40 Years and Counting… Resilience Across the Decades
2020 was one for the record books: a global pandemic, social isolation, historic unemployment, and an exhaustive election cycle. 2021 is one for the record books, too! It’s the year Financial Insights celebrates its 40th anniversary on February 10th to be exact!
As the company’s founder, when I look back across the decades, I see truth in the adage, “the only thing constant is change.” But it’s not the only thing. We have been blessed with another constant: our treasured clients and team members, who comprise the heart of this business. We are most grateful for each of you. You make it a pleasure for us to come to work each day.
Allow me to recap highlights of the past 40 years: 1. The Great Bull market started in August 1982 when the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) bottomed out at 777! 2. Black Monday happened on October 19, 1987 when the DJIA fell almost 22% in a single day. I remember attending a conference in Washington, DC, on Black Monday, and plugging a payphone full of change to talk to shocked clients. The hotel telephone lines were overloaded with all the outgoing calls. 3. In 1994 the Great Bond Market crisis occurred with a sudden, sharp drop in bond prices that started in the United States and Japan. Yields on the 30-year Treasury bond rose by 2% in the first 9 months of the year, crushing bond values. 4. From 2000-2002 the dot-com bubble played havoc with the market. However, in 2003 the DJIA posted a return of +25%. 5. From 2007 to 2009, a subprime mortgage crisis aided by unregulated derivatives brought the DJIA to its knees. In March 2009, the DJIA crashed at 6,547! We all had to take a deep breath and recommit to the equity markets. 6. 2020 brought COVID-19. We learned new ways of doing everything and realized that our relationships and simple things were most important. In early 2020, the prospect of the DJIA returning almost 7% by year’s end did not seem possible – but it did! 7. In 2021 the Dow has crossed over the 31,000 milestone marker!
But let me go back to square one. After 12 years as a public-school teacher, in 1979 I developed the concept for a class in financial planning called “Financial Insights”, offered through Seattle Pacific University. Those early classes generated interest from students who needed financial guidance and they were to become my first group of treasured clients. It wasn’t long before I was holding my first client meetings in a spare bedroom of my home, which was where the firm was born. The wealth management, goals-based business model for meeting clients’ needs was in its infancy at the time, as was the Financial Insights’ infrastructure. I did all my work on a “sort of” computer and a dot matrix printer. In the 1980s, Financial Insights became an SEC Registered Investment Advisory (RIA) firm. This means we adopted the fiduciary standard of always putting the client first and that has always been our focus. At about the same time, the Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) designation was adopted as the gold standard credential for anyone who positioned themselves as delivering financial advice. After extensive research in 1984, I chose Raymond James Financial as custodian for our client’s investments. This has proved to be a great decision time and time again. In the 1990’s Financial Insights adopted a team-based business model. In the 2000’s we became a fee only RIA and hired our first Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) to focus more fully for our clients on investment research and modeling.
After 40 years, I’m pleased to report Financial Insights’ transition to the next generation of wealth advisors and support staff is firmly in place under the leadership of Ali Criss, CFP®, company president. Our commitment to our mission and values will transcend for generations to come. We create outstanding client experiences on the way to helping clients meet their long-term financial goals. The same vision and values fueled Mike Dunbar’s commitment to clients when he started a financial planning firm in 1983. He built his company on deep client relationships and in active support of our community. In 2015, Mike and his team joined Financial Insights. It was a natural fit for us to work together. And pandemic or not, in August and September 2020, we merged offices, taking over an entire floor of the Carlton Center building in downtown Tacoma. This is where our 15 team members and student interns make things happen for you.
As we look to the future, here’s what I see; programmed trading has become part of the equity market platform. Since 1987, seventeen of the top 20 intraday point swings on the DJIA occurred in 2020; in fact, 14 occurred in March 2020 alone. An intraday point swing is defined as the difference between a high and low number before the market close. The highest intraday point swings this year have been between 1,100 to almost 2,000 points in a single trading day! To survive in this context, investors need to take a long-term, non-emotional outlook on their portfolio.
What I have learned in the last 40 years that can lead investors to success:
- Develop a plan with your financial advisor and stick to your plan.
- It is next to impossible to realize your financial goals without participating in the stock market.
- The U.S. stock market registers positive returns generally 2 out of every 3 years.
- Volatility is part of the equation…keep your emotions in check.
- No one can time the market.
- Warren Buffet has stated that 5-8% annualized returns in the equity market are realistic now.
Through it all our firm’s clients have always been our focus. You have made it all possible and we are forever grateful. Without YOU, there would be no Financial Insights. I am privileged to have formed deep and lasting relationships. I, along with every member of the Financial Insights team, remain honored to continue to serve our clients. You have my word that we will continue to do our very best work for the next 40 years or more. Our firm’s principles of integrity and trust-based client relationships, education and superior client service will remain as our guideposts.
Dorothy A. Lewis, MA, CFP® & Founder