The Tradition of the King Cake

“What started out as a dry French-bread type dough with sugar on top and a bean inside 30 years ago is now a sweet, moist, sugar and icing Danish type dough that is braided with cinnamon inside and a plastic doll underneath.

The history of the colors on a king cake is also deep and intriguing. Most king cakes are traditionally decorated in royal colors of purple, which signifies “justice,” green for “growth,” and gold meaning “prosperity and wealth.” These colors can be seen as chosen to resemble a jeweled crown honoring the three wise men and their gifts during the visit of the Christ Child on Epiphany.

At a Mardi Gras party, the king cake is sliced and served fresh. Each reveler looks to see if their piece of king cake contains the small baby. If so, then that person is declared “king for a day” and bound by historical Mardi Gras custom to host the next party. Of course, this also means that they need to provide the next king cake!

At offices all over the Greater New Orleans area, someone buys the first king cake and places it in the coffee room. Soon after, the king cake is gone and some lucky employee got the baby. That person buys the next king cake for the office. Most offices celebrate this tradition on Fridays, but more offices are taking advantage of the shorter lines in the beginning of the week to have their king cake.

Eventually, it all culminates to that final day to get a king cake, the Monday before Mardi Gras, otherwise known as Lundi Gras. The lines are long, but the atmosphere is fun. Everyone is getting ready for the big celebration."

~Randazzo King Cakes

The Deupree James x NewEdge Microcap SMA

The Deupree James x NewEdge Microcap SMA seeks to provide long-term appreciation by creating a portfolio of domestic & international equities with market capitalizations that are approximately between $50 million & $2 billion.

The strategy seeks stocks that meet our quality criteria and have attractive combined valuation & momentum characteristics. We may at times take concentrated bets in certain stocks or sectors. The manager may also invest in cash, treasuries, exchange traded funds, or stocks larger than $2 billion from time to time.

Historically, small caps have outperformed large caps over extended periods. Since 1927, the largest 10% of US stocks grew at a 9.24% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), while the smallest 10% grew at an eye watering 16.33% CAGR.

We get it. Trying something new seems scary. The Greeks even had a special word, “storgē,” to describe “the love of the familiar.”

While Microcap strategies can seem volatile in isolation, the portfolio level data suggests that a 60/40 portfolio might be riskier without an allocation to Microcaps. Just as modern air travel with an experienced pilot is safer and faster than traveling by car, the inclusion of Microcaps with a skilled portfolio manager in a diversified portfolio may offer investors better returns with less risk.

To learn more about how this strategy can benefit you and your clients, click the documents below. 

~Ben James, CKA^®, CIMA^®, Portfolio Manager

 For more information, feel free to email       avery@deupreejames.com or call 318.562.1035

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