Investors de-risked portfolios in July by closing the popular long Nasdaq / short Russell 200 “pair trade” , leaving the S&P 500 with a gain on the month as sector rotation kept a lid on the VIX and hedge expense in TCM portfolios at a minimum.

While VIX is low and markets are trending higher, hedge expense is the main risk to portfolios and in these periods, a dogmatic hedging approach often costs investors more than the market declines they seek to avoid.

Determining when to take Social Security benefits is one of the most consequential decisions a soon-to-be retiree must make. With the help of state of the art software, TCM Planning can help simplify the process.

For now, low VIX and tight credit spreads reflect little worry of imminent systemic stress and under such conditions, we view hedge expense as the main risk to manage with market decline risk taking precedence only once conditions turn enough to make an imminent crisis more likely.

TCM has moved beyond inefficient continuous “hedging” with a uniquely efficient risk management strategy that seeks a better balance between market decline and hedge expense threats.  While its dramatic potential during rare crisis declines tends to grab the spotlight, subtle but consistent expense management has actually been the major source of the strategy’s value since inception.