Our Chief Market Strategist James Thorne gives our team a leading-edge, curating insights from data sources and providing analysis to help our investment advisors select the best possible assets and plans for clients. Jim is a top-industry expert, translating complex economic and market issues and grounding his counsel in historical context to help advisors and investors navigate short-term issues with their potential impact on financial goals. His views consider global economic, political, and financial market events and their short and long-term portfolio implications.
Chief Market Strategist
Prior to joining Wellington-Altus Private Wealth, James Thorne was most recently chief capital market strategist and senior portfolio manager at a leading independent investment management firm.
He also held various senior investment management positions in the U.S., including chief economist of a major U.S. financial institution, chief investment officer of equities, managing director and chief capital market strategist. During his tenure he developed small, mid- and large-capitalization investment strategies, which employed a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis and achieved top-quartile performance.
Dr. Thorne received a Ph.D. in economics in the fields of finance and industrial organization from York University and worked as a professor of economics and finance at the Schulich School of Business and at Bishop’s University. He also regularly appears on BNN and in other media outlets.
Mark Twain once delivered a sobering reminder of humanity’s tendency to disregard transformative ideas while allowing misconceptions to persist. As we stand on the precipice of two seismic shifts—the AI revolution and an impending fiscal storm—his words resonate profoundly.
In the complex arena of global finance, as in geopolitics, strategic positioning can be just as crucial as raw power. This insight comes from Polish-American diplomat and political scientist Zbigniew Brzezinski in his book The Grand Chessboard, which offers a compelling parallel to the world of investing. Brzezinski’s analogy paints a vivid picture where nations are likened to chess pieces, with their geographic locations and potential weaknesses playing a pivotal role in the grand strategy of international relations.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, deeply mindful of Arthur Burns’ missteps and inspired by Paul Volcker’s tenacity, is fully cognisant of the historical significance of his role. I have consistently argued that Powell would benefit from studying William McChesney Martin’s tenure as the first post-Second World War Federal Reserve Chair in the 1950s. Martin adeptly navigated through a period of fiscal dominance, a pattern that is emerging once again. As Sir Winston Churchill implied, focusing on the wrong historical period can lead to policy errors and financial turmoil.
