5 Year Thanks

Gracias.  Merci.  Arigatou.  Preesh (ask Max).  Thank you.

On April 12, 2021, Majestic Financial became a legal business, with five employees (Sean, Brandon, Laurie, Josh and Kendra) with another (Alyx) starting shortly after.  We all worked 12 hour days, 7 days a week – all out of our homes.  Within 10 days, we had over 50 clients and within a month we had close to 100 clients.  Within 60 days, we had added Becky, Isiah, Leon and Jaime.  By the end of 2021, Majestic Financial had over 300 clients and two physical offices – Plainwell and Hastings.

Today there are six financial advisors at Majestic Financial – Sean, Brandon, Leon, Kendra, Mark and Max – and eight other staff members all supporting almost 700 client households.  Leon added an office in downtown Kalamazoo.

It’s been a wild ride for both the Majestic staff and clients.  We were not entirely out of the pandemic when we opened our doors, and over the first 36 months in business the S&P 500 was negative for 25 months.  In 2026 the major indices broke new records.  Sean and Kendra worked hard to gain experience and expertise in various investment strategies while Brandon developed his skills as a discretionary portfolio manager.  Today, every Monday there are four of us evaluating client positions and Brandon is rebalancing accounts every month.  The staff went from working out of Sean and Laurie’s dining room opening accounts every minute of the day to…opening accounts every minute of the day in Plainwell and Hastings.

In 2021, we had our first two golf outings and two open houses – one in each office.  Since that time, we have held an annual golf outing for charity, a pickleball outing, cooking classes for Valentine’s, Growlers’ baseball games, a movie event for the kids (Zootopia 2), a wine and canvas evening, an aromatherapy class, and even an afternoon on a tiki boat in South Haven to celebrate women’s month.

What a whirlwind over the past 5 years!  A lot has changed, but there are a few things that have stayed the same.  First, when Brandon, Sean, Kendra, Laurie and Josh discussed what we wanted our new firm to look like, we knew we wanted it to be client centered, using all the technology and financial products available to help achieve goals.  We wanted to make sure both staff and clients wanted to be a part of what we are building.  Today, Mark and Max are constantly pushing the office to adopt new technology that helps both the staff and clients.  Most of the financial products we use daily are still not even available at our old firm.  And we are thankful that our wonderful staff helps us add clients from referrals every week of the year.

Even the way we communicate with our clients has changed over the past five years.  In 2021, I was on the phone with a client almost every minute I was awake.  Now, we still are on the phone quite a bit, but when we are not physically meeting with clients, we are writing blogs, newsletters, recording podcasts and hosting zoom calls.  All of this is with the intention of making sure clients know what we are doing and why – without having to wait for a phone call at an inconvenient time.
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So, I will end this where it started.  Thank you to all the clients who trusted us in 2021 and all of those who have joined us since then.  We know that Majestic Financial will look even more different in 5 and 10 years.  We are looking forward to working with you today and in the future.
 
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. There is no guarantee that these statements, opinions or forecasts provided herein will prove to be correct. This information is not intended as a solicitation or an offer to buy or sell any security referred to herein