Brian Katz, CFA

Introduction Investment markets produced another strong quarter of returns despite a deteriorating geopolitical landscape. The Federal Reserve (Fed) cut interest rates, kicking off the highly anticipated process of normalizing...

The Colony Group’s investment leadership team shares their insights and outlook for the economy and markets after hitting new highs. During this webinar, our speakers will explore four “peaks”...

Introduction Investment markets largely performed well during the second quarter despite getting off to an inauspicious start, with the S&P 500 recording its first monthly decline of the year...

Introduction  The calendar might have turned the page to a new year, but the market continued to march higher, with the S&P 500 recording its strongest first quarter return...

After 18 months of waiting for a recession, investors entered 2024 with optimism that the Fed just might have executed the elusive “soft landing.” Our investment leadership team provides...

2023 was a reminder of how common it is for investment markets to confound the greatest number of investors. Most prognosticators entered 2023 predicting that inflation would remain sticky...

This year’s strong return for the S&P 500 through October belies the fact that it has not been a good year for most stocks. Indeed, the equal-weighted S&P 500...

Introduction Equity markets declined during the third quarter following a surprisingly strong first half of the year. Investors had started to warm to the idea that the Federal Reserve...

The rally in equities continued unabated during the second quarter, discrediting those prognosticators that were calling for a difficult first half of the year. The banking sector, which emerged...

The Colony Group's Brian Katz, Chief Investment Officer, spoke with Family Wealth Report in the article "CIOs On Artificial Intelligence: Proceed With Caution." 

The Fed did something noteworthy at its June 2023 meeting by doing nothing. After raising rates at each of its previous ten meetings, the committee determined that a wait-and-see...

The Colony Group's Brian Katz, Chief Investment Officer and President shares in this Bloomberg article.

The most frustrating crises are those borne of our own actions. This is why we believe the risk of a default by the United States of America is among...

Investor uncertainty has grown significantly over the last year amidst rising geopolitical polarization and tighter monetary conditions. With the collapse of SVB and pressure on the broader banking sector,...

Introduction Many investors believe that the signal for policymakers to stop hiking interest rates is when “something breaks.” After more than a year of rate increases, something finally broke,...

Last year it seemed that investment markets were aligned against investors. As the Fed raised rates at a record-setting pace in modern history, equities posted their worst returns since...

2022 was a challenging year for investors, as both equities and bonds posted losses. Most stock markets across the world experienced a bear market during the year. Despite less...

Sharp sell-offs in the bond and stock markets have contributed to recent and unique economic circumstances. With so much uncertainty around the globe, where should investors focus? Our investment...

Investment markets got off to a promising start in the third quarter before ending with a thud. After a challenging first half of the year, risk assets began a...

The Colony Group’s Brian Katz discusses how stocks are affected by changes in the business cycle with International Banker in the article "How to Invest During a Recession".

“Defensive stocks that are not as affected by changes in the business cycle also make sense in a recession. Companies that sell essential services and goods, such as food, electricity (and) shelter are generally non-cyclical and less exposed to economic cycles. The utilities sector is a particularly popular defensive play in this regard, given that people need water, power and energy regardless of whether the economy is booming or in the doldrums.” Read the coverage in International Banker here.

For most of the last decade, bond markets offered low risk and low returns. An investment in a 10-year Treasury bond, considered free from the risk of default, offered...

The first half of 2022 proved to be the worst start for stocks since 1970. What might lie in store for the second half? Join our investment team for...

U.S. equities experienced their worst first-half performance since 1970. Typically, when equities suffer from large declines, investors can rely on their fixed-income investments to help soften the blow. That...

Despite the rapid rise in yields over the last several months, many investors have continued to seek higher sources of income for their portfolios that are less sensitive to...

The final trading day of April added insult to injury on an already rough month for stocks. On the back of an abysmal earnings report from one of the...

The unusual nature of the global pandemic helped lead to the extraordinary economic cycle we are currently experiencing. Over the past two years, we have had the shortest economic...

For more than 80 years, the most reliable deterrent against nuclear weapons was the fear that the retaliation would cause the annihilation of both sides. Many have described recent...

After another record-breaking year in the markets, what’s in store for 2022? Will it be another year of singing the “Inflation Blues?” (artist: B.B. King) or will “Three Little...

COVID and inflation are key concerns for investors, but how central banks navigate these uncertainties may be more...

Investment markets began to show signs of fatigue in September, though most asset classes were able to produce positive returns for the third...

The bull market is alive and well as the S&P 500 posted its strongest first-half-year gains since 1998.  However, last winter’s optimism over the development of effective vaccines and an...

Each quarter, we bring you inside Colony’s Investment Committee discussions to learn, first-hand, about the trends that affect the markets, and how they may shape our investment outlook. Top trends we’re...

Trading in investment markets over the past twelve-plus months has been extraordinary. Aggressive monetary and fiscal policy responses and the medical community’s rapid development of effective vaccines marked the fastest recovery...

In the 2021: Great Expectations webinar, our Investment Leadership Team provided their insights on the markets and economy and addressed questions on the minds of investors including: Should investors anticipate similar...

Most investment markets posted strong returns for 2020 despite grappling with a pandemic and one of the worst global economic crises since the Great Depression. While counterintuitive to many,...

Generating tax alpha and building selectively around concentrated stock positions are direct indexing’s primary benefits, according to Brian Katz, CIO of The Colony Group.

As Appeared in Bloomberg by Suzanne Woolley In the wake of a tumultuous U.S. presidential election, and with the Covid-19 pandemic upending almost every aspect of our lives, sitting...

Rays of light shone upon the investment markets this week after policymakers pulled out their big guns often referred to by investment commentators as the bazooka. As the magnitude...

People are gripped with fear. We fear getting sick, losing our jobs, and watching our portfolios decline in value. That is a very understandable reaction to the crisis in which we currently find...

For our most recent update on the COVID-19, please read: What A Week, Really This Time Equity markets opened sharply down again this morning following President Trump’s address to the nation....

By: Jason Blackwell, CFA, CAIA®, Chief Investment Strategist; Brian Katz, CFA, Chief Investment Officer; Richard Steinberg, CFA, Chief Market Strategist A review of October’s investment returns may cause you...

Clients are asking more than ever of their advisors. Routine conversations around having enough to retire, saving for college, or leaving a financial legacy have become more robust as...

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) delivered a 25bps interest rate hike last week that was largely in line with expectations.  This marked only the third interest rate hike...

Investors’ focus shifted last week to the U.K.’s European Union (EU) referendum vote, otherwise known as Brexit, which is being held on Thursday, June 23rd.  Global equities declined in...

Presidential candidate frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump suffered setbacks last week as both lost in the Wisconsin primaries.  Clinton has a commanding delegate lead over Bernie Sanders, 1,758...

The markets’ bounce off the February 11th lows is remarkable.  Sparked by a bottom in oil prices, accommodative central banks, and better than expected economic numbers, risk assets have...