Would you rather have annual returns of 5%,10% or 20%? Easy choice, isn’t it? Now alternate those positive returns with corresponding -5%, -10% and -20% losses and choose again.

Stadion believes that keeping realized gains through all market cycles

Bear market declines last an average of 18 months, with a subsequent average recovery time of 42 months. Stadion was created with one goal in mind: to reduce the impact and severity of bear markets.

We believe staying the course has proven to be a successful investment strategy. However, many investors prefer to take a more conservative approach to owning equities.

The Ups, Downs & Bears

Since 1885, the DJIA has experienced 83 up years and 46

Market risk, also called systematic risk, is undiversifiable. Although managing risk through equity diversification sounds promising, the heightened correlation between equity asset classes and sectors during bear markets has shown that diversification does little to reduce losses.

It can take years to accumulate a meaningful gain from investing. Unfortunately, those gains can be wiped out by a single bear market cycle.

Full Market Cycles. The chart below indicates how bull market gains became mediocre returns across full market cycles. Note that returns are similarly impacted regardless of what comes first, the bull or the bear.