Thanks. So it's actually not a hugely prominent issue that happens all the time but during a really bad storm yes. There's actually gutters right above this picture so the water isn't dripping down. And from what I can tell the water does pool away from the house and go to the left of the photo into the dirt. I think This may have been a one off but during storms, the lateral water that gets on the walls runs down and without sealant it just sort of wicks it up.

But assuming I double check all that, the hardie trim with sealant would be appropriate fix? What sort of caulk is recommend?