Investment Management

Market Perspective: A Deeper Look at Bear Market Rallies

March 2, 2023


John Allen
John Allen

Chief Investment Officer, Partner

John joined Aspiriant in 2014 as Chief Investment Officer. As CIO, John is primarily responsible for leading the firm’s overall Investment Strategy & Research Group, broadly consisting of 12 professionals. The group is responsible for asset allocation, portfolio construction, manager selection and risk management. John also chairs the firm’s Investment Committee and serves on a number of other committees. He has over 20 years of experience in investment management, investment banking, corporate finance advisory and business strategy consulting.

Prior to joining the firm, John was a senior member of the client service team at Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo (GMO), which manages approximately $80 billion across a wide-range of public equities, fixed income, hedge funds and asset allocation funds. In that role, John had primary responsibility for 80 clients and $6.5 billion in assets under management.

Prior to joining GMO, John was the Head of Investments at a large family office in Los Angeles. There, John had responsibility for managing the firm’s overall investment portfolio as well as its direct investments. Previously, John established his career working in the investment banking department at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and in the business consulting practice at Stern Stewart & Co. Throughout his career, John has served on the boards of directors of three private companies.

John earned a Bachelor of Science degree with high distinction from the Economics Department at the University of Virginia. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) designation and the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation. He is also a member of the CFA Institute and CAIA Association.

John lives in Los Angeles with his family.

Phil J. Kastenholz
Phil J. Kastenholz

Director in Investment Strategy & Research, Partner

Phil joined Aspiriant as a Principal in 2010 as a result of the acquisition of Deloitte Investment Advisors. Phil has served as a member of the Investment Committee for Deloitte and Aspiriant. He has been providing high net worth individuals and families’ investment and wealth advisory services since 1999. Phil brings broad experience to client relationships including investment portfolio design, income tax consulting, and charitable and family wealth transfer planning.

Prior to joining Aspiriant, Phil worked at Deloitte Investment Advisors as a Senior Manager for the Milwaukee office since 2002. His career began in 1999 at the accounting firm Arthur Andersen LLP.

Phil received a Bachelor’s degree in accounting from Marquette University in 1999. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder, and a Certified Financial PlannerTM professional (CFP®). He is a member of the AICPA and CFA Institute.

Phil and his wife, Bree, live in Franklin, WI with their three children. In his free time, he enjoys reading, coaching soccer, and spending time with his family. Phil and his family are members of St. Alphonsus Parish in Greendale. Phil serves on the Board of Directors and finance committee of the Milwaukee Kickers Soccer Club.

Stephen Kawasaki
Stephen Kawasaki

Manager in Investment Strategy & Research, Partner

Stephen brings nearly a decade of investment management experience to his role as a Senior Research Analyst in the Investment Strategy & Research group. Stephen works with his colleagues from our
Orange County office on asset allocation, investment strategy and manager selection decisions.

Prior to joining Aspiriant in 2016, Stephen was a member of the Investment Committee at Balasa Dinverno Foltz LLC, which manages assets primarily for individuals, families and institutional clients. In addition to investment strategy responsibilities, he provided investment and wealth advisory services to high net worth individuals and families.

Stephen earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Financial Planning with high honors from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®), Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA), and the Certified Financial PlannerTMTM (CFP®) designations. He is also a member of the CFA Institute and CAIA Association.

Stephen lives in Orange County with his family.


Important Disclosures

Aspirant is an investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which does not suggest a certain level of skill and training. Additional information regarding Aspiriant and its advisory practices can be obtained via the following link: www.aspiriant.com.

Information contained herein is considered confidential, private and Aspiriant proprietary inside information that is intended only for the audience to which Aspiriant has knowingly distributed this presentation to, either by way of request or voluntarily. Any redistribution of this material without our prior express written permission is a violation of Aspirant’s privacy policy adopted to comport with various state and federal privacy laws that may subject any unauthorized distributor to legal action.

All opinions, figures, charts/graphs, estimates and data included in this document are as on date and are subject to change without notice. The statements contained herein may include statements of future expectations, for general market performance or economic conditions, and other forward-looking statements that are based on our current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions, current beliefs and expectations. Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, estimates, risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to: economic, business, market and geopolitical conditions; U.S. and foreign regulatory developments relating to, among other things, financial institutions and markets, government oversight, fiscal and tax policy. Any forward-looking information should not be regarded as a representation by Aspiriant or any other person that estimates or expectations contemplated will be achieved, as the future is not predictable.

Past performance is not indicative of future results. There can be no assurances that any strategy will meet its investment objectives. All investments can lose value. The performance and volatility of an investor’s portfolio will not be the same as the index. Indices are unmanaged and have no fees. An investment may not be made directly in an index. The data used in this material was obtained from third-party sources the firm believes are reliable and internally. Aspiriant is not responsible for the accuracy of any third-party data used in the construction of this presentation. This information alone is not sufficient and should not be used for the development or implementation of an investment strategy. It should not be construed as investment advice to any party. Investing in securities, such as equity, fixed income and mutual funds, involves the risk of partial or complete loss of capital that prospective investors should be prepared to bear. Any reference to securities, directly or indirectly, is not a recommendation and does not represent a solicitation to buy or an offer of a solicitation to sell such securities. Any statistical information contained herein has been obtained from publicly available market data (such as, but not limited to, data published by Bloomberg Finance L.P. and its affiliates), internal research and regulatory filings.

Nasdaq Composite Index is a broad-based capitalization weighted index of over 3,000 stocks listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

The S&P 500 is a market-capitalization weighted index that includes the 500 most widely held companies chosen with respect to market size, liquidity and industry.


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