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Asset Allocation

Staying invested: long-term investment horizons

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The advice to “stay invested” is probably as old as the idea of investing itself. Yet it’s often tough advice to follow, especially when rising volatility and worries about economic growth concern you. Even so, staying the course and remaining invested in the markets is often the best way to make sure your long-term goals are still on track. And a look at historical trends helps demonstrate why this is so.

Equity markets tend to go up more than down (as represented by the S&P 500® index)
Equity markets tend to go up more than down 
When markets decline, they tend to recover relatively quickly

 

In 82 of the 88 market declines, the recovery was under one year.

The risk is in the miss

Let’s explore the performance of a $10,000 investment in the S&P 500® Index over a 10-, 20- and 30-year time periods (as of 31 Dec 2022).

The risk is in the miss
 

Historical equity market drawdowns and subsequent recoveries (1937 - 2022)

Historical equity market drawdowns and subsequent recoveries
 

Professional management can help take emotions out of financial decisions and markets. The irrational behavior caused by behavioral biases can impose significant costs on individuals portfolio performance.

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The investment community spends a lot of time discussing the risk of different investments, but we don’t often spend time discussing how that risk is actually defined.

The S&P 500® Index (S&P 500) is an unmanaged index of 500 stocks that is generally representative of the performance of larger companies in the U.S. Performance does not reflect the impact of fees and expenses. Investors cannot invest directly in an index. Unmanaged index returns do not reflect any fees, expenses or sales charges. Total return is the actual rate of return of an investment or a pool of investments over a given evaluation period. Total return includes interest, capital gains, dividends and distributions realized over a given period of time.

Important information on risk

All investments carry a certain degree of risk, including possible loss of principal, and there is no assurance that an investment will provide positive performance over any period of time.

Nuveen provides investment advisory solutions through its investment specialists.
Nuveen Securities, LLC, member FINRA and SIPC.

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