by David Chapman
Staff Writer
It’s been a rocky couple years for the economy and investments of all kinds, but business owners and investors look toward 2010 with hope. During its December meeting, members of the North Florida Chapter of the Association of Corporate Growth — the local chapter of professionals involved in corporate growth, development, mergers and acquisitions — received advice from three different sources during a panel discussion looking ahead to the coming year.
Rick Smith, senior vice president of Mercantile Bank; Mark Travis, owner of Intrepid Capital; and Steve Sjuggerud, author of True Wealth investment newsletter, highlighted some of their strategies during the “Where the Heck Do I Invest in 2010?” discussion to a crowd of close to 50.
Smith began the discussion by going through a timeline of events over the last 18 months that led to the down period, a list that included a litany of bank collapses, asset freezes, bailouts and increased levels of debt. All the events changed investment behavior, said Smith, whose conservative approach included portfolio diversification among U.S. stocks, fixed income, international stocks and cash.
“We’re in the perfect environment for the market to go up,” he said, explaining that while his advice might not yield huge returns, they are consistent.
Having a plan, being consistent in following said plan and rebalancing target allocations to produce consistent returns year-to-year is the goal, he advised.
Smith’s timeline made Travis cringe, but while he said he viewed the market as nearing fair value, he advised investing in safe brands and defensive names (“Beer, socks and underwear,” he said), including the likes of Prestige Brands, makers of over-the-counter health care and cleaning products, and Central Garden & Pets, which produces outdoor living and pet products.
Sjuggerud went in another direction with his advice, discussing recent stories of purchasing assets in one of the hardest hit industries: real estate.
“I like to fish in ponds where no one else has been,” he analogized.
He advised the group to think outside-the-box in the coming year with ideas such as tax deed and tax certificate acquisitions, in addition to methods used by investor Mebane Faber of simply sticking with investments that worked the previous month. Doing so, he said, will help investors set off-board and cut losses before a bubble completely bursts.
Each of the panelists are local, which North Florida ACG President Matt Laffey said highlights the level of local talent. Yet while their location might have been similar, their views were different and is the reason Laffey wanted them to speak to the organization.
“They’re three very different voices,” said Laffey. “But we wanted to put them together to see what they said ... hopefully our members walked away with an idea or two.”
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