We are now entering the busy season.  School is back in session, and even if you don’t have school age children (I don’t) roadways have a different feel a couple of times per day.  For many of us, our schedules are filled with football, baseball, cross country, soccer, and hockey/basketball starting soon.  We are also heading into the holiday season.  Finally, the weather is starting to change from the 80’s down to the 50’s – sometimes in the same day in Michigan.

At Majestic Financial, we also notice some changes in client comments.  Early in the year, we hear comments like “when will my tax documents be ready?”  Or “I need cash to pay for the Christmas presents I bought.”  One I particularly appreciate is “what do you think will happen in the markets this year?”  I could have hours of conversations about this topic.  During the summer, clients often start to evaluate the performance of their portfolio, hopefully with an understanding of what has been occurring in the market during the year.  We may have difficulty meeting with clients due to vacations and/or kids at home.  It’s in the fall that we start to hear comments like “I haven’t looked at my account for a while,” or “I’ve been too busy to look at what you sent me.”

Most people (including clients) would assume that if someone has money invested in the market, that person is watching the money like a hawk.  But in reality, most people don’t act this way (including many clients).  And often, it’s the November/December time frame that clients start to lose track of how their investments are performing.  I understand why this is – people are busy getting ready for a little time off, they may be traveling or having visitors, kids are getting ready for time off of school, it’s been a long year already, and they absolutely trust Majestic Financial (I especially appreciate this reason).

I’m writing this to ask our clients to not lose sight of three things: what was the purpose of the original investment(s), what is/has changed in their life, and how is their portfolio performing compared to the goals and the market conditions.  I want clients to pay attention to these items because they matter every day, every week, and every year.  That doesn’t mean I expect clients to track daily/weekly movements of their investments, but I would like them to know why an investment is soaring or why it’s flat – and how does that compare to what we would expect with that investment.  An example is over the past 3 years, interest rates have climbed and that substantially affects sectors of the market as well as fixed income investments.  If you only see the change to the values in these investments one time it may come as a large shock – you may be assuming that Majestic is failing in our fiduciary duties to you.  What you may not be aware of is the shifts of your money from long term bond funds to money market, or the sale of a bank stock and the purchase of a technology stock.  And as interest rates start to decline, these movements may reverse in your account.

Bottom line, enjoy football season, Christmas, tax season, the 3 weeks of summer in Michigan.  And please take the time to evaluate your portfolio along with your goals.
 
Written by Sean Budlong, CFP®, AAMS, Chief Executive Officer, Majestic Financial, Financial Consultant, RJFS

*Disclosures: Any opinions are those of Sean Budlong and not necessarily those of Raymond James. Investing involves risk and you may incur a profit or loss regardless of strategy selected, including diversification and asset allocation. 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.

This is the most common question I ask prospective or current clients when talking about money or accounts that are new to Majestic Financial.  This question is often answered with a “DUH” look – or it’s even verbalized “I want to make money!”

However, Saturday night at Ford Field put this question into perspective for me.  Laurie and I were attending our 2nd Kenny Chesney concert at Ford Field.  Sixty thousand people gathered to hear Chesney, Uncle Kraker, Megan Moroney, and Zac Brown Band.  Thank you Laurie for a wonderful day!

Imagine if I asked the people surrounding me “What are you here for?”  “I’m here to listen to music, DUH!”  BUT… the young girl and her mom a few rows away went crazy for Moroney, and even wore brand new concert shirts with her name.  A client a few rows up from us was in Heaven over Uncle Kraker and ZBB.  A group of 20-somethings were singing to ZBB but all the young ladies were wearing new Chesney concert shirts.  Once Chesney came on stage, his performance of the older songs was accompanied by 60,000 people singing (poorly) along, while some of us also ruined his new songs.

The stadium floor was packed with people sitting on folding chairs or standing up near the stage the entire night.  The cost differential between our seats and those in the upper bowl or those in the suites was probably substantial.  Some attendees were probably given tickets or won them, while others saved for an extended time to afford backstage passes.

