News & Investment Updates From Fulcrum Wealth Advisors

Markets tend to test discipline in different ways over time. Periods of rapid change make investors crave adaptability, while periods of persistence make them want patience. Neither suggests something is wrong, but both can challenge the instinct to assign meaning to every market move.

Recently, market trends have been on a positive streak for longer than many investors might have expected. Extended stretches like these often invite interpretation. Yet, history shows that duration alone provides limited insight into what comes next.

At Fulcrum Wealth Advisors, our approach is designed with this reality in mind. Rather than drawing conclusions from the length of a market move, we rely on a systematic investing process that evaluates market behavior objectively and adjusts as conditions evolve. This framework allows portfolios to remain aligned with prevailing trends without requiring precise forecasts or discretionary timing decisions.

This month’s Note provides historical context around extended market trends and explains why discipline remains essential both when markets are steady and when they are changing.

But first, here’s a summary of the global asset classes utilized in our portfolios and their exposures for February.

When uncertainty rises, investors often default to recent experience or familiar narratives, even when those approaches quietly accumulate risk.

The year 2025 has highlighted how quickly that can happen:

• A sharp, policy-driven sell-off early in the year was followed by a rapid recovery
• Market leadership remained concentrated in a small group of mega-cap and AI-related stocks
• Volatility appeared in short, intense bursts
• Global markets challenged assumptions formed over the prior decade

These were not developments that could be reliably predicted in advance. Attempting to do so would have required constant judgment calls at exactly the wrong moments. This is why at Fulcrum Wealth Advisors, our focus is not on forecasting what comes next, but on maintaining a rules-based investing process that adapts as trends emerge.

This month’s Note reviews the defining market themes of 2025 and how our portfolios responded as conditions evolved. Think of it as our version of “Spotify Wrapped,” but for the markets.

But first, here’s a summary of the global asset classes utilized in our portfolios and their exposures for January.