As we come to the end of another year, I feel that this year, more than ever, is giving us the opportunity to be grateful for what we have. In 2020, I reflected on the pivots we had to make as a firm to cope with the beginning of the pandemic. Last year, we experienced a lot of positive growth as a firm. This year, further growth has come with growing pains, but we’ve found ourselves more thankful for each other and our clients than ever.
A Challenging Year in the Markets
I hardly have to say it: this year has been challenging for the markets. At the end of 2021 we were excited about the growth of our firm while acknowledging that we can’t know the future when it comes to investments. No one could have expected the war in Ukraine, the increase in fuel costs, continued supply chain issues, and inflation, and how those global forces would impact investments here at home. But I’ll come back to a phrase I used in my mid-year market reflection that I truly believe in: think of the long term and know that we are here to help guide your investing. These challenges have also helped us reflect on who we are as a firm and continue working towards our goal of helping our clients to identify and pursue their personal and financial goals to live a meaningful, balanced life.
Growing the Marshall Financial Group Family
At the beginning of 2022, we welcomed Thomas Batterman and Fiduciary First Advisors into the Marshall Financial Group. We loved being able to bring the Fiduciary First Advisors into MFG. Based in Wisconsin, Fiduciary First Advisors had been looking to add depth to their client service team for some time. After many discussions concerning client service philosophies, the importance of maintaining a fiduciary obligation to clients and other critical aspects of potentially working together, both parties realized that Marshall Financial Group would be a perfect fit to add the desired depth to the FFA team.
Also, during the last year, our firm grew with the addition of a new subsidiary, American Financial Management. American Financial Management focuses on third party money management. As always, we are committed to the highest level of services and therefore are working to continue the excellent track record established at American Financial Management.
Leveraging Technology to Serve Clients Better
In March, we launched our new client portal and app, My Financial Genius. This was something we had been working toward for some time, and it felt great to share it with our clients. The easy-to-use interface, aggregated accounts, and document vault have allowed us to create better methods of communication with clients and hopefully, an easy way to track your investment performance. As we continue to grow, we know that efficiencies in technologies will continue to help us meet our clients’ needs.
Looking Forward to 2023
Although this year has been challenging, we know we’ve done many things right and believe that our investments are strategically positioned for the future. Looking forward to 2023 we expect higher interest-bearing bonds and remain optimistic regarding a stock market recovery. Regardless of what 2023 brings, we are committed to providing exceptional investment and financial planning services to our clients.
Our job is to manage your money and help you plan for the future. We want to share that during these most difficult times, we are especially grateful for our clients. As much as we wish it consistently would, the performance of portfolios does not always reflect the extent of the the work and planning that we do. We appreciate each one of our clients and it is a pleasure providing services to you. Thank you for continuing to choose us as your financial planners and for allowing us to help you pursue your goals. We wish you a wonderful holiday season.
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