Let’s Talk About the Fed:
Can Twelve Unelected Bureaucrats
Really Know the Right Interest Rate?
Chief Investment Strategist, Piedmont Trust Company
Announcements:
- The Income Special Interest Group will meet on October 18th. See Chapter Information/#SIGs for details on all SIG meetings.
- Following the meeting, please join us and our speaker for lunch at the Cape Fear Seafood Company (Village District).
Presentation Summary:
We are living and investing in a time of uncertainty, which requires patience and discipline, plus some confidence in the rules of the road policy wise. Today, fiscal, tariff and tax policy announcements come thick and fast, then change or reverse. Monetary policy seems placid in comparison but is generating lots of sparks as the Federal Reserve itself seems uncertain about the right course for policy. Budget policy wanders rudderless toward the shoals of fiscal calamity. Can twelve members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) know the correct interest rate for a dynamic, innovating $30 trillion economy? Wouldn’t the market know better? We’ll explore the record of Fed policy and discuss how to position for what might lie ahead.
What you will learn:
- The impact of Fed policy on key economic variables over time.
- How Fed policy affects asset prices and creates policy expectations.
- Why investors should be skeptical of Fed policy efficacy in the current environment.
- How investors might structure more uncertainty-resistant portfolios.
Meeting Details:
Date: Saturday, October 11th, 2025
Time: 10:00 a.m. ET (mix and mingle starts at 9:30)
Location: Fairmont United Methodist Church: 2501 Clark Avenue Raleigh, NC 27607. See map of Fairmont for parking, building entrances, and the number of stairs entrances require.
Virtual access: To register to attend the Zoom webinar, please purchase a ticket on our chapter’s Square account. Then, please register with Zoom so you can receive reminders one and 24 hours before the meeting.
Cost: $10 cash (in-person) or electronic payment (webinar)
Before attending in person, please read: the AAII Protocol for In-Person Meetings
If you feel sick, please join us virtually.
About Our Speaker
John earned a BA from Davidson College and a PhD from UNC-Chapel Hill. He has held faculty positions at the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business Administration and UNCG’s Bryan School of Business and Economics. John’s practical experience includes trading commodities for a NYC investment bank and relationship and investment management roles for private wealth and family office firms. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of CFA Institute and the CFA NC Society. John’s community involvement includes the United Way of Greater Greensboro and Family Service of the Triad.
For over 95 years, Piedmont Trust Company has served as the family office for a large Greensboro-based family now in its sixth generation. Piedmont also works with other multi-generation families to meet their investment management, fiduciary, tax planning, foundation administration, and estate and financial planning needs.