Quarterly Update: A Year of Both Risk and Return?

Both stocks and bonds enjoyed positive returns in the Third Quarter 2019, adding to already-impressive performance from the first half of the year. Declining interest rates again deserve much of the credit for these attractive investment returns. Pessimism regarding global economic growth along with central bank accommodation compressed interest rates to historically low levels. Yet when looking beneath the surface, there were several extraordinary events that happened in the Third Quarter, including witnessing mileposts that might indicate to investors the nature of the current risk environment and the challenges facing them in the coming quarters.