New Face at The Center!

Contributed by: Center for Financial Planning, Inc.®

At The Center, we love hiring promising student leaders and accomplished young professionals. That being said, we’re thrilled to welcome our newest team member, Hassan Elamine, as our 2022 summer intern! Hassan works primarily with the Investment and Financial Planning Departments to complete research projects, mutual fund performance reporting, and special Client Service based work. Below is a quick introduction to get to know him better!

My name is Hassan Elamine, and I'm the new Summer Intern here at The Center! I wanted to introduce myself as, hopefully, we'll be working together soon. I'm currently a junior at Wayne State University. More specifically, I'm attending the Mike Ilitch School of Business and double majoring in Finance and Supply Chain Management. In my spare time, I'm a high school coach that works with wrestlers to build a unified wrestling organization. My goal is to give them a safe place to connect with other wrestlers while progressing their technique during the off-season. I'm excited to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity with The Center to learn as much as possible while building relationships with such a close-knit team!

Hassan started in the beginning of June, so if you get a call from him or see him around the office, don’t be afraid to say “hi!”

Welcome to The Center family, Hassan!

The Center to Observe Upcoming Juneteenth Holiday

Contributed by: Lauren Adams, CFA®, CFP®

Contributed by: Shatara King

The Center is proud to announce that it will be observing Juneteenth as a new holiday going forward.

What is this new holiday? In 2021, Congress overwhelmingly voted to make Juneteenth – the holiday commemorating the abolition of slavery – the 12th federal holiday. This makes Juneteenth the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was signed into law in 1983.

Juneteenth (which stands for “June nineteenth”) commemorates the day in 1865 that federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas – months after the end of the civil war— to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed. This came over two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Although emancipation didn’t happen overnight for all the enslaved people in Texas, celebrations broke out among the newly freed, and Juneteenth was born. Slavery was formally abolished with the adoption of the 13th Amendment in December 1865.

This year, Juneteenth will be observed on Monday, June twentieth. The Center, Raymond James, and public trading markets, including the NYSE, NASDAQ, and bond markets, will all be closed in observance of this new holiday.

Lauren Adams, CFA®, CFP®, is a Partner, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, and Director of Operations at Center for Financial Planning, Inc.® She works with clients and their families to achieve their financial planning goals.

Shatara King is a Client Service Associate at Center for Financial Planning, Inc.® She has a Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Development from Oakland University and also serves as the Chair of The Center’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee.

The Center to Celebrate 2022 PRIDE Month

Contributed by: Shatara King

The Center is excited to celebrate the upcoming 2022 PRIDE month! 

Before diving into the festivities that are sure to come (virtually or otherwise), let’s briefly revisit the rebellion that birthed this annual celebration. For those who may be unaware, PRIDE Month is celebrated every June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan. 

The Stonewall Uprising consisted of a series of demonstrations in response to a police raid in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood, NYC. Patrons of the Stonewall, other Village LGBTQIA bars, and fellow neighborhood residents fought back when the police became violent.

One of the most iconic people at the center of this movement was Marsha P. Johnson (August 24, 1945-July 6, 1992). Marsha stood at the Center of New York City’s gay liberation movement for nearly 25 years. She was on the front lines of protests against oppressive policing. She also helped found one of the country’s first safe spaces for transgender and homeless youth. And it’s worth noting that these weren’t her only accomplishments. Her contribution to the community was vast and touches the lives of many to this day. For good reason, Ms. Johnson’s memory will forever live on, not just in our hearts, but in the hearts of every LGBTQIA person and ally. 

Marsha P. Johnson

www.biography.com/activist/marsha-p-johnson

For those who already do celebrate (and those who may be considering it), it’s worth taking a moment to consider how much your support means and how necessary it is to this day. 

It’s important to note that we still live in a time where the very existence of the LGBTQIA community is under constant threat.

Here at The Center, our Diversity & Inclusion Committee works to achieve an ongoing celebration of diversity within the firm. We recognize that these celebrations must go on. However, we also acknowledge the work that still needs to be done to finish the completion of a society that fully accepts and honors the challenging history of the LGBTQIA community and allies, those who have served as the trailblazers prior to this point, and the many that have yet to come. 

The LGBTQIA community will forever be woven into the fabric of our history, and because of this, they are more than deserving of our respect, true acceptance, and support. 

Shatara King is a Client Service Associate at Center for Financial Planning, Inc.® She has a Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Development from Oakland University and also serves as the Chair of The Center’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee.

