Dear Valued Clients and Friends,
So before I get into the meat of this week’s Dividend Cafe, let me just say that those looking for pure market talk devoid of my thanksgiving reflections can always click here for last Monday’s “Around the horn,” or here for last Friday’s Dividend Cafe covering some key market analysis, or here for an exhaustive post-election commentary.
But for those who have one fork into the turkey or one foot headed to the couch, as is our annual tradition around here, this is not a normal Dividend Cafe. I love this holiday and consider gratitude to be the hallmark of a contented life. I have contentment overflowing because God is good, and when it comes to The Bahnsen Group and the multiple elements that make us the business that we are, I feel these annual reflections are a heartfelt summary of how I feel about so many things. It may seem “inside baseball” to some of you but give it a shot. If it takes a village to run a good business and deliver a stellar client experience, we have some really good villagers at TBG. I have more to say about it!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, and jump on in to a gratitude-filled Dividend Cafe!
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I have to start my Thanksgiving reflections with the end to which we work at TBG, which is, always has been, and always will be, our clients. Every wealth management practice says that they are client-centric, but not every practice means it as much as we do. Not only do I believe a devout commitment to our clients is at the ethos of our practice – rooted in truth-telling, a belief in excellence, and genuine love, not fear – but I believe that our clients make it very easy for us to be client-centric. We simply have the greatest clients in the business, and I know this to be true. We are so, so blessed by your confidence, your faith, your encouragement, and your support, I lack the words to express how grateful I am. There is no way to love capital markets enough (and you will barely ever meet someone this side of Alexander Hamilton who loves them more than I do) to make the work as rewarding as it is when applied to real-life people with real-life hopes and dreams. Somehow we at TBG all landed in a place where we bring capital markets to the lives of real people, people whom we love, and people who share our ethos. It does not get better than that, and I would rather do what we do at TBG for whom we do it than any profession on God’s green earth. So for all TBG clients, thank you – you are who we work for, always.
I am grateful for my leadership team at TBG who has become a source of daily support, advice, partnership, counsel, and collaboration. From my long-time partner and co-CIO, Brian Szytel, to the Director of our Private Wealth Advisor Group, Trevor Cummings, to our Family Office Director, Joe Klein, to our Client & Team Experience Director, Joleen Bahnsen, to our new COO, Luis Garcia, it is a true blessing to have leaders, friends, professionals, and champions in the cause of world domination by my side. I treasure you all and cannot wait to see what we are all going to do together.
It is extremely important to keep the lights on at a good wealth management practice, and in our case, that now covers the light switches at eight (soon to be nine) offices – Newport Beach, New York City, Minnesota, Nashville, Oregon, Phoenix, Austin, and Palm Beach (with Grand Rapids to open in spring 2025). From payroll to finance to facilities to personnel management to all the things that require business administration, I could not be more grateful for what is now seven years of service from our Treasurer, Rayna Austin (who is now moving into an advisor role in Palm Beach), one of the most capable team members I have ever had, and the tireless work of Ryan Dennee, and new Senior Accountant, Peter Chin. Newport Beach’s Kayla Swanberg doesn’t just have the lights on there, but five conference rooms of activity, dozens of meetings per week, hospitality, and all the trains running, and we are thankful!
And if our own business administration is important, imagine how important client operations are. If there is ANY practice in the COUNTRY that is doing more transactions for clients daily (money flows, new accounts, transfers, various needs of service) than ours, I would like to meet them. Led by fearless director Alexis Gales, I am so, so, so grateful, as I know our clients are, for the entire bench of capable service that she and Beth, Darren, Camille, Tammie, Carly, Ericca, Abigail, Natalie, Claire, Madison, Laura, Megan, Hannah, and Sarah provide. They work harder than any Ops group I have ever seen, and if you don’t believe me, come watch!
