What if the most dangerous moment for an investor is not when the market falls, but when fear feels completely reasonable?

It was just past 7 a.m. on a Monday when a longtime client, a seasoned and busy executive with two decades of C-suite experience, called during his commute. “I skimmed three headlines about the Fed, inflation, and some bad news about chip stocks,” he said, “but I don’t have time to connect the dots. You’ve got this right?”

April demonstrated the importance of being prepared for market uncertainty. The month began with the White House’s April 2 tariff announcement on nearly all trading partners. These tariffs were far higher than investors had expected, leading to fears of rising inflation, a global economic slowdown, and a trade war. Stock markets reacted with the sharpest declines since the pandemic.