Navigating Market Uncertainty: Top Strategist Jack Ablin Shares His 3 Keys to a Resilient Portfolio

CHICAGO – In an environment where investors are seeking both growth and stability, one of the nation’s leading financial minds is pointing toward a time-tested trifecta: companies led by their founders, an allocation to private markets, and a focus on businesses that consistently reward shareholders with dividends.

Jack Ablin, the Chief Investment Strategist at wealth management firm Cresset, has outlined these three pillars as central to his investment philosophy. His approach offers a roadmap for investors looking to build a resilient portfolio designed to weather economic shifts and capture long-term value.

Here’s a closer look at the strategy and the rationale behind each component.

1. Betting on Founder-CEOs

Ablin’s preference for companies still helmed by their founders is a vote of confidence in visionary leadership. Founder-led businesses often benefit from a leader with an unparalleled passion for the company, a deep understanding of the industry, and a “skin in the game” mentality that aligns their interests directly with long-term shareholders. This long-range perspective can lead to more consistent innovation and strategic decision-making, as opposed to a focus on short-term quarterly results.

2. The Power of Private Markets

Moving beyond the daily volatility of the stock market, Ablin highlights the strategic advantage of including private-market assets in a portfolio. This asset class, which includes private equity, venture capital, and private credit, can offer diversification and access to growth opportunities not available on public exchanges. By investing in private markets, individuals can tap into early-stage companies with high growth potential or secure stable income streams from private lending, often with less correlation to the public market’s swings.

3. The Enduring Appeal of Dividends

The third pillar of Ablin’s strategy is a focus on dividend-paying companies. These are typically mature, financially stable businesses with a proven track record of generating consistent cash flow. For investors, dividends provide a regular income stream, which can be reinvested to harness the power of compounding or used to supplement income. Furthermore, a consistent dividend policy is often a strong indicator of a company’s financial health and management’s confidence in its future earnings, making these stocks a defensive cornerstone in any portfolio.

By combining these three elements, the strategy aims to create a balanced and robust portfolio that blends the dynamic growth of founder-led innovation, the diversifying power of private assets, and the reliable income of established dividend payers.