When you find yourself in times of trouble … call Russell Investments. And you’ll hear the advice: “Let it be.” Hold steady. Stay diversified. Target the long term.

I spoke Thursday with Stephen Wood, Russell senior portfolio strategist. He was at his office in New York City. I asked him to look toward Wall Street and check the weather. Any clouds? Nope. Clear skies and sunny.

Beyond the metaphor, Wood repeated what Russell advisers advise when markets tumble.

“Statistically speaking, we know that one out of every five years of the stock market is going to be negative,” Wood said. “It would appear that 2008 is going to be one of those years. This is something we’ve prepared for at Russell by having those well diversified, asset-allocated portfolios with long-term investment horizons.”

Weeks like this, months like this, years like this “is why we do what we do,” Wood said.

He offers caution. “This is an extremely worrisome market, and it’s not unreasonable for people to be afraid,” he said. “I would encourage them not to do anything. It’s not a good market to get overly creative in.”

If you’ve followed previous sensible advice, you’ve already sat down with your financial consultant. You’ve developed a risk profile and you’ve developed a long-term portfolio discipline. “This would be an opportunity to stick to that,” Wood said. “Waiting for the opening kickoff is a bad time to come up with a game plan.”

After looking down at Wall Street, Wood looked back in time. “For those who thought they learned the lessons of 1999-2000, cash became king. Yield became king. They were looking at fixed-income portfolios, but they were still attracted to higher rates of return. Should one expect equity-like returns in a fixed-income portfolio? No.”

Wood did offer some advice for those investors who feel the need to act: Rebalance. “I would tell our clients, do something as boring as that. Rebalance.”

Your portfolio, which might have been a 60-40 ratio of stocks and bonds, could have changed. The percentages might be out of whack. Take some profit from the moneymakers and readjust.

Wood’s job, he said, “is to take you from short-term information and move you into a world of long-term market probabilities.”

The short term might make for interesting TV, but it never lasts.

The long term lasts a whole lot longer.

C.R. Roberts: 253-597-8535

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