The third quarter of 2021 started very strong as the economy continued to work its way through the COVID pandemic. Corporate earnings continued their strong trajectory and consumers remained active. Equities across most sectors and capitalizations experienced moderate increases in July and August however those gains were mostly erased as we moved through September. Positive market sentiment was quickly altered as news of real estate problems in China, a less than certain outlook for the Democratic driven infrastructure bill, rising inflation, and a resurgence in the delta variant all created a level of uncertainty that had not been seen for several quarters. For their part, markets corrected 5% as the uncertainty gained traction, and concerns that the economy was overheating were quickly replaced with deteriorating growth fears.

Halfway through 2021, our forecasts for this year are on track. Thanks to the rapid rollout of vaccines, the Covid-19 viral outbreak seems to be getting under control. While the
emergence of variants such as Delta and Lambda needs to be watched carefully, studies so far indicate that the vaccines protect against severe outcomes. As a result, the US economy is
booming! Almost all of our investments have beaten their outlook and raised guidance for this year. We expect this trend to continue for the rest of the year.

With the arrival of March, we stumbled across the one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 related global lockdowns that resulted in the fastest and deepest contraction in the economy since WW II. There is much to celebrate this spring, most notably continued and accelerating progress on the vaccination front.