitigate risk and navigate market volatility is paramount. Let us explore who they are and how they help wealthy clients grow their wealth despite volatility in the market.

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ACG Market Review – Q4 2023

An economic soft-landing in the U.S. moves from a low probability event to the consensus view. Softer inflation data led to increased market expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2024 and into 2025. The positive feedback loop for risk assets from the easing of finance conditions and Fed pivot was reinforced by a few other factors: The broader soft-landing narrative, Consumer resilience, Strong Q3 2023...

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Multi-Generational Wealth Management: The Role of OCIOs for Family Offices

Multi-generational wealth management is a complex financial advisory process that requires expert management. Generational wealth management takes into account volatile factors such as the changing financial landscape, family dynamics, risk management, and tax planning to preserve generational wealth protection and growth. 

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ACG’s December 2023 Capital Markets Review

Markets finished the year in a strong rally that began in November on hopes that an economic soft landing is materializing and that the Federal Reserve will begin cutting rates in 2024. The S&P 500 was up +4.54% in December to finish the year just below its all-time high. The Real Estate sector enjoyed a strong December after some stress earlier in the year and rose +8.48% for the month. Information Technology led the way in 2024 with a return of +57.84%.

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ACG Insights: Equity Index Concentration

S&P 500 index concentration has reached a new all‐time high (Exhibit 1). This has led investors, especially those who use passive vehicles, to evaluate the potential implications. There are approaches to alter exposure, but they may be costly, challenging, or not make sense from a long‐term perspective. Investors need to understand the concentrated exposures they are assuming when allocating to broad market indices.

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What to Consider When Hiring Non-Profit Investment Advisory Services

In an era marked by volatile economic climates and sophisticated financial instruments, even non-profit organizations are not exempt from the challenges of navigating the investment landscape. To this end, the role of Investment Advisors in guiding these organizations is increasingly vital. However, there are factors that need to be taken into account when selecting an investment advisory service. Fortunately we’re here to help by offering a resource on what to consider when hiring non-profit investment advisory services.

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ACG’s November 2023 Capital Markets Review

Markets staged a strong rally in November amid hopes that the Federal Reserve has finished with the current rate hike cycle. The S&P 500 was up +9.13% for the month and is now +20.80% higher year-to-date. The Information Technology, Financials, and Consumer Discretionary sectors all gained double digits for the month, with Information Technology now up +52.02% so far this year.

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Investment Committee Roles and Responsibilities

The intricate dance of financial stewardship is a nuanced art that thrives on the axis of informed decision-making and strategic foresight. At the heart of this dynamic is the Investment Committee, tasked with the prudent management of funds and assets for the organization it serves. The investment committee roles and responsibilities are the key to successful financial guidance.

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Fiduciary Responsibility of Nonprofit Board Members

When it comes to the backbone of any nonprofit organization, board members stand at the forefront. Their responsibilities are vast, but among the most critical is ensuring the financial well-being and proper management of the organization. But how can board members best fulfill these paramount duties? In this blog, we will discuss fiduciary responsibility of nonprofit board members along with some useful insights to keep in mind during your workday.

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ACG Insights: Small Cap Comeback?

A few Large Capitalization stocks have dominated portfolio performance for years, leaving other areas of the market at attractive valuation levels. Small Caps, despite recent underperformance relative to Large Caps, have a history of prolonged periods of outperformance. Both absolute and relative valuations in Small Cap are historically attractive. The negative impact of higher interest rates and possible recession may already be baked into Small Cap prices, which tend to outperform coming out of recessions.

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ACG Market Review – Q3 2023

The unexpected strength of the economy has caused the near term probability of a recession to plateau. Markets experienced a temporary halt in their upward trajectory, despite prevailing economic optimism. Bond yields continue to rise, but the potential for rate cuts is on the horizon...

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ACG’s September 2023 Capital Markets Review

September was the worst month for equity markets of the year so far, as higher rates weighed on risk assets. The S&P 500 was down -4.77% for the month but remains up +13.07% year to date. Energy (+2.63%) was the lone sector in the S&P 500 to show positive performance in September, while Real Estate (-7.25%) and Technology (-6.87%) led detractors for the month.

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ACG Insights: All the REIT Moves

Similar to Tom Cruise’s character in All the Right Moves, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are looking for an opportunity to escape their past and transition into a brighter future. The post-COVID environment has acted as a cloud over the future of real estate investing due primarily to decreased demand for office space that looks unlikely to meaningfully improve, and more difficult financing conditions due to a rapid rise in interest rates from near-zero.

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ACG Insights: Artificial Intelligence – Fad or Panacea?

