Eagle, CO
Happy New Year!
Welcome to 2021. Let me start out by properly welcoming the two newest members of the Elevate team – Juan Toscano and Kyle Lottman, CFA.
Both gentlemen have been with Elevate for a while now. We are a little guarded about introducing new employees until we are confident that they will stand the test of time. And, even though anything can happen Juan has been here since September, and Kyle since November and we couldn’t be happier to have them on the team!
I am pleased to report that 2020 was a very successful year of growth for our firm and your investment account values.
Firm Update
Our staff is now 6, up from 4 to start the year. And our assets under management has grown to a level where it became necessary to register the firm with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) instead of the State of Colorado.
Thanks to the trust and confidence that you all have placed in us, we now manage a little over $130 Million. As a couple of “poor kids from back east,” I think it is safe to say I speak for Ken when I say:
“We are humbled by the level of success our firm has achieved... and we are beyond grateful for every single one of you. The correct words are difficult to choose. Thank you.”
With all this wealth that we are tasked with managing, comes great responsibility. We take this responsibility very seriously and we have grown our team (with top tier talent) so that we may continue to provide the same level of service that you have come to expect of Elevate.
With that said, some of you will notice a few changes in the coming months. Many of you will notice no change at all.
So many of you have been with us for so long that you remember when it was just Ken and Shane, and an assistant, and there was a Northwestern Mutual sign out front. In fact, there are even a whole bunch of you that have been with Ken since long before I was “the new guy”, in November of 2012.
That so many have been with us for so long is a huge testament to the level of service Ken has offered to the residents of Eagle county going all the way back to 1998, when he started at Northwestern. He may not have always said it this way, or at all, but Ken built this whole thing from nothing, just by doing what he said he would do for people and by adding value for them.
And, as we like to say now, “We tell you what we would want to know if our roles were reversed.”
It really is as simple as that.
In order to deliver on our commitment to excellence, maintaining the highest level of education and understanding of the markets in which we operate, along with the credentials to prove it, matter. There is no one around more qualified than Ken to design and implement long-range financial plans – whether for retirement, business succession, or estate purposes. And, at this point in his career he has 23 years of experience – which you can’t even put a price tag on.
So, a big public “thank you” to you Ken, from me – for laying the foundation for all this.
Kyle is a CFA Charterholder and an extremely capable financial planner, and he will be taking over some relationship management duties while he builds his own client base. Kyle has a great story to tell you when you get a chance to talk to him. Just ask him how he first heard about Elevate...
As many of you know, the CFA Charter is the most prestigious credential that the investment management industry has to offer. It is one of the hardest series of tests to pass on the entire planet, in any discipline. What many may not know, is that according to the CFA Institute member directory there are only 32 CFA Charterholder Financial Advisors in the entire state of Colorado.
To take it one step further, there are less than 1,000 of us in the United States of America – and as clients of Elevate you have access to not one, or two, but three of us; now that Kyle has joined the team.
Kyle is from Eagle but lives in Belle Plaine, Minnesota (near Minneapolis). He will be working from there, for now. In the next couple of days, he will formally get to use his Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license in Minnesota again, after a few years off. He won’t be doing “tax preparation” work but he is highly and uniquely qualified to help families with substantial resources to develop and execute multigenerational financial plans.
What is that saying? “Hire people smarter than you.” – We can check that box... again.
Juan is another local guy. He grew up here in Eagle and currently lives in Gypsum. Even though most of us work from home, Juan is at the office pretty much every day – feel free to stop by and say hello!
Juan graduated from Fort Lewis college last year. So, he is just beginning his career and we are thrilled that he chose Elevate as the place to get started! He is currently studying for his Series 65 and for now, he mostly takes care of operational duties which support the rest of the team. As he gains experience and knowledge I expect him to grow into his next role quickly. He has already demonstrated excellent work ethic, a desire to learn and an ability to learn quickly.
2020 Performance
For those of you who had money in the Appreciation Strategy last year, your returns were “off the charts.” I hope we can do half as well in 2021.
The Income Strategy finished the year slightly behind its upside target but achieved its volatility objective by performing much better than even I expected, when the market was crashing.
I have already made some minor adjustments to the Income Strategy to cautiously capture more upside. Unfortunately, income or “value” stocks have been out of favor for a long time now, and while that could change at any moment it could also perpetuate for a lot longer than anyone thinks possible.
If you would like to review your allocations or overall financial plan now that 2020 is in the books and we have a brand-new year ahead of us – we’d love to set up a time to do it.
I have so much more I’d love to discuss, but I know you are busy, and your time is important. So, these were the most important items to cover this month.
One final thing:
Click here to send us your 2021 year-end predictions for the value of the S&P 500!
We did this last year – and the winning prediction was 3,699 – 57 points from the actual closing value of 3,756.07... I will be sending a super soft Bella + Canvas t-shirt with an Elevate Logo on it to the winner!
Predictions for this year must be in before I send my next update – around the 5th of February.
As always, thank you for reading! And, sincerely, thank you (clients and the whole Elevate team) for the ability to keep doing what I love.
Shane Fleury, CFA
Chief Investment Officer
Elevate Capital Advisors
Legal Information and Disclosures
This commentary expresses the views of the author as of the date indicated and such views are subject to change without notice. Elevate Capital Advisors, LLC (“Elevate”) has no duty or obligation to update the information contained herein. This information is being made available for educational purposes only. Certain information contained herein concerning economic trends and performance is based on or derived from information provided by independent third-party sources. Elevate believes that the sources from which such information has been obtained are reliable; however, it cannot guarantee the accuracy of such information and has not independently verified the accuracy or completeness of such information or the assumptions on which such information is based. This memorandum, including the information contained herein, may not be copied, reproduced, republished, or posted in whole or in part, in any form without the prior written consent of Elevate. Further, wherever there exists the potential for profit there is also the risk of loss.