Oct 23, 2024
2 'tactical' portfolio shifts to consider ahead of the election
Kurt Reiman, UBS Global Wealth Management ElectionWatch co-lead, joins Catalysts to discuss how investors can best prepare for the election. Reiman expects heightened volatility around the election, and adds, "Some of the financial market outcomes that we're seeing are perfectly reasonable within the context of this elevated volatility that we're seeing." However, he notes that this will likely be a contested election: "We have a very narrowly divided country. The polls are telling us this. The prediction markets are not. And that's kind of an interesting sort of dichotomy with what's happening." It could take weeks to receive an official outcome, so Reiman encourages investors to avoid making large, strategic portfolio shifts during this time. Yet, there are investments that he says could be "helpful" over the next year. He points to gold (GC=F) as an example, arguing that it is not only a good asset to hold amid volatility but also when central banks are shifting their reserves. He also highlights the utilities sector (XLU), noting that it is a beneficiary of increased AI demand and is a "more stable dividend player." "The point is that making some tactical shifts in the portfolio to add a little bit of robustness to it going into what may be a contested election is not a bad idea. But what I would not recommend is large portfolio shifts because of concerns about the risk of a contested election," Reiman tells Yahoo Finance. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Catalysts here. This post was written by Melanie Riehl
