A quick update post. I’ve also included a 1st Quarter market commentary since a lot happened!
1st Quarter Market Commentary
I’ve included a 1st quarter market commentary that one of my firm’s investment partners produces. This piece is a quick and easy summary of the financial events of the past quarter. It features a review of the U.S. Economic situation, the Financial Markets, and a summary of the U.S. and International Market Indexes. If you prefer an even quicker, funnier take – check out this tweet.
WMS Updates
A few updates on the professional front. The big news is our team is growing. We just hired Alex Schutz as a Client Service Associate based in our Rockville, MD office. Alex joined our firm last year on a part-time basis and now that he’s proven to be a valuable asset to the firm; his role will be expanding. In addition to client services, he will be providing portfolio management and financial planning support to us and our clients. I look forward to working with Alex on a permanent basis, and I know our clients will too.
We’ve also been working the past few months to implement our new portfolio management and reporting software. This software, named Black Diamond, is a robust wealth reporting platform designed to help us provide our clients with new reporting features and portfolio management capabilities.
Lastly, I also have been asked to join the Field Advisory Council (FAC) for our broker-dealer, Grove Point Financial, LLC. The FAC is a group of 8 other advisors from across the country that provide feedback, ideas and suggestions the Grove Point’s top leadership and community of over 500 other financial professionals. I look forward to being a part of this group and getting to know the other members and firm’s leadership on a more personal level.
Personal Updates
I’ve become involved with two organizations over the past few months. I was asked to join the finance committee for the Charlotte Bilingual Preschool (CltBP). The CltBP is a local non-profit school here in Charlotte that provides Spanish-speaking children dual-language early childhood education. My good friend, Doug Thie, has been involved with the school for several years so it was through him that my involvement with this organization has grown.
The second is through the Financial Planning Association (FPA) of Charlotte. I’ve been involved with their membership committee and their pro-bono financial planning program for almost a year now. The newest endeavor is co-leading a small group within the FPA that is comprised of independent financial advisors in the Charlotte area. We are “beta testing” this small group format throughout the spring and summer with the goal of rolling it out to all members later this year or next.
On the family front, both Cameron and I are now fully vaccinated! We look forward to spending more time with friends and family over the spring and summer months. We have a few weekend trips planned over the summer including a quick vacation to Maine in late August.
Gaines is doing well and will be turning two in June. In fact, he’s been telling people he is already two for a few months now. He loves playing in the back yard and walking around the neighborhood. Cameron has been taking him to various playgrounds around Charlotte which he loves, and fingers crossed no injuries as of yet. A few pics of him at the bottom.
Odds and Ends
A few things that I’ve been enjoying recently:
Book: Capital Allocators (Ted has a great podcast too)
Podcast Series: WSJ What’s News (This is one of Cameron’s favorites)
Food: Early Morning Kitchen (Virginia is a good friend of ours – looking forward to watching her company grow)
Drink: Jack Rudy Margarita Mix (I’m a big fan of all the Jack Rudy products)
All for now,
Tom
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