Meitav Securities chairman Yaron Stepk answers readers’ questions amid a volatile stretch in stocks and currencies. He says markets have been rattled by rich valuations, geopolitical uncertainty, and fears of renewed rate hikes abroad. Since the start of June, the Tel Aviv 125 index has fallen about 8%, though it is still up 11% for the year, the S&P 500 has slipped 1.4% this month but remains up 9% year to date, and the shekel has weakened 7% against the dollar since early June while still being about 6% stronger than at the start of 2026.
On portfolio allocation, Stepk says an investor whose Israel equity exposure has risen from a planned 50% of the stock portion to 65% should rebalance back toward the original mix. In his view, the recent outperformance of Israeli shares has changed the risk-reward balance and now favors foreign markets, especially the U.S. and Europe. He also argues that foreign stock exposure is better handled through passive index-tracking funds rather than active mutual funds, while in Israel active stock funds can make more sense than picking individual shares, unless the investor can properly diversify and monitor holdings.
Stepk’s broader advice is that investors should not abandon equities altogether after market swings. If a stock must be sold, he says the decision should be based on current value, not on whether it was bought at a gain or loss. He warns against trying to time the market and against making decisions out of fear or FOMO, saying investors should set a stock allocation they can live with and stick to it with only modest adjustments.
On currencies and gold, he says a reasonable dollar share in a portfolio is 15% to 20%. In an example of a reader who sold a U.S. house and received $200,000, he recommends keeping about $85,000 in dollars, using a dollar cash fund expected to yield about $3,500 a year before tax, and gradually converting the rest into shekels and a shekel cash fund yielding nearly 4% annually. He says gold has been volatile but remains attractive over multi-year horizons, partly because central banks are reducing dependence on U.S. debt and the dollar, yet it should still make up only 5% to 10% of a portfolio.