What Matt Gregory has done as the head of our Planning Department is inspiring, and his leadership of Jeremy, Josh, Joel, Mathew, Nick, Drew, and Blake has been utterly magnificent as this group has evolved into a first-class group of practitioners around complex planning, tax, estate, financial, and otherwise, supporting our advisors and our clients in true stewardship of their resources and goals. Seeing some of our planners take on more client-advisory roles and become so incredibly equipped in delivering our experience commitments to clients is wonderful to see, and as Jeremy, Josh, Mat, and Nick bridge into full-service advisory work, I cannot tell you what a value it is to clients to have this department clicking on all cylinders as it is. Our capacity for wealth advisory IQ development has skyrocketed these last few years, and this stellar group of professionals is Exhibit A.
I wouldn’t dare move on from Planning to Investment Solutions without stopping at our Risk Department, the connective tissue between Planning and Investments in so many ways, to thank Sarah Leitzke for being the gold standard of department directors and subject matter experts. I am quite sure those who prepared her for the role (thank you, Phil and Michele!) deserve credit, too, but Sarah’s work in our Risk Department has been one of the biggest success stories we have ever enjoyed. And Jonah’s work in supporting Sarah is the textbook definition of how someone should begin their career – tireless work ethic, hungry, and never, ever uttering the dumbest three words ever concocted, “work-life-balance.”
Kenny Molina’s leadership in Investment Solutions has elevated our reputation as an investment-first practice to new heights. I hear competitors say all the time that they don’t care about the investment side of what they do (no, really, I do), and that investment management is luck of the draw. Our practice has a different philosophy, and our investment in equity research professionals (Liping, Teddy), analysts and traders (Manuel, Eddie, Chloe, Sarah, and Aubrey), and our alternatives business (Manny and Gale) reflects this philosophy. I cannot tell you the joy it brings me to see this group flourish.
Two years ago, we took a huge step to launch our own tax division in-house, believing clients deserved an elevated integration of tax service, strategy, and return preparation. The work Jay, Menka, Vivian, Vanessa, Susan, and Perla have done in this tax department deserves a medal, bringing top-shelf strategy and first-class professionalism to our clients across their tax compliance needs. Ben Franklin had it right about the certainty of death and taxes, and I thought that creating a department to address one of those things was going to create the other one for me. Instead, it has been one of the biggest success stories in the history of TBG.
You read, listen, watch Dividend Cafe every week because of the work that Brian, Glen, and Lukas do, and the design and creativity Joleen and Mina bring to all elements of our brand and content. I have worked with Brian and Glen professionally for over 30 years, which basically means I started working with them when I was two years old (okay, the math is off, but the 1994 beginning to our professional relationship is not; if you think I am old, you should see them!). Our content curation, preparation, and delivery is the lifeblood of our business, and every one is worthy of thanks.
And of course, there is our Private Wealth Advisor Group, those given the blessing of holding hands with our clients and delivering a first-class wealth management experience. From long-time partners and professionals, my dear friends Kimberlee Davis and Don Saulic, to the entire group of advisor professionals that sit on the front lines doing the very serious work of advising clients – Sean (Latimer), Robert, Brendan, Nate, Brian (Miller), Steve, Drew, Stoddard, James, Sean (Ullrich), Blaine, and Cole – along with leaders, Brian (Syztel) and Trevor – I just want you to know this is as good as it gets. They practice what they preach. They build trust with truth-telling. And they will walk on glass to do what is right for our clients.
There are too many other stakeholders, partners, vendors, and friends to call out right now. Our custodians (Fidelity and Schwab). Our friends at Hightower (special shout out to Bob, Dan, Matthias, Jill, Barry, Cheryl, Hans, and the rest). And our asset management partners. Just know that I am thankful as we all fight this good fight together.
And finally, though she was mentioned in her capacity as a leader at TBG and the creative director behind our client and team experience, my thanksgiving for Joleen in her capacity as my soulmate and wife is boundless. She is a saint; I know it; she knows it, and I suspect a lot of you know it.
And last but not least, I thank the God who saved me and did for me what I could not do for myself, for the blessing of work. I love this business, I love my team, and I love all of you. Happy Thanksgiving!
With regards,
David L. Bahnsen
Chief Investment Officer, Managing Partner
dbahnsen@thebahnsengroup.com
The Bahnsen Group
thebahnsengroup.com
This week’s Dividend Cafe features research from S&P, Baird, Barclays, Goldman Sachs, and the IRN research platform of FactSet
