A LIFE WELL PLANNED IS A LIFE WELL LIVED
The Captain’s Log Summer 2020
2020’s Roller Coaster Experience “I always wanted to live during the Civil War, Spanish Flu, Great Depression, Civil Rights Movement, Watergate, and the Dust Bowl… just not all at once…” Halfway through 2020 and the investment community has that undeniable feeling of a rickety, outdated roller coaster. We’ve been around the track once and now we find ourselves dangling on top of the incline anxiously waiting for the brakes to release and the ride to continue. When will the ride end and how much more pain and anxiety lie ahead? In this industry we never know for sure what the next six months will bring, but as we pause midway through this calendar we do have a great opportunity to take a look around, lick our wounds, and digest the many lessons learned from the bumpy and sometimes irrational first half of 2020.
By searching for lessons embedded in this years’ experience, we in the investment management business are finding clarity and uncovering opportunities in some unique and unexpected places. Through the Covid-19 induced economic shutdown, we have witnessed a permanent change in workplace culture as today’s executives are being forced to acknowledge the improvements to both employee efficiency and quality of life for the now popular home-based, remote workforce. Online order placing and curbside pickup platforms have accelerated in popularity and video conferencing has replaced everything from executive board meetings to birthday parties. Drive-by parades have replaced graduations and on-line streaming has replaced in-person theater experiences. For the past twenty years or so, we as an evolving (continued on page 3)