Letter to Stakeholders, September 2026

Thursday, September 3^rd, 4:01 pm EST. Once again, I have taken a look at your statements before starting this month’s letter. Even amidst the controlled chaos of world markets, you are “up.” Last September I wrote about the “September effect” or the “seasonality” of September historically being a “down” month. And then in October of 2025, I wrote that all the talk was just that. We may see the “seasonal” declines of September but the “all weather” strategy I wrote about last month – to deliver the most return with the least amount of risk to achieve your goals – we’ll keep your accounts and your financial plans grounded regardless. 

Interest and Debt

Rather than seasonal trends, our attention is focused on historical shifts like the increase in bond interest rates here and around the world. Higher interest rates don’t only show up in mortgage loans but also in borrowing costs for corporations and our federal government. “Markets” – in this case the bond (or debt) markets – are responding to uncertainty provided by an “on again off again” war in Iran, (Canadian) tariffs and a US Secretary of the Treasury who appears to be encroaching on the job of the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC). Fiscal policy is government work, and monetary policy is the work of central banks. When the US Treasury Department (federal government) initiates buying and replacing 30-year treasury bonds for the stated purpose of managing interest rates (monetary policy), it may cause the opposite effect. This is because foreign and institutional investors may see that rare action as a sign of economic weakness. We see it as a sign to pay closer attention. 

A Changing World Order

When it comes to unsustainable debt, our country is not alone. For example, France, the UK and Japan are also managing historic interest rates associated with high public debt. Like all borrowers, as countries gets more indebted, lenders – in this case investors – will expect a higher return. Our finances are just one element of a changing world order. 

As longtime readers of these letters, you have been privy to my reading list including books like Peter Zeihan’s The End of the World is Just the Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization, and Martin Wolf’s The Shifts and the Shocks: What We’ve Learned – and Have Still to Learn from the Financial Crisis. So it will come as no surprise to you that I am thinking (and looking) longer term than today’s headlines. 

Last Saturday I was happily surprised to see Portfolio Construction in a Fracturing World on the cover of our trade magazine for advanced wealth advisors. A portion of our industry at least is recognizing the “Shifts and the Shocks” are happening again.

Resilience

Your Fall Check-Ins, the time when you share family updates with us and we share personal and firm updates with you are starting next month! I’ll start by sharing we’re launching a new website, a newsletter and renewed emphasis on how we approach sustainability. The recent warning by the United Nations that exceeding 1.5°C over preindustrial levels is all but inevitable was sad. The Limiting Overshoot report states that the opportunities we have left to change that prediction is dependent on acting aggressively now. But there is hope that our economic shifts may actually help us.

The international commerce and globalization that took root in the 1980s was based on outsourcing, specialization, efficiency and lower costs. Aging demographics in developed countries, rising wages in developed countries, persistent inflation and new trade barriers are changing the calculus for organization in the 2020s and beyond. The “rise of resilience” as an investment theme may point the investor class towards the long-term value of sustainability many have been advocating for years. 

The Future

There aren’t many advisors (yet) that are adjusting their narratives around the structural changes we see coming for our global economy. We are looking at new opportunities to invest in natural resources, higher yield (interest/dividends) and resilient infrastructure. As a FAMILY wealth management firm, we are here to talk with any of your family members – or people you consider family – to help them wrap their minds around the economic themes we see evolving over the next few years. 

And speaking of family, this summer my daughter Audrey spent some time with our firm to help us study Value Creation Familyby Lee Benson. These were her findings. 

Jason J. Howell, CFP®, CPWA®, CSRIC® 

President

Jason Howell Company is a family wealth management firm serving successful families across three generations: parents, adult children, and aging grandparents. These families created wealth during one of the most extraordinary periods of globalization and economic expansion in modern history, often achieving a level of success they never imagined. Today, their challenge has shifted from creating wealth to stewarding it amid an increasingly complex global economy that is becoming less integrated, more fragmented and rapidly changing. 

Jason Howell Company helps families understand the historical forces shaping today’s opportunities and challenges. Our services include sustainable investment strategy, family governance, philanthropic planning, business succession planning, liquidity event planning, estate and tax planning coordination. Working as part of each family's team of trusted advisors, we help align financial, legal, tax, philanthropic, and family decisions around a unified family strategy built around the family's long-term values and goals. 

The firm serves approximately 100 families from its headquarters in Virginia.