It has become a tradition for the RIA team at Mercer Capital to end the blog year with a “unique” annual summary of industry events, riffing off Clement Clark Moore’s classic “A Visit from St. Nicholas.”  We hope all of you in the investment management community are enjoying the holiday season and looking forward to the many opportunities of the new year.  We look forward to hearing from you in 2024.  For now, please enjoy the finest only holiday poem written about money management.

Happy Holidays from Mercer Capital’s RIA Team!

‘Twas the night before Christmas, I sat at my desk,
Doom-scrolling news-feeds that left me distressed;
My stocking was hung, but I didn’t much care,
‘Cause I couldn’t make sense of this very strange year.

My colleagues were making their bets on the Fed,
Forecasting the next shoe to drop on their head;
Talking threats from inflation, the climate, and war,
And risks to this rally too hard to ignore.

Smart though they were, I just couldn’t listen,
A gloomy malaise had possessed my whole system;
So weary, was I, from emotional rout –
I drank all the scotch in my desk and passed out.

I dreamt that I saw a man rise from the mist,
Just like Adam Smith, the Scottish economist;
A ghost in an academic gown and a kilt,
Who could tout his free-market ideas without guilt.

His accent was thick, and hard to understand,
But he spoke of the market’s invisible hand;
How selfish ambitions help people worldwide –
And at that point he lost me, and so I replied:

“Invisible Hands? That sounds more like the knowledge,
That I tried on co-eds when I was in college.
Banks stocks have foundered, though real rates are falling –
The market says ‘Pivot,’ but Jay Powell is stalling.”

“Bitcoin, of all things, has really set sail,
In spite of Sam Friedman being locked up in jail;
Tech stocks are back, gold bears no relation,
To Mr. Market’s immaculate disinflation.”

“Great Scot!” cried the ghost, “how your thinking is primitive,
You’ve clearly ignored every second derivative;
Regulation has put bank returns out of reach,
But for now private credit is filling the breach.”

“That Covid pandemic caused such dislocations,
That we were at serious risk of stagflation;
The Fed, overall, handled this like a whiz,
But compared to Paul Volcker, Jay Powell has no rizz.”

“Equity prices are rewarding the faithful,
Term-premiums are back, and for that be grateful;
Above all, it’s Christmas, so be of good cheer,
You can’t say ‘23 wasn’t quite a good year!”

“Now go read my books if for learning you hunger,
I’m late for my dinner with friend Charlie Munger;”
But I heard him exclaim, as he faded from sight,
“Give markets a chance and they’ll settle things right!”