I saw dozens of old Chesney concert tee shirts, clearly from decades ago.  I didn’t know a single Chesney song 2 years ago when I took Laurie to Ford Field for her birthday with friends.  Yet I bought a concert tee shirt for only the second concert in a least 20 years.  We stayed at a hotel about a mile from the stadium, while our client was driving back to the West side after spending 6 hours inside Ford Field.

The point I’m making, is that of course I realize you want to make money.  But are you spending some of it right away, are you not touching it for 3, 5, 10 years?  Do you have other assets I don’t know about that you will be using as primary or secondary sources of income?  When you say you want to make enough money to travel, are you staying at a hotel or camping under the stars?  Do you have a long bucket list, or a few items that you love to repeat every year?

Sometimes, what seems obvious (“We’re here to listen to music”) is much more nuanced.  It’s important to be honest with Majestic Financial, and even more important for us to listen to you.  Thank you for your trust, and let’s make wonderful memories together.
 
Written by Sean Budlong, CFP®, AAMS, Chief Executive Officer, Majestic Financial, Financial Consultant, RJFS

*Disclosures: Any opinions are those of Sean Budlong and not necessarily those of Raymond James. Investing involves risk and you may incur a profit or loss regardless of strategy selected, including diversification and asset allocation. 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.

It’s June, 2024 and we have the most important election in the history of the United States.  Again.  The United States won’t survive if ______ (choose your name) is elected.  Again.  The market will crash if ______ (choose your name) is elected.  Again.  I need to make sure my investments are protected against _____ (choose your name) getting elected.  I can find statistical support for both sides of each statement.

This is not an article about politics.  In fact, if anything it’s an anti-politics article.  I have my own personal beliefs, and so do many/most adults.  So do account managers, hedge fund managers, individual investors, and even the Chairman of the Federal Reserve.  I don’t claim to know what those beliefs are, nor do they impact the recommendations I would give to clients.

And that’s my point.  Politics are like sports.  You can enjoy watching and even participating.  You can spend days poring over your favorite team’s statistics or run a fantasy team and only pay attention to individual players.  You can try to earn a couple extra dollars by betting or attempt to make a living as a gambler.  Maybe you just buy squares for the big game and complete a college basketball bracket every year.  In all these situations, the bottom line is that you can’t determine the outcome of the games based on your beliefs, preferences, or research.  You are completely at the mercy of the players in the game and the officials.  The ups and downs of this lifestyle is more than many people can take.

So, am I saying politics won’t have an effect on your investments, or that there is nothing you can do to improve your performance in an election year?  Not at all.  My point is that understanding your goals, your risk tolerance and your time horizon will allow Majestic Financial to help make sure your money is allocated in the best way for you.  And if your money is properly allocated, a short-term change in the markets shouldn’t lead to a long-term negative impact on your money.

For some clients, this may be all they need – continued long term growth with minimal volatility.  Some clients want to take advantage of the short-term volatility and political changes.  We can work with both, but these are two different strategies.  The first client may be well served by owning an allocation that is balanced towards growth, holding mutual funds and exchange traded funds that shouldn’t change daily, weekly, or possibly for months at a time.  There are set strategies within the funds that allow us to evaluate why that fund is appropriate for the client’s goals and risk tolerance.  It is not a tactical strategy.  As politics start to affect a company or sector, we are relying on the managers to adjust the holdings.  But our goal is to not make major changes because the funds are already holding quality companies or fixed income.  The second client may be an appropriate client for individual stocks and derivatives.  This might be a more tactical strategy that changes monthly, and even adds/eliminates positions based on the political changes/trends.  In this strategy, we may hold investments that we didn’t even look at 3 or 6 months prior, and we may not be holding them in another 6 months.  We may shift sectors based on the actions of politicians or economic conditions rather than the historical performance of the companies.  For the person who can’t handle their #1 seed losing in the third round, even if they can still win the pool, this may not be an ideal experience.

