President’s Message

Parker Trasborg, CFP®

 

Dear Members,

Wow, what a year it has been.  Coming into the year, I had already expected things to be busy with our son due in April and taking the reins as President of the chapter.  Who would have imagined what we all had in store come mid-March and that it would stretch into at least 2021.  Add on top of that the presidential election, and the wild market which ended the longest bull market in history by quickest drop into a bear market ever, which was followed by a swift return of the market back to all-time highs.  It has truly been a unique year.  With some of the positive vaccine news, we are all hopeful that things will start to get back to normal sooner rather than later.  Luckily for the chapter, after just a couple of months of planning we were able to transition to offering virtual programming and introduced our Community Forums, both of which have been quite successful.  As we head into December, we are continuing our busy fourth quarter with four more events to close out the year.    

·       On December 3^rd our next Community Forum will be hosted by Gold Sponsor, Vanguard.  There are limited spots available for an intimate masters study group discussion led by Tom Galgano and Mike DiJoseph. 

·       Next up, our NexGen group is hosting their final study group of the year at 5:30pm on December 8^th.

·       Our annual member meeting where we announce the 2021 board  is scheduled for December 10^th and features two speakers.  First up, we have Jeff Levine discussing ‘Advanced Roth Conversion Planning’.  Following Jeff, Platinum Sponsor, Hines Securities, will discuss the Real Estate Market.  CFP® CE has been applied for and is pending.

·       Our final program of the year will take place on December 17^th.  A Community Forum hosted by two of our Platinum Sponsors, Osterweis and Invesco. 

Our Winter Symposium is scheduled to take place on January 25^th, 26^th and 28^th.  CFP® CE is still pending but we are hoping to have 13 credit hours available, making the event quite a deal at $125 for members to register at the early bird rate before December 15^th. Our Chair, Chris Rivers, has lined up an impressive slate featuring Michael Kitces, Brad McMillian, Rita Cheng, Kate Healy, Dennis Moseley-Williams, Carolyn McClanahan, Gary Altman, Steve Hamilton, and Brad Rutan.  They will be presenting on topics ranging from current industry trends to an update on the political and policy climates.  This is our marquee event, and we are pleased to be able to offer a discounted price compared to our in-person Symposium.

It is hard to believe but there are just a few weeks left in my term as President.  I am pleased to pass the torch on to Rose Price in 2021.  Rose has been on the board for a number of years and she and the 2021 board have some great ideas on how to build off of the pivots that we had to make this year.  It has been an honor to serve as President this year and I will now look ahead to planning the 2022 Winter Symposium.  I wish you all a very happy, healthy and restful holiday season.

Best wishes,

Parker

Parker Trasborg, CFP®

2020 FPA NCA President

TrasborgP@cjmltd.com

 

President’s Message

Parker Trasborg, CFP®

 

Dear Members,

 

We enter November in the tail end of the Presidential election season which should finally (after all the votes are eventually tallied) bring an end to some of the uncertainty in the markets.  With the colder temperatures and the virus rearing its ugly head again across the world, I think it is safe to say that we are all looking forward to at least one element of uncertainty being behind us.  As we did in October, we are going to be keeping Peggy very busy in November with a plethora of events leading up to Thanksgiving. 

·       On November 4^th our next Community Forum will be hosted by Bronze Sponsor, Flex Shares – Northern Trust, which has been approved for 1 CFP® CE.  Fellow board member and Institutional Business Development Executive from Northern Trust, Vernon Biggs, and Paul Binnion from Hanlon Investment Management will discuss how to successfully communicate with baby boomer clients.

·       November 12th we will have a very timely Community Forum approved for 2 CFP® CE Credits.  There are two sessions, the first hosted by Platinum Sponsor, American Funds.  Speaker, Clarke Camper, will have a post election wrap-up.  Then Platinum Sponsor, Fairway Mortgage, will have Harlan Accola reviewing a reverse mortgage guide.

·       On November 19th two more Platinum Sponsors will host a Community Forum.  First up Platinum Sponsor, BNY Mellon Pershing, will have Lisa Crafford and Seamus O’Brien leading a discussion about “Planning for back to the office in a Covid world”.  Following that Platinum Sponsor, Joe Richardson from Nationwide, will review the advent of Regulation BI. One CFP® CE is pending approval.   

