How to Ride the Waves of Market Volatility

Investing hard-earned savings can be a daunting process filled with anxiety for many households, especially when planning for retirement, the kids’ college educations or both. The same feelings can also describe choosing a firm to handle a family’s financial future in an often volatile market.

When looking for help, Josh Deeter, the president of Deeter

Advisory Group, suggests counting the number of times you want to meet face-to-face with your advisor and doing research to get a clear overview of the firm.

"You should have high expectations when it comes to what a firm can offer you regarding service, relationship and communication," says Deeter. "It would also make sense to ask for three to five referrals of current clients. People you can call and ask honest questions to.

"Another question you need to ask is ‘How many people are getting paid off of my money?’  There are tons of layers of fees in the financial services industry. Be sure your advisor uses the term ‘full fee disclosure.’ This can be a touchy subject as many advisors in today’s world don’t tell their clients exactly what fees they are paying."

Deeter follows his own advice and takes a more customized and personal approach to make clients confident of his firm’s decisions.

"There’s no ‘one size fits all’ investment strategy," says Deeter. "We customize each client’s portfolio to their specific goals and risk tolerances. Our clients will never feel like a number. You’ll never call me and have to press five different options only to get someone who doesn’t know who you are.  My clients are given one phone number – my cell phone number."

The Deeter Advisory Group has stayed small and independent to be able to offer clients personalized ideas that are the best for that person’s situation – not just a trending strategy that won’t work for every client.

"My independence is just as important as the size of my client base," says Deeter. "I have no affiliations with a larger brokerage house or bank. I don’t work for anyone but my clients. And by staying smaller, I can offer the service, communication and relationship that each of my clients deserve."

With more than 14 years in the industry, Deeter has learned the secret to surviving financial crises from working through two bear markets and two recessions.

"I help take the emotion out of investing," says Deeter. "Emotion is usually what leads to poor financial decisions. I can help us take a step back from the ledge when scary financial times occur.

"The volatility of the last couple of years is unprecedented and is most likely here to stay, for now at least. I help my clients ride the waves of the global market by getting to know them and understanding what they are comfortable with.  For my more aggressive client, I would use the volatility to our advantage by putting cash to work when dips and corrections occur. For my less aggressive clients who don’t want to ride a 15 to 20 percent correction like we saw in 2015, we would use tactics to sidestep most of the volatility."

Deeter credits much of his firm’s success on independently selecting his support staff.

"I have surrounded my company with support from a number of the industry leaders in back office, research and analysis," he says. "Unlike advisors at a larger firm who may be forced to use support (that) the parent company uses, I have the information of the best and brightest companies at my fingertips that I can recommend to my clients.  

"And by knowing my clients as well as I do, I am able to make the best decision for them and their financial future in all types of situations." 

Deeter Advisory Group is located at 621 Wooster Pike, Terrace Park, OH 45174. You can reach them at 513.289.5056 or visit www.deeteradvisory.com.