Hunt Valley, MD – Hardesty Capital Management announced the retirement of company cofounder James D. Hardesty, CFA, effective April 15, 2015. Hardesty’s decision to retire will end an extraordinary 45-year career in the investment management industry.
Mr. Hardesty served as Chairman of the Board, Market Strategist and Chief Economist. He cofounded Hardesty Capital in 1995 with V. Randolph McMenamin, CFA, Managing Director and Vice President of Hardesty Capital Management. After retiring, Mr. Hardesty now serves as Chairman Emeritus of Hardesty Capital, and he continues to serve in a consulting role mentoring young staff members.
Mr. Hardesty held numerous leadership positions in the industry prior to Hardesty Capital, including Chief Investment Officer and Executive Vice President at Mercantile Safe Deposit and Trust Company. Under his leadership at Hardesty Capital, assets under management have grown to just under one billion dollars.
In addition to his business activities, Jim sits on a number of industry and non-profit boards. He currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Board for the Harford Mutual Insurance Company. Previously, he was Trustee of LINC (Learning Independence Through Computers) as well as the Board of Family & Children’s Services of (more…)
Dear Clients and Friends,
Since its founding, Hardesty Capital Management has enjoyed almost 20 years in historic Mt. Vernon, one of Baltimore City’s most unique and historic districts. Our East Read Street offices have accommodated company growth from several employees to a current staff of 14 financial professionals and almost $1 billion in client assets.
As Hardesty Capital looks to the future, we’ve concluded that a larger and more updated space is necessary. In addition to more offices and conference space, our firm requires a building with state-of-the art technical capabilities that ensures our maximum efficiency.
As importantly, many of our clients have expressed a desire to have their investment (more…)
One of the last acts of the recent Congress, the “Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008” that was signed into law by President Bush on December 23, 2008, included a temporary one-year waiver of required minimum distributions (RMD) from IRAs and most defined contributions plans offered by an employer. These include traditional individual retirement accounts (IRAs), simplified employee pension (SEP) IRAs, savings incentive match plan for employees (SIMPLE) IRAs, inherited IRAs (including inherited Roth IRAs), defined contribution plans (401(k) plans, profit sharing plans, and money purchase pension plans), as well as 403(b) custodial accounts. In general, there is no distribution requirement for non-inherited Roth IRAs. The special waiver is in effect only for distributions that would have been required for 2009.
At the outset, the reader might be cautioned that there’s rarely anything drier than a missive throwing around retirement acronyms, age thresholds, calendar dates and tax consequences… it can become quickly confusing, to the point of inducing narcolepsy. “Forewarned is forearmed,” as the saying goes… we’ll give it our best shot in explaining the current landscape. If you’re still “in the dark” thereafter, the fault rests with us, not you—by all means, give us a call and we’ll attempt to clarify. (more…)
Fear and greed drive markets. In Jim’s letter, he explains how we got to where we are so quickly. But to summarize in a word, it was greed. Greed was everywhere, not just on Wall Street, as the media would like you to think. Greed pushed the price of oil to nearly $150 per barrel. Greed convinced speculators to buy homes they intended on flipping. Greed motivated some home-buyers to “fudge” their mortgage applications. Greed convinced mortgage brokers that credit worthiness really did not matter. Greed inspired banks and brokers to securitize these mortgages. And greed produced the over-leveraged balance sheets loaded with these securities.
Now, fear has taken over. Fear forced Bear Stearns into the arms of JP Morgan. Fear brought on the nationalization of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Fear drove AIG, the world’s largest insurer, to the brink of bankruptcy. Fear seized up the credit markets. Fear forced Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to give up their investment banking business models. Fear pummeled stock prices with record force as the volatility index spiked to record levels. Fear is everywhere.
From peak to trough, the stock market has dropped by more than 30% through the first week of October. For investors with a time horizon of anything longer than a year, getting out of the market at this point makes no sense. Most of the pain has been inflicted. Stocks could go lower but clearly a tremendous amount of bad news is already priced into the market. After all of this, a “professional investor” goes on national television and advises people to get out of the market? That should prove to be one of the all-time bad calls ever made. The bigger problem with getting investors out at the bottom is they most likely will not get back in when the market improves. (more…)