Looking ahead, we have several more events in December to close out the year. Then in 2021 our marquee event, the January Symposium, is going to be held virtually over the course of several days. Our chair, Chris Rivers, is putting the finishing touches on the amended virtual schedule.

A few weeks ago, the 2021 board met to begin planning for next year. We have got a lot of exciting ideas for the future, but we need your help. We need volunteers, especially on-board committees. In many cases these are commitments of not more than 1-2 hours per month. We are also always looking for feedback and suggestions as the chapter and its activities should be driven by the things that you, the members, value.

Lastly, as we approach the end of year holiday season, it is important for us all to take a moment to consider all that we have to be thankful for both at work and at home.  For many of us, those two have become the same place for much of this year, but there is still lots to be thankful for.  I wish you all good health and happiness.

Best wishes,

Parker

Parker Trasborg, CFP®

2020 FPA NCA President

TrasborgP@cjmltd.com

 

President’s Message

Parker Trasborg, CFP®

Dear Members,

 

It is amazing to think we are heading into the fourth quarter of 2020, it seems time has lost some of its meaning this year.  Amidst the craziness of the year, we have decided that Peggy Nelson wasn’t busy enough, so we’ve put together an action packed schedule for October with an event almost every single week. 

• On October 1^st our next Community Forum will be hosted by Platinum Sponsor, Hines Securities.Managing Director, Ken Jett, will discuss different things to think about when looking to return to the office.
• October 15^th we will have another Community Forum which will be hosted by Gold Sponsor, Transamerica.Speaker, Michael Sosnowski, will lead a discussion on marriage and money.
• On October 16th we are holding our second Career Day of 2020.Registration is now closed for the day but it is shaping up to be a great event.
• Look for final details on our October 22 virtual member meeting to be announced soon!
• Lastly, on October 29^th, we have two sponsors hosting a Community Forum.Platinum Sponsor, MFS, kicks things off with a Social Security and Medicare Bootcamp featuring Emily Dupre and John Norce.Following that discussion, Gold Sponsor, Hartford Funds, will have Ryan Sullivan talk about 5 Ways to Tech.
  

 

 

We also have a new Pro Bono volunteer opportunity available from BritePaths. They are seeking CFPs to provide one-on-one financial coaching and CFPs interested in working with an individual or family for six months guiding the client towards achieving their financial goals. To volunteer, you must attend a BritePaths training - the next BritePaths Pro Bono Financial Counselor training is scheduled for Tuesday, November 10, 2020, 6:30 - 7:30 pm - a presentation with Q&A. If you are interested in this opportunity, please register with Carole Rogers at CRogers@britepaths.org.  

 

In addition, Washingtonian has asked us to advertise their Top Financial Professionals survey for 2021.  Please click here to take the survey.

 

As you may have noticed above, we have shifted many of our Community Forums to be hosted by sponsors so that they can bring their specific expertise right to you on various topics.   We consider this shift a win-win as we are able to leverage subject matter experts from sponsoring companies to talk with our members while also providing our sponsors with much desired face-time in a virtual world.  From here, it’s full steam ahead as the board has our Strategic Planning Meeting for 2021 coming up in late October.  If you’d like to see anything different for 2021, please send the ideas my way – TrasborgP@cjmltd.com, and I am happy to bring it up for discussion at that meeting.

 

Until next time,

Parker

Parker Trasborg, CFP®

2020 FPA NCA President

TrasborgP@cjmltd.com

 

President’s Message

Parker Trasborg, CFP®

Welcome to the new format of our newsletter.  We hope that you find it more visually appealing, interesting to read, and helpful in notifying you of our upcoming chapter events. 

As most of summer is now in the rear-view mirror, we start to kick things back into gear.  Through all of the craziness, I hope that you were able to find a way to get a little well-deserved rest and relaxation.  This fall will present special challenges with most, if not all, local public schools starting back virtually, which will require many of us to have to put on a teacher hat.  In addition, we are now in the home stretch of a presidential election with less than 70 days to go until November 3^rd.  While we can likely expect heightened volatility in the markets heading into the election, I think it is important to note that historical market returns have shown that it does not matter too much for stock performance which party resides in the White House.

