Monthly Insider – August, 2023

Insider Guide

August, 2023

Welcome Our New Client Services Associate:

Kimberly Klock

Kimberly recently joined our team, and she will probably be the first person you meet when you come to visit our office! You can read her bio on our website.

One of Kimberly’s unique abilities is to see the whole picture, combined with an eye for detail – enabling her to find things others might miss and asks good questions to connect the missing dots and develop positive solutions. This, along with her innate gift of creativity, makes her an invaluable team member.

Kimberly uses her talents at GIA through her positivity in greeting clients and working in our operations department as our Client Services Associate, helping with new and ongoing client service operations. She and her husband Christopher have been clients of GIA since 2021 and have experienced firsthand our exceptional client service and value. When the job was posted, she was excited to help create an incredible client experience for others as well.

Ways We’re Improving

We are always innovating and trying to create a transformative client experience. We wanted to highlight and share a few of the changes we have made this year to improve your client experience.

1. We engaged Fidelity Institutional Wealth Advisors (FIWA) in the fall of 2022 to help us with portfolio design and fund selection. With their partnership, we have enjoyed a season of better than expected performance with assets under management. The rebound from the bear market of 2022 is well underway!
2. We engaged a new technology partner (55ip) to improve your trade execution price
3. We hired a new Client Services Associate (see above!) dedicated to all your non-advice-related requests, such as making deposits, withdrawals, or updating account info.
4. We launched “The Money PIG Podcast” for quick and easy listening to learn more about financial topics from our advisors and other experts. (Just for fun: do you know what the P.I.G. stands for in the podcast’s title?)

Schedule Time with Your Advisor

We encourage you to schedule your annual financial check-up with your advisor if we have not met in the past 12 months. Direct links to your advisor’s calendar are listed below.

Real Estate Update – Existing Home Sales Slip
by Sharon Brewer

Mortgage rates exceeded 7% for a 30-year fixed rate in June, while inflation continues to be above the long-term goals–despite having come down a lot already. With buyers’ budgets capped, homes are staying on the market longer, and therefore for-sale inventory continues to rise, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). This is the first year-over-year increase in inventory levels since the start of the pandemic. They reported total housing inventory at the end of June was up by 9.6% from May and 2.4% from one year ago.

Increased inventory and a pullback in sales should help the market transition to a more balanced position in the coming months.

Interval Funds

In addition to the standard offering of diversified portfolios in stocks and bonds, we also offer Interval Funds – which are alternative investments that offer some potential benefits in exchange for reduced liquidity, and only at stated intervals – typically quarterly. Check out our podcast where Justin Pitcock shares his insight on Interval Funds. This is another investment option that you can consider when creating your overall investment portfolio.

Potential Benefits

• Ability to invest in private real estate and in private loans, which typically require longer commitments and have less liquidity
• May offer higher levels of income and return compared to traditional stocks and bonds
• Potentially more tax efficient than traditional fixed income
• Provide more diversification
• Potentially reduce overall portfolio volatility through investments that have low correlation to traditional investments

Note: All investment carries risk, and the benefits of Interval Funds may not outweigh the risks and disadvantages, and therefore you should always consult with your Financial Advisor before deciding on investments.

Blog Update

Our latest blog, “Different Ways to Ease into Retirement: Your Retirement Your Way” discusses how retirement can look very different from one person to another.

You might think of retirement as both you and your spouse quitting your jobs simultaneously, and never working again. If that is your retirement plan and you are able to do this, great!

If you want to take a different approach, a more gradual one, that is fine as well. Read more in the blog, and start thinking about different scenarios that could work for you.

Check out one of our newest episodes from The Money PIG Podcast hosted by our very own Reid Trego. This episode features practical wisdom from Justin Pitcock, CFP® professional, on the topic “What can I do now to plan for next tax season?” Click the button below to listen.

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