Artificial intelligence (AI) as a discipline dates back to the 1950’s and encompasses a variety of technologies, predominantly merging computer science with extensive datasets to facilitate complex problem‐solving. The long‐term goal and subject of numerous science fiction portrayals has been the development of artificial “general” intelligence where a machine would have an intelligence equaled to humans, i.e., a self‐aware consciousness that can solve problems, learn, and plan for the future.

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ACG Market Review – Q2 2023

Global Highlights: Economy – A much anticipated recession has yet to materialize despite aggressive Fed policy over the past few quarters | Equities – A handful of U.S. Mega Cap companies drove returns in what has been a bounce-back first half of the year for stocks | Fixed Income – Volatility remained high relative to history amid uncertainty around inflation, economic growth, and Fed policy

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ACG Insights: Debt Ceiling Drama

Despite dozens of negotiated increases or suspensions of the U.S. debt limit over the past several decades, concern about the current debt ceiling is increasing. Cash available for the Treasury to pay obligations is falling which makes a technical default on some payments feel possible, although still low probability, in the absence of a deal. Historically, markets have shrugged off debt limit fears as short-term noise.

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ACG Market Review – Q1 2023

Global Highlights: Economy – Investor focus shifted from declining inflation and a potential Fed pivot to the health of the banking sector and overall economy | Equities – An early quarter stock rally was quelled by hotter than expected inflation and further Fed tightening | Fixed Income – Higher rates often indicate higher returns, however, risks remain in certain areas of fixed income

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Form ADV Part 1

Uniform application for investment adviser registration and report by exempt reporting advisers.

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Form ADV Part 2

This brochure (“Brochure”) provides information about the qualifications and business practices of Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors, LLC (the “Adviser”).

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ACG’s February Capital Markets Review

Markets pulled back in February after a strong start to the year as investors digested mixed signals between the economy, inflation, and Federal Reserve | The S&P 500 fell -2.44%, but is still up +3.69% year-to-date | S&P 500 sectors were broadly negative for the month, although the Information Technology sector eked out a +0.45% gain.

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ACG Insights: Ground Control to Major Powell

After a difficult year in financial markets, there was plenty of pessimism to usher in the new year. Indicative of this negative outlook, the probability of an impending recession hit a new high according to the Fed’s Survey of Professional Forecasters. But what does a recession mean for the economy and financial markets?

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ACG’s January Capital Markets Review

January marked a strong beginning to the new year with markets rallying broadly as inflation slowed and investors saw a path to avoiding a deep recession. | The S&P 500 gained +6.28% for the month after a disappointing 2022. | The Consumer Discretionary (+15.02%) and Communication Services (+14.51%) sectors led the rally after poor relative performance last year.

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ACG Insights: 2023 Capital Market Assumptions

The market reset from peak levels in early 2022 has meaningfully increased forward return assumptions as firms publish 2023 Capital Market Assumptions. One of the most important inputs when projecting forward returns is an assumption of the current risk-free rate of return. Much of the increase in 10-year return expectations can be attributed to a higher risk-free rate as fixed income yields have increased significantly from last year...

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ACG Market Review – Q4 2022

Global Highlights: Economy – Resiliency in light of recessionary risks as inflation wanes and the Federal Reserve continues to tighten policy | Equities – Some relief in Q4 during a difficult year with focus turning to earnings growth amid the possibility for a recession | Fixed Income – Higher yields led to one of the worst years ever for bond investors, but forward expectations have greatly improved

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ACG’s September 2022 Capital Markets Review

Equities were under continued pressure in September as investors digested continued interest rate increases and an increasingly hawkish Federal Reserve.The S&P 500 fell -9.21% in September and was negative for the third consecutive quarter after returning - 4.88% in Q3 2022. Every sector in the S&P 500 was negative in September, while Consumer Discretionary and Energy were the only positive performers in Q3, returning 4.36% and 2.35%, respectively.

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ACG Market Review – Q3 2022

Global Highlights: Economy – Persistent high inflation has dwarfed any positive economic data and pushed the Fed to an aggressive tightening cycle | Equities – Markets continue to re-price downward as investors struggle to interpret the path of monetary policy | Fixed Income – Further upward pressure on yields has increased year-to-date drawdowns for bond investors

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ACG’s August 2022 Capital Markets Review

Equity markets finished August lower after an initial surge to begin the month as investors continue to digest Fed policy amidst inflationary pressures | The S&P 500 fell -4.08% in August and is now down -16.14% for the year. | Energy and Utilities were the only positive sectors in the S&P 500 in August after gaining 2.83% and 0.51%, respectively. Energy remains the clear winner of the past year.

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ACG’s June 2022 Capital Markets Review

Equity markets in June closed the first half of the year under continued selling pressure, with most indices in technical bear market territory marked by a 20% drop from recent highs | The S&P 500 is now down -19.96% for the year after falling -8.25% in June | The Energy sector reversed a trend of outsized performance and was the worst performing sector in the S&P 500 in June, falling -16.8%. All sectors were negative for the month.

