February 2026 ended with both a bang and a whimper, to twist a phrase from T.S. Eliot. The “bang” was the attack on Iran; the “whimper” was the aggregate loss in the U.S. stock market. The S&P 500® Index fell -0.77% for the month, concentrated in growth stocks which lost -3.35% as measured by the Russell 1000 Growth Index. Investment grade bonds were largely unchanged for the month. More happily, all Advocacy Wealth portfolios generated positive gross returns when the investments were held for the entire month. All but one of the models had positive returns net of fee. All models rose comfortably above their annual target ranges net of fee year to date, though the sampled term is admittedly short. How did we achieve these positive results? Diversification. If you have exposure to equities, you do indeed own some U.S. growth stocks within the funds that make up your equity allocation. But if you do, you also own many other types of stocks as well. You also likely own bonds as well as possibly some securities that have little correlation to the returns produced by either stocks or to bonds. The big individual winning exposures for our clients so far this year are pretty much the same as for 2025:

• Emerging Markets stocks – the without-China version has done better than the with version
• Developed Markets stocks ex-U.S.
• Precious metals and oil
• Defense stocks

1. Specifically, the Schwab Mid-Cap Index.

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The model portfolio performance returns, where shown or discussed, are hypothetical, for illustration only, and do not represent the performance of a specific actual client account. Performance does not reflect actual trading, nor does it include variable transaction expenses which would further reduce returns. Each Advocacy Wealth model series portfolio invests in securities which have weighted allocations that drive the performance results. The underlying constituent performance results, where shown or discussed, reflect actual historical performance. Returns on the investment in the model portfolio assumes reinvestment of dividends and capital gains. The models performance, where shown or discussed, reflects rebalance of those allocations in response to market conditions, as well as at the initial point in time a change was made to an individual allocation within the model. Clients’ actual return experiences will vary given the clients’ unique respective needs and circumstances. Clients’ actual returns will be reduced by the investment advisory fees and any other expenses incurred in the management of their portfolios. While Advocacy Wealth maintains an annual standard fee schedule for services as disclosed in its Form ADV Part 2A Brochure, the Firm reserves the right to negotiate fees, so not all clients have the same fee schedule and clients’ net returns experiences will not be
References to Target Annual Return refer to the return we hope and expect to achieve over time based on the asset allocation. We use that Target number in our financial planning projections. You should understand that the Target Annual Return is NOT guaranteed to happen, even over a long period of time. Failure to achieve the Target will affect your plan significantly. The S&P 500 Index, and sub-indices reflective of the S&P 500’s various sector components, are unmanaged indices commonly used as benchmarks to measure broad U.S. stock market performance and characteristics and sector-specific performance and characteristics respectively. These are free-float weighted/capitalization-weighted indices. An additional reference is made to the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index (EWI) which is the equal-weight version of the widely used S&P 500. The equal-weight index includes the same constituents as the capitalization weighted S&P 500, but each company in the S&P 500 EWI is allocated a fixed weight - or 0.2% of the index total at each quarterly rebalance. The MSCI ACWI Index is an indicator of global markets, capturing approximately 85% of the global investable equity opportunity set, including stocks predominantly across the large and mid market cap spectrum and across a number of countries, both developed and emerging. The Russell 1000 Growth Index is an unmanaged index commonly used as a benchmark to measure growth manager performance and characteristics. For all indexes, the reinvestment of dividends, interest, and/or other distributions is assumed. Indexes used as benchmarks cannot be directly invested
in by you. Index performance is also for illustration only, to provide a relative comparison for the model portfolio. Index performance does not reflect any management fees, transaction costs or expenses. The views expressed represent our assessment of our strategies and the market environment as of the dates represented in the publication and should not be considered investment advice or a recommendation to purchase or sell any specific security or invest in a specific strategy nor used as the sole basis for an investment decision. Views and holdings are subject to change. Reinvestment transactions that involve selling existing investments may involve transaction and taxation costs associated with the sale of those assets as well as transaction costs associated with the purchase of new investments. International investing: There are special risks associated with international investing, such as political changes and currency fluctuations. These risks are heightened in emerging markets. Small/Mid-Capitalization investing: Investments in companies with small or mid-market capitalization ("small/mid-caps") may be subject to special risks given their characteristic narrow markets, limited financial resources, and less liquid stocks, all of which may cause price volatility. Growth Stock Risk: Growth stock investments, whether directly or through ETFs and mutual funds, may be more sensitive to market movements because their prices tend to reflect investors’ future expectations for earnings growth rather than just current profits. Sector Risk: To the extent a strategy series has substantial holdings within a particular sector, the risks associated with that sector increase. Liquidity / Market Risk: The strategy series may not be able to purchase or dispose of investments at favorable times or prices or may have to sell investments at a loss. Additionally, market prices of investments held by strategy series may fall rapidly or unpredictably due to a variety of factors, including changing economic, political, or market conditions, or other factors including war, natural disasters, or public health issues, or in response to events that affect particular industries or companies. High-Yield investing: Investments in high yielding debt securities are generally subject to greater market fluctuations and risk of loss of income and principal, than are investments in lower yielding debt securities. Inflation Protected Bond investing: Interest rate increases can cause the price of a debt security to decrease. Increases in real interest rates can cause the price of inflation-protected debt securities to decrease. Interest payments on inflation-protected debt securities can be unpredictable. Interest Rate Risk: This risk refers to the risk that bond prices decline as interest rates rise. Interest rates and bond prices tend to move in opposite directions. Long-term bonds tend to be more sensitive to interest rate changes and therefore may be more volatile.