Battle of the Brackets…Portfolio Management Edition: A Center Spin-Off Competition

Contributed by: Nicholas Boguth, CFA®

I believe certain things make our team outstanding here at The Center, and a few of them were in the spotlight this past month amid the March College Basketball Tournament:

• We constantly practice our company values.

• We have a heavy focus on charitable giving.

• And ultimately, we are just a cool place to work.

In the spirit of education, teamwork, and some friendly competition, we ran a bracket competition with an investment focus (we did a normal bracket game too, but mine was busted the first day, so there is no need to talk about that). Every team member chose an asset class to represent their “team” in the tourney. The winner of each round is the asset class that outperformed over the week, and we are repeating for five weeks until we have our champion.

Some team members chose more stable asset classes like short-term U.S Treasuries or investment-grade bonds, while some chose more volatile options like Emerging Market stocks or commodities. Overall, it is fun for the entire team to collaborate and for all of us (not just those in investment roles) to watch how different asset classes move with economic news*.

*We all know there is no shortage of economic news lately from the U.S. and overseas. Markets have been volatile, and times like these stress the importance of having a plan in place. As always, we are here to help answer any questions you may have about your plan. One small but powerful tool in investment management that we have taken advantage of is tax-loss harvesting during volatile markets. Read more about that here.

The cherry on top of this competition is that we are playing for some of our favorite local charities. The Center’s Charitable Committee donated $1,000 to the winning four team members’ charities of choice. Check out the results from last year, as we ran the same competition using individual stocks instead of asset classes. We will continue to find new ways to collaborate, learn, and partner with charities here at The Center. We hope you follow our blog as we update along the way!

Nicholas Boguth, CFA® is a Portfolio Manager at Center for Financial Planning, Inc.® He performs investment research and assists with the management of client portfolios.

Any opinions are those of Nicholas Boguth, CFA® and not necessarily those of Raymond James. Every Investor’s situation is unique and you should consider your investment goals, risk tolerance and time horizon before making any investment, Prior to making an investment decision, please consult with your financial advisor about your individual situation.

The Center Named 2022 Best Place to Work for Financial Advisers by InvestmentNews

Contributed by: Jaclyn Jackson, CAP®

On February 7th, 2022, Center for Financial Planning. Inc. was named a 2022 Best Places to Work for Financial Advisers by InvestmentNews. The Center was chosen as one of this year’s top 75 based on employer and employee surveys delving into everything from company culture, benefits, career paths, and more. InvestmentNews partnered with Best Companies Group, an independent research firm specializing in identifying great places to work, to compile the survey and recognition program.

Winning Culture

Our mission, core values, service values, and company vision are the foundation of Center culture. The Center team is committed to…

• The Financial Planning Process

• Education and Personal Growth

• Being Nice and Kind

• Teamwork and Collaboration

• Energy and Enthusiasm

• Being Real and Down to Earth

We take our work seriously and are enthusiastic about providing excellent service. Yet, we recognize healthy company culture is also fun. We have brought levity to the office with fantasy football competitions, “soup”er Thursday charity drives, company outings like fowling and curling, and peer training through lunch n’ learns. Additionally, we have started stellar committees including our Social, Health & Wellness, Creativity, and new Diversity & Inclusion Committees. Two parts professionalism and exceptional service with one part fun has proven to be our award-winning mix to make The Center a great workplace.

Winning Culture Promotes Winning Service

As rewarding as it is to receive public recognition, our motivation for applying to InvestmentNews’ award has much more to do with offering incomparable service. We wholeheartedly believe that happy employees happily provide great service.  

The InvestmentNews selection process starts with each employee filling out an anonymous survey, rating everything from wages to company benefits. Fortunately, InvestmentNews provides an aggregate of survey results to award candidates. To us, this is the most valuable part of the process; getting critical feedback collected by an independent research firm. In the years since we began applying, The Center has used employee feedback to…

• Add dental and vision insurance

• Revamp parental leave

• Add flexible holiday leave to accommodate multi-cultural practices

• Expand bereavement eligibility

Improving opportunities for employees supports business sustainability. Compared to peers, The Center has a low team turnover. Not only have we been able to retain staff (even through - dare I say the dreaded word - a pandemic), our team has actually grown. A huge benefit of being a “best place to work” is that we are able to attract top-tier talent to the firm. Take it from partner and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, Lauren Adams, who found The Center years ago while reviewing best places to work lists,

“Our intentional focus on creating a great workplace has allowed us to maintain high team member engagement, keep turnover low, attract top talent to our firm, and collectively strive to live our mission of “improving lives through financial planning done right.”

