Fed Rate Cuts and Portfolio Strategy: A Family Office Perspective
The Federal Reserve did something unusual today. It cut rates by 25 basis points, which nobody much argued with, and then spent the next hour telling markets to stop expecting more of them. The dot plot shifted. Seven officials now want zero cuts in 2026. Chair Powell used the phrase "well positioned to wait and see" with the careful emphasis of a man trying to be heard over a room of people making plans he would prefer they did not make. For family offices that have watched three quarter-point cuts land in four months, the important question is no longer what the Fed just did. It is what the Fed has just told you about 2026, and whether your family office investment strategy reflects that message or still reflects the one markets were writing in September. When we wrote about the September cut , the framing was a beginning. This is not. A 9-3 vote, three dissents running in both directions, a median projection of one 2026 cut against market pricing of three, and a Chair ...