Around Eagle Wealth Strategies and Aerie Tax & Advisory

By Chris Tully, CFP®, RICP®, CIMA®,

Managing Partner

Moving to Mullica Hill has been a welcome change and we’re looking forward to an “Open House” on June 6th during Harrison Township Day. Plenty of decorating is still ongoing, so you’ll have to forgive us! But we’ve been excited to have clients visit the office for review meetings, and we’re excited for others to see our building soon. Our new space will allow us to expand– potentially doubling employees – so we’re excited to have found what

could be a permanent home for years to come.

ATA (Aerie Tax & Advisory) had a successful tax season to kick off our new prep and filing service. As a reminder, EWS hired Matt Persichetti, CPA, to work with our wealth management clients who desire to have a more integrated offering (combining tax into financial planning and investments).

ATA – as an entity – was created for legal and marketing purposes, but is owned by Jess, Steff, and I, just as EWS is. Plenty of lessons learned along the way, and we’re excited to continue refining the process. We’ll be communicating those lessons learned with our ATA clients shortly as a commitment to continuous improvement. All constructive criticism is welcome!

We truly believe this combination of services will allow us to add additional value to our current and future clients in an impactful way. Planning and strategy work is next, along with more proactive “quarterly estimate” planning, for those clients who need to pay the IRS along the way.

Markets Are Up — But This Is No Time to Relax

The past quarter brought welcome news for investors: markets continued their upward trend,

and many of you have seen meaningful gains in your portfolios. The war in Iran caused a dip,

mostly in March, but losses have been erased, and stock indices are back to all-time highs.

That's genuinely good news, and we should take a moment to appreciate it. But as your advisory team, our job isn't just to celebrate the wins — it's to make sure you're positioned well for what might come next. And right now, there are a few things worth watching carefully.

Valuations Are High — What That Means for You

One of the most important gauges of whether stocks are "cheap" or "expensive" is something called the price-to-earnings ratio, or P/E ratio. Think of it this way: if you were buying a small business, you'd want to know how much you're paying relative to how much profit that business generates. The P/E ratio does exactly that for publicly traded companies.

Today, the overall market's P/E ratio is well above its long-term historical average. That doesn't mean stocks will fall tomorrow — markets can stay expensive for a long time — but it does mean there is less of a cushion if something goes wrong. High valuations tend to lead to more modest returns over the long run, and they tend to amplify losses when turbulence hits.

Geopolitical Risk Is Real, Even When Markets Ignore It

Financial markets have a remarkable tendency to look past geopolitical uncertainty — until they can't. The ongoing tensions involving Iran are a good example of a risk that is real but not yet fully priced in by markets. Any significant escalation in that region could affect global energy supplies, disrupt trade routes, and shake investor confidence quickly. We've seen before how fast senti ment can shift when an overseas conflict moves from a headline to a market event. We’re not predicting that happens — but prudent planning means we don't wait for it to happen before we think about it.

What This Means for Your Portfolio

None of this is a reason to panic, move to cash, or abandon a long-term investment strategy. History is clear that trying to time the market — getting out before a drop and back in before the recovery — rarely works and often backfires. What it does suggest is that now is a smart time to review whether your portfolio still reflects your actual risk tolerance and time horizon. If the thought of a 20% drop in your portfolio would cause you significant stress or force a life change, that's important information. A well-diversified portfolio with an allocation that lets you sleep at night is your best defense against an uncertain world.

For our retirement accounts, we’re in the process of conducting full rebalances. For non-

retirement accounts – where taxes, particularly capital gains, are important to keep in mind –

we’re looking to strategically shift by reducing or increasing specific funds and categories.

As always, we’re here to talk through your specific situation. The goal isn't to predict the future — no one can do that reliably. The goal is to make sure that whatever the future brings, you're prepared for it.