So, what’s the point again?  Don’t let the politics determine your investments.  Let your goals determine the investment strategies and either enjoy or ignore politics without worrying about mixing the two.
 
Written by Sean Budlong, CFP®, AAMS, Chief Executive Officer, Majestic Financial, Financial Consultant, RJFS
 
​*Disclosures: Any opinions are those of Sean Budlong and not necessarily those of RJFS or Raymond James. The information contained in this blog does not purport to be a complete description of the securities, markets, or developments referred to in this material. There is no assurance any of the trends mentioned will continue or forecasts will occur. Investing involves risk and you may incur a profit or loss regardless of strategy selected. This material is being provided for information purposes only and does not constitute a recommendation. Expressions of opinion are as of this date and are subject to change without notice. Every type of investment, including mutual funds, involves risk. Risk refers to the possibility that you will lose money (both principal and any earnings) or fail to make money on an investment. Changing market conditions can create fluctuations in the value of a mutual fund investment. In addition, there are fees and expenses associated with investing in mutual funds that do not usually occur when purchasing individual securities directly. ETF shareholders should be aware that the general level of stock or bond prices may decline, thus affecting the value of an exchange-traded fund. Although exchange-traded funds are designed to provide investment results that generally correspond to the price and yield performance of their respective underlying indexes, the funds may not be able to exactly replicate the performance of the indexes because of fund expenses and other factors. 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.

How often do you want to talk to your financial company?  What questions do you want to answer?  How many decisions do you want to have to make in your portfolio?

Over the past 15 years, I have heard countless clients tell me “I pay you to make those decisions” when I ask them about what they want to buy or sell in their portfolio.  This doesn’t mean the clients don’t care about what they own or how well their portfolio performs.  It simply means they want us to do the job that they hired us to do.

These questions and that statement go to the heart of determining whether a client should be in a discretionary or non-discretionary account.  A discretionary account is one that allows the financial professional to make decisions for the client.  While the advisor must do what’s in the client’s best interests, there is no need for a conversation prior to placing trades.  At Raymond James Financial Services, Majestic Financial had to apply for discretionary authority and document our processes for evaluating investments before we could act in this manner.  The process took over a year and comes with a higher fiduciary responsibility.  After all, it’s simpler to claim the client “told me to sell XYZ stock” than to learn enough about a client’s needs, risk tolerance, and preferences to choose investments that will help them reach financial goals.

Not all financial firms allow discretion at the advisor level – some only allow the home office to use discretion.  Clients at firms that don’t allow discretion are often surprised that Majestic Financial has discretionary authority because they have never experienced anything other than constant phone calls from the advisor.  Some financial advisors don’t want the responsibility of discretionary authority.  In some cases, advisors will shift the responsibility for portfolio decisions to an outside third party which may create a form of discretion.  At Majestic Financial we embrace the responsibilities and duties that come with discretionary accounts.  Brandon, Leon and Sean meet every 4 months to do research on investments and portfolios to help ensure our clients are in alignment with their goals and risk tolerance.  We make changes to investments when they are no longer performing to our expectations or when we believe the market/economy has shifted.  We also add portfolios that align with the changing needs/desires of our clients.  The Faith Based portfolios are an example of expanding our offerings to meet client preferences.

With that being said, not all clients should be in discretionary accounts.  Some clients will have concentrated positions (30% of their portfolio is in one stock, or they love technology and it makes up 50% of their stocks).  If you prefer monthly or quarterly portfolio reviews (not conversations about goals, financial plans, etc) or want to have input on any and all changes to your account, non-discretion is the way to go.  However, a client shouldn’t expect both in the same account.  You can’t tell us “I am paying you to make the decision but consult with me before making any changes.”  This would be non-discretion in a discretionary account and would cause compliance issues.

We are proud of the work we do for clients at Majestic Financial.  We want to make sure that the account type meets your goals, needs, and personality.  If you believe that you are in the wrong account, please contact us and have that conversation.  It’s your money, but you hired us for a reason.
 
