Gene Kim reflects on another troubled moment, highlights lessons for the whole industry
As human beings, we don’t like to think much about stressful and challenging periods. A turbulent flight, an uncomfortable medical procedure, or a difficult conversation, we will often avoid thinking about those times and prefer — wherever possible — to block out that memory once we’ve made it to the other side. For advisors, a period of serious market turbulence can play a similar role. Functioning as the pilot on that turbulent flight, steering and communication decisions are all taken under a pall of heightened uncertainty and stress. For all the ways we may not want to think about those days, reflecting on behaviour can hold lessons of great value to any professional.
Gene Kim is content to reflect on the latest period of serious market turmoil. Following the announcement of widespread tariffs by Donald Trump in early April, the S&P 500 fell into bear market territory. More than a market event in isolation, the announcement of global tariffs on ‘liberation day’ felt more fundamental, as though the foundations of the global economy might shake. For Kim, founder and President of Summit Private Wealth of Mandeville Private Client Inc., navigating that moment required discipline in portfolio management and clarity in client communication.
“Clients had questions about all the uncertainty this created. Even among those who had more of a pro-Trump stance, there was very little support for this brand of economic warfare,” Kim says of his clients’ apprehension following the tariff announcements. “some clients had a visceral reaction to all the rhetoric, which made them question their position in the world and their relationship with the United States.”
Kim explains that, from a portfolio management perspective, it was his process-driven approach that helped steer his clients through. He had begun portfolio rebalances in Q4 of 2024 and Q1 of 2025, more as a function of profit taking after a significant bull run than out of fear of a major geopolitical event.
That process also dictated a more active approach less driven by index matching. Kim’s clients were therefore somewhat underweight the magnificent seven mega-cap tech names that were among the biggest losers in April. Positions in small and mid-cap equities offered some differentiation, as had alternative allocations to sectors like Canadian multifamily real estate, which Kim says has done very well for his clients.
Kim’s clients had enjoyed strong equity returns as well as solid appreciation of their allocations to private assets. Taking advantage of an opportunistic time to trim profits and add to cash positions proved extremely wise come April.
Making that shift, Kim notes, created a greater degree of resiliency in his clients’ portfolios. While he notes that they have come to expect a degree of strength, Kim also saw some clients panicked more by topline performance of major market indices than the performance of their own portfolios. Those clients who spent more time watching the news, he notes, tended to come to him with worried questions in April. Rather than acting on panic, Kim spoke to those clients about their risk appetites, asking if things had fundamentally changed for them. Their panic became part of his process.
Kim’s rebalancing in Q4 and Q1 were driven by his process, he therefore did very little in the way of portfolio changes for his clients during April’s drawdown. Notably, though, he kept his clients in relatively high cash equivalent positions with yields that could still add to total return. Those positions, which included yield producing investments, covered option strategies, and absolute return strategies, helped keep portfolios stable in an otherwise unstable time.
The instability clients felt in April, however, was more than just a market event. Unlike 2022, for example, where the drawdowns were more broad-based and sustained, the tariff policy that drove April’s bear market felt to many like a fundamental shift in the global economy. The anxiety, therefore, was also fundamental.
Kim used his existing communication channels to address that anxiety. Through weekly mini-newsletters, quarterly publications, online authored articles, and social media channels he reiterated a core message of persistence and discipline despite volatility. In client touchpoints he highlighted what was out of his or the client’s control, and what was in their control. He added historical context and explained how a market setback fit into clients’ financial plans.
Reflecting on this moment of uncertainty and challenge, Kim emphasized the care required to serve as an advisor. He noted that while advisors can never know where and when the next shock can come, they can stick to a process of portfolio management and clear communication that creates resilience.
“It's okay not to have all the answers. But you must be present through those good times and bad times,” Kim says. “We don't know when the tariff talks are going to end. We don't know when the next recession is going to hit, but we hope for the best while planning for the worst, and I think that that truly helps. Our discussions around risk appetite and evolving needs help to contextualize potential outcomes and avoid disappointments in what clients might expect.”