We have retained seasoned professionals who provide a level of service that only comes with experience. Our success in attracting, training, developing, and maintaining professionals is a sustainable competitive advantage. We know this advantage helps The Center consistently provide top-quality service to our clients.

Please join us in celebrating this prestigious acknowledgment. We are excited and hopeful that fostering a healthy work environment creates a win-win situation for both employees and clients alike! Want to meet our team? Click HERE.

Jaclyn Jackson, CAP® is a Senior Portfolio Manager at Center for Financial Planning, Inc.® She manages client portfolios and performs investment research.

Any opinions are those of Jaclyn Jackson, CAP®, and not necessarily those of Raymond James.

Investment News “2021 Top 75 Best Places to Work for Financial Advisers”. The Best Places to Work for Financial Advisers program is a national program managed by Best Companies Group. The survey and recognition program are dedicated to identifying and recognizing the best employers in the financial advice/wealth management industry. The final list is based on the following criteria: must be a registered investment adviser (RIA), affiliated with an independent broker-dealer (IBD), or a hybrid doing business through an RIA and must be in business for a minimum of one year and must have a minimum of 15 full-time/part-time employees. The assessment process is compiled in a two part process based on the findings of the employer benefits & policies questionnaire and the employee engagement & satisfaction survey. The results are analyzed and categorized according to 8 Core Focus Areas: Leadership and Planning, Corporate Culture and Communications, Role Satisfaction, Work Environment, Relationship with Supervisor, Training, Development and Resources, Pay and Benefits and Overall Engagement. Best Companies Group will survey up to 400 randomly selected employees in a company depending on company size. The two data sets are combined and analyzed to determine the rankings. The award is not representative of any one client's experience, is not an endorsement, and is not indicative of an advisor's future performance. Neither Raymond James nor any of its Financial Advisors pay a fee in exchange for this award. Investment News and/or Best Companies Group is not affiliated with Raymond James.

Matt Trujillo Captains The Center’s First Corporate Chess Team

Contributed by: Matt Trujillo, CFP®

October 7th marked the first day of the North American Corporate Chess League (NACCL). The league is relatively new, coming into existence in 2019, but has grown quite rapidly and expanded to 35 total teams this year for Season 3. This is the Center for Financial Planning’s first year competing in the league, and I’m pleased to report that we started off with a bang! 

To summarize the format, you play two games every week. The games are played at www.lichess.org and last approximately 30 minutes each. The pairing software for the league takes your chess rating and pairs you against an opponent from another team that is right around the same rating as you are. So, leading up to the games, you have no idea what team you’ll be paired against!

The team currently consists of 9 players of all strengths, with yours truly, Matt Trujillo, as the captain and first board (top-rated player). Week 1 saw us paired up against many different opponents, but a few notable names were Deloitte, Qualcomm, Peloton, AIRBNB, LendingTree.com, and SIG (Season 1 champions). There were some nerves on all sides, but the team still scored some nice wins. We ended the evening with a total score of 5 out of 8 possible wins and tied for 18th out of 35th overall. 

I’m looking forward to the rest of the season. The goal is to climb the leader board and break into the top 10, but the biggest goal is to have some fun and introduce new people to competitive tournament chess!

Matthew Trujillo, CFP®, is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional at Center for Financial Planning, Inc.® A frequent blog contributor on topics related to financial planning and investment, he has more than a decade of industry experience.

Center Participates in Annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s

Contributed by: Center for Financial Planning, Inc.®

Center Team members recently participated in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s in Brighton. The walk, sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association of Michigan, raised funds and awareness for dementia, a disease that has and continues to impact our clients, client’s families, and team member’s families. Alzheimer’s and other dementias impact those diagnosed and their families so significantly from a psychological, emotional, and financial standpoint that we make substantial efforts at The Center to provide extra information, resources, and support to clients who may be impacted. Helping to raise awareness and funds for research is just one of the things we do!

If a client or family member were to receive a dementia diagnosis, we have helpful resources and action steps available here:

How to Reduce the Risks of Dementia and Diminished Capacity to Your Retirement Plan

A Dementia Diagnosis and Your Financial Plan

The Center Supports “Swing Fore the Cure” Golf Outing

Contributed by: Nicholas Boguth, CFA®

The Center was proud to sponsor the "Swing Fore the Cure" golf outing, a fantastic event involving raising money for a worthy cause and having a great time while doing it! The outing was organized by the family of the Center’s own, Nick Boguth, whose mother has been a significant fundraiser for the cause since becoming a breast cancer survivor 15 years ago.

