 Suzy O'Neal was the star of the show last Thursday. Early in the program, she was presented with her blue badge by Anne Eckert. Anne related to us how Suzy achieved this accomplishment and responsibility in a very short period of time. We are thrilled to have her with us as a full-fledged member of Cameron Park Rotary! Then for the main program, Suzy, representing her vocation as a Financial Advisor at Edward Jones in Cameron Park, together with a colleague, Rob Ferguson of MFS Investment Management, presented us with some good Rules of the Road for investing and with a Market Update. the Rules that Suzy expanded on were: Diversify for a Solid Foundation; Stick with Quality; Invest for the Long Term; and Have Realistic Expectations. Part of "Stick with Quality" means to not be chasing the latest fad in stocks. Last year equities involved in the newly legal cannabis industry looked very promising. This year, they have had a significant downturn. Rob is a Regional Manager of MFS based in Granite Bay. MFS established the very first mutual fund in 1924, and today, they manage a half trillion dollars in assets and have analysts all over the world. Some of the trends that Rob and MFS believe have staying power include: 1) Tech Innovation, particularly as it involves exploding computing power in cloud service providers and data science. Both Amazon and Microsoft had very fast growth in this area last year. 2) E-commerce: although e-commerce seems ubiquitous, it still accounts for only 18% of retail sales, leaving a lot of room for growth. 3) Demographics, such as the maturation of the Millenial generation, as they are now the largest generation and coming into their own as far as purchasing power. This should be good for makers of cars, SUVs and trucks and for builders of homes. The presentation by Suzy and Rob held the audience in rapt attention and was much appreciated. |