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ACG’s May 2022 Capital Markets Review

Markets started to regain some footing during the latter half of May after several consecutive weeks of declines. Volatility remained high relative to recent history, as equity markets briefly breached technical “bear market” territory before rallying | The S&P 500 was basically unchanged in May and is now down -12.76% for the year | The Energy sector continued building momentum and was by far the best performing sector in May with a 15.77% gain

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ACG Insights: Wrestling Bears

Markets thus far in 2022 have dealt with selling pressure that to many investors feels like a shift from the upward momentum experienced over the last several years and post-COVID (Exhibit 1) | Equity market declines have felt atypical because by some measures they really have been rare | The S&P 500 is currently in one of its longest weekly losing streaks in decades (Exhibit 2) | In percentage terms, the current drawdown is relatively common. The question going forward is if the sell-off turns into a prolonged downturn similar to 2000-2002 or 2008-2009 (Exhibit 3).

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ACG Insights: Implications of Higher Rates

Interest rates have trended lower for several decades, however recent events have spurred a shift towards a more hawkish Federal Reserve, and possibly a rising rate environment | Currently faced with the historically tricky position of curbing inflationary pressures while simultaneously avoiding economic recession, the Federal Reserve will be watched closely by market participants over the coming weeks and months | The effects rising interest rates could have on asset prices will be a top-of-mind question for investors going forward as markets grapple with a shifting monetary policy regime

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ACG Insights: Thinking About Fossil Fuel Divestment

It is widely accepted that transitioning away from fossil fuel dependence is crucial in the fight against climate change | Institutional investors are increasingly implementing plans to divest from fossil fuel companies | There is plenty of gray area as to how to define and implement a divestment strategy for investors looking to pull money from fossil fuel businesses | Shareholder engagement can be an alternative or a complement to full divestment strategies by helping to enact climate-friendly changes within fossil fuel companies | Investors should weigh some legitimate arguments against blanket divestment such as loss of shareholder influence or ceding economic influence to state-owned oil giants

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ACG Insights: Think Global Not Local

Global growth is expected to come from outside the United States as global middle-class consumption ascends from nations like China and India | Since the early 1990s, the globally diversified portfolio and the traditional 60% stock and 40% bond portfolio have traded market leadership, sometimes for lengthy periods | The recent strong historical performance of U.S. stocks and bonds have lowered expected returns for these asset classes over the next 10 years, making a globally diversified portfolio more attractive than the Traditional 60% stock and 40% bond portfolio | No one knows which asset classes will outperform in the 2020s, making a globally diversified portfolio the best choice for long-term investors

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ACG Insights: Housing Crash Redux?

Americans with excellent credit have decided to take advantage of the historically low-interestrate environment and buy homes further away from America’s largest metropolitan areas | Institutions, like pension funds, have seen residential real estate as an attractive place to invest thanks to the low return environment | Builders have struggled to keep with this new demand after underbuilding in the prior decade as COVID-19 supply shortages have caused prices of labor and building materials to increase | Supply and demand fundamentals are likely to remain in place for the near-term supporting housing prices.

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ACG Insights: Has the Game Changed?

A spike in popularity of “meme” stocks has highlighted a recent trend of outperformance for beleaguered companies with poor financials | Small Cap U.S. Equities have been a focal point of the trend, where the percentage of unprofitable companies in the Russell 2000 index has risen near peaks | The relative outperformance of lower quality compared to higher quality stocks in 2020 was substantial, but also a divergence from history | There have been cyclical swings favoring non-earners that have generally been short-lived and concentrated around recessions | Portfolio exposure to quality stocks in the small cap space can depend both on the active/passive decision and which index is followed by a passive manager

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Michael Butkus

This brochure supplement provides information about Michael John Butkus Jr., and supplements the Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors, LLC (the “Adviser”) brochure.

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Roderick Hennek

This brochure supplement provides information about Roderick Eugene Hennek, and supplements the Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors, LLC (the “Adviser”) brochure.

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Michael Malloy

This brochure supplement provides information about Michael Frank Malloy, and supplements the Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors, LLC (the “Adviser”) brochure.

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Matthew Bauder

This brochure supplement provides information about Matthew Christian Bauder, and supplements the Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors, LLC (the “Adviser”) brochure.

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Kurt Hennek

This brochure supplement provides information about Kurt Roderick Hennek, and supplements the Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors, LLC (the “Adviser”) brochure.

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Client Relationship Summary

Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors, LLC is an investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investment advisory services, brokerage services and fees differ, and it is important for you to understand these differences.

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