HS Management Partners

The "risk on/risk off" sound bite is routinely applied by financial commentators when attempting to explain inexplicable market fluctuations. As the pendulum oscillates between greed (risk on) and fear (risk off), the fulcrum the pivot point where the scale rests in perfect balance can best be characterized as safety. It is from that state of equilibrium that the market begins each trading day...

As business owners, and as a long only investment manager, optimism is in our DNA. That said, we consider ourselves to be optimistic realists: optimists grounded in reality, and aware that we have to persevere through the inevitable difficult times while believing in and planning for the better days that lie ahead. In that regard, the axiom that the more things change, the more things stay the same has applicability in the investment business. The collective experiences weve had served us well during the turbulent markets we faced in 2007/8/9.

Much has been debated about the anticipated growth of the emerging markets and the tectonic shifts in political, economic and military force that such changes may yield. While the implications are significant, we are also mindful that economic activity in developed markets not only make them worthy of investor attention, but provide the stability of cash flows that will facilitate multinationals ability to invest in developing markets. We take a holistic perspective and appreciate the size and scope of developed market profit pools as a means of self funding developing economic participation