Preparing Your Portfolio for the Election

As the Presidential election quickly approaches, I keep reminding advisors and clients of my number 1 rule of election year investing:

Do not let your political opinions influence your investment decisions.

We hosted a short webinar discussing more on the election including:

• What the data says we should expect from the election
• What to expect from the markets before and after the election
• How you should be adjusting your portfolios to prepare for the election
• How SEM's systems are planning to adjust before and after the big event

One of the charts from the presentation really tells the story – over the past 16 years we've seen a spike in Independent voters. The first 6 years of the move came at the expense of Republicans. Since 2014 we've seen Democrats decline, Republicans rise slightly, and Independents gain a 10% advantage over both Democrats and Republicans.

A big part of the change could be the rising interest in Gen X and Millennial voters in politics, with both generations largely favoring being Independent. Democrats have maintained a similar advantage with Gen X & Millennials, but Republicans have lost the two youngest generations.

In 2018, Gen X, Millennial, and Gen Z voters outnumbered the Silent & Boomer generation for the first time ever. Logic would tell me if either party wants to survive, they need to start asking why so many people in the younger generation have become Independents