Cancer is something that hits close to home for most of us as we all have colleagues, family, or friends who have been affected by the disease. The Center was happy to corral around this event, bring some of our Center energy to the golf course, and support the fundraising efforts that benefitted Ascension St. John Breast Cancer Center, Wigs 4 Kids, and Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Nicholas Boguth, CFA® is a Portfolio Administrator at Center for Financial Planning, Inc.® He performs investment research and assists with the management of client portfolios.

Nick Boguth Achieves CFA Designation

Contributed by: Angela Palacios, CFP®, AIF®

This summer, Nick completed his journey to obtain his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) designation.  Nick started as an intern with the Center in May 2014, eventually joining us full time after graduating from the University of Michigan (Go Blue!) with a degree in Economics and Statistics.  Almost immediately after starting full-time, he began the long road to achieving his CFA® designation over five years ago.

Nicholas Boguth, newly minted Chartered Financial Analyst

What is the CFA® Designation?

The curriculum builds a strong educational foundation of advanced investment analysis and real-world portfolio management skills.  Upon completion, the average designation holder has spent roughly 1,000 hours studying! 

There are three levels that Nick will have to pass and several other hurdles before he can utilize the designation:

• CFA level 1 – tests your basic knowledge and comprehension focused on investment tools and ethics.

• CFA level 2 – tests more complex analysis along with a focus on valuing assets

• CFA level 3 – requires a synthesis of all the concepts and analytical methods in various applications for effective portfolio management and wealth planning.

Along with passing the courses and the exams, Nick must have four years of work experience in investment decision-making, which he has earned with his role as Portfolio Administrator here at the Center.  He must also agree to follow a rigorous Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct and become a member of the CFA Institute. 

Is this Easy?

While Nick may have made it seem easy to the rest of us, it is far from easy.  It is a popular designation to seek out.  Each year nearly 200,000 people from all over the world register to take one of the exams offered only once per year!  The pass rate for each level is usually only around 40%.

As with everything else, the examinations were set back due to COVID.  Nick persevered through COVID delays, planning a wedding, newborn twins, and two home purchases and renovations. When I asked Nick his thoughts on the program, he said:

The entire process was incredibly rewarding. I learned more than I ever thought I would over the past few years. It was a challenging road to pass the final level, and I was absolutely thrilled to complete it, but it feels like just the beginning. I’m looking forward to putting this knowledge to good use here at The Center in a constant effort to provide clients with the best investment experience possible.

Nick’s education and passion for research already adds more depth to The Center’s Investment Department and Committee in helping us shape portfolios for clients!  Look for many more great things to come from Nick!  Way to go, Nick!

Angela Palacios, CFP®, AIF®, is a partner and Director of Investments at Center for Financial Planning, Inc.® She chairs The Center Investment Committee and pens a quarterly Investment Commentary.

Crain’s Cool Places to Work: Five Years Running

Contributed by: Center for Financial Planning, Inc.®

We are happy to announce The Center has been awarded Crain’s 2021 Cool Places to Work* in Michigan for the fifth consecutive year!  Crain’s Cool Places to Work was designed to identify, recognize and honor the best places of employment in Michigan. The 2021 Cool Places to Work in Michigan list is made up of 100 companies in three size categories: small (15-49 employees), medium (50-249), and large (250+). Companies underwent a two-part assessment. First, nominees were evaluated on their policies, practices, and demographics. Then, employees were asked to submit surveys. The combined scores determined the final rankings.

THE CENTER WAY

The Center team has spoken, and it is evident we are all proud of benefits like professional development, education reimbursement, workplace committees, and social events. Our fun culture is developed over ping-pong tournaments, chili cook-offs, and volunteer work.

After months of working remotely, The Center team gathers for a pandemic-safe, outdoor social event.

TEAMWORK…During a Pandemic

“We are especially proud of how we’re managing the curveball 2020 threw us. When COVID-19 hit, we transitioned to working remotely and formed a response committee tasked with making the office a safe place to return to,” said Lauren Adams, CFA, CFP®.

Managing office culture remotely comes with its challenges, but none were significant enough to break the incredible community our office has developed.  We’ve started a book club to keep engaged and even brought in a little competition with our bracket-style stock education game, Market Madness, and health and wellness contests throughout the pandemic.  The health and wellness contests helped keep the COVID 15lbs at bay.

Planners, Josh Bitel and Kali Hassinger, enjoy food truck treats.

Ultimately, The Center is a cool place to work because each team member contributes to a caring and positive workplace.

*This ranking is not based in anyway on the individual's abilities in regards to providing investment advice or management.  This ranking is not indicative of advisor’s future performance, is not an endorsement, and may not be representative of individual clients' experience.  Raymond James is not affiliated with (referenced organization/entity).