Written by Sean Budlong, CFP®, AAMS, Chief Executive Officer, Majestic Financial, Financial Consultant, RJFS
 
​Disclosures: *Any opinions are those of Sean Budlong and not necessarily those of RJFS or Raymond James. The information contained in this blog does not purport to be a complete description of the securities, markets, or developments referred to in this material. There is no assurance any of the trends mentioned will continue or forecasts will occur. Investing involves risk and you may incur a profit or loss regardless of strategy selected.
*In a fee-based account, clients pay a quarterly fee, based on the level of assets in the account, for the services of a financial advisor as part of an advisory relationship. In deciding to pay a fee rather than commissions, clients should understand that the fee may be higher than a commission alternative during periods of lower trading. Advisory fees are in addition to the internal expenses charged by mutual funds and other investment company securities. To the extent that clients intend to hold these securities, the internal expenses should be included when evaluating the costs of a fee-based account. Clients should periodically re-evaluate whether the use of an asset-based fee continues to be appropriate in servicing their needs. A list of additional considerations, as well as the fee schedule, is available in the firm's Form ADV Part 2 as well as the client agreement.

Three years ago this week, I was feeling serious pressure.  Brandon and I had decided to leave our former firm and create a new company – Majestic Financial.  The idea was truly Brandon’s and his enthusiasm won me over.  The world was trying to fight its way out of a pandemic and many financial offices had not even re-opened to in person appointments.  Laurie and Kendra agreed to make the move with us, and on April 12, 2021, Majestic was officially open.  Josh created our logo, the ladies chose our colors, and we all had input on our build-out of the office.
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Over the next 60 days Leon, Jaime, Alyx, and Becky joined the company.  The work was overwhelming – Laurie and I worked seven days a week, mostly 10-hour days.  We made many mistakes in the processing of new clients to Majestic.  We never had the chance to get trained on the intricacies of account processing until almost a year passed because the normal training was on pause due to COVID.  We physically moved into our office at a time when most companies were still having work done remotely.

As we fielded daily calls from people wanting to become Majestic clients, the markets slid into a 24 month bear condition.  So as people were getting experience with this new company, they were also seeing their portfolio values drop.  Luckily, most of our clients understood that when the overall market drops our job becomes more defensive rather than growth based.  I believe we did that job very well.

As I write this on April 3, 2024, I am humbled and amazed at how Majestic has evolved.  The chaos of 2021 has turned into solid processes for both current and new clients.  Any client who knows me realizes that I shouldn’t be doing processing, but in 2021 I was opening accounts.  Today, every employee of Majestic has a specific role to play and can fill in for each other to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.  Isiah joined Josh to create client events that span the spectrum from charity golf outings to creating personal fragrances.  I believe we have the best staff in the financial world in our geography.  I am proud of them every day.

Why did we have only three clients leave the firm during a 24-month bear market?  When we created Majestic, we specifically wanted to be able to invest in the best way possible to enable clients to meet their financial goals.  So, when the market turned and stayed negative, we weren’t forced to simply shrug and say, “stay invested, it will eventually turn around.”  Instead, we added structured investments, options, and indexed annuities.  All three of these investments were brand new to clients – they had no experience with any of them in their old portfolios.

As Majestic Financial enters its fourth year of existence, we continue to look for new ways of helping clients.  Brandon is leading the faith-based portfolios.  Kendra and I continue to add options strategies.  I don’t believe we will ever stop growing and learning, which should only continue to help clients.
Thank you for joining us on this adventure and I look forward to many more years of working together.
 
Written by Sean Budlong, CFP®, AAMS, Chief Executive Officer, Majestic Financial, Financial Consultant, RJFS

​Disclosures: *Any opinions are those of Sean Budlong and not necessarily those of RJFS or Raymond James. The information contained in this blog does not purport to be a complete description of the securities, markets, or developments referred to in this material. There is no assurance any of the trends mentioned will continue or forecasts will occur. Investing involves risk and you may incur a profit or loss regardless of strategy selected.