This fall, we have several upcoming events that we are excited about:

NexGen is kicking off our fall slate on September 15^th with their next quarterly study group. 

We revive our monthly member meetings on September 17^th starting at 11am featuring two speakers:

Lisa Kueng from Platinum Sponsor, Invesco, will present a timely topic, “The Living Zoom – thriving and surviving in the new era of virtual presenting”.  This presentation has 1 hour of CFP® CE. 

Following Lisa, Ben Lewis from FPA National will be covering Media Training from 12:10 – 1:10pm.  Ben’s presentation is a bit different this year – the topic is “Making Your Pitch: Engaging the media to elevate your visibility”.  For those that are not aware, FPA National created a media source several years ago.  This system allows journalists to reach out to FPA members for interview or quote requests on various pieces they are writing.  In order to get on the list and begin receiving those requests you must attend a media training.  In a normal week, there are probably 15 – 20 requests from the media that come through the system.  This is a valuable member benefit provided by the National organization.

Our next Community Forum will take place on September 24^th.  The topic for the forum is International Investing and will be hosted by one of our sponsor firms, Sonya Morris from Harbor Capital Advisors – 1 hour of CFP® CE has been approved for the event.

On October 16th, we are holding a virtual Career Day as we shift the timing of our annual Career Day from February to the fall.  As mentioned previously, this shift better aligns the event with when many of the top students are being hired for positions that will start next summer following graduation or for summer internships. Register soon as the early bird rate ends on September 10^th.

Throughout everything, the board has been meeting by Zoom on a nearly monthly basis. We are continuing to plan events for the remainder of 2020 while also exploring different ways to support our members and our sponsors while we are not able to meet in person. As always, we welcome any and all feedback on how we can make the chapter a better experience for you especially as we navigate through uncertain times.  You are welcome to e-mail me directly at TrasborgP@cjmltd.com.  Enjoy the tail end of the summer and I look forward to seeing you at an upcoming event.

Best wishes,

Parker

Parker Trasborg, CFP®

2020 FPA NCA President

TrasborgP@cjmltd.com

 

President’s Message

Parker Trasborg, CFP®

Dear Members,

As we head into the tail end of summer, I’m sure I’m not alone in hoping for some more moderate temperatures.  July closes out with having a record number of days at 90 degrees or higher in DC, beating any calendar month going back to 1872 (according to the National Weather Service).  August is often a quiet month for the chapter and this year is no different.  It’s a great time to relax, perhaps get out of town for a little while, or to watch some of the sports that have started/resumed their seasons while the chapter takes a breather after our virtual symposium in mid-July. 

We had a great turnout at our July symposium with over 90 members registered to attend the four-day program and over 110 registered for the ethics course.  Our first experience moving digital was a success with minimal technology issues, interesting speakers and an engaged audience.  I would like to thank several of our platinum sponsors including Nationwide, Altman & Associates, Charles Schwab, Osterweis, MFS, Pershing, and American Funds that supported the event by providing speakers.  Since we were not able to meet in person and have our regular sponsor booths, we invited all of our sponsors to speak for a few minutes at some point throughout the program to give a brief introduction about each of their firms.  Our sponsors appreciated the opportunity to speak and I know the audience really enjoyed the sessions.

As mentioned above, we are not planning any local events in August.  However, we are filling the fall calendar up virtually with our regular programming and community forums.  On September 15th, join our local NexGen for their next quarterly study group.  In addition, the National NexGen group is planning a virtual “One Day Experience” on August 14th in place of an in person NexGen Gathering.  If you are interested in joining, sign up here: http://z5bv3u.attendify.io/

In October, we are planning to hold a virtual Career Day as we shift the timing of our annual Career Day from February to the fall.  This shift better aligns the event with when some of the top students are being hired for positions that will start the following summer after graduation or for summer internships. To avoid missing any of the top students at our event, we decided to hold this second event in October this year as we shift to our new fall schedule going forward.

Our programs co-directors continue to work diligently on our virtual fall programs, if you have any specific topics you’d like covered or speakers that you’d like to hear from, please reach out.  As always, the board welcomes any and all feedback on how we can make the chapter a better experience for you.  You are welcome to e-mail me directly at TrasborgP@cjmltd.com.  Enjoy the rest of your summer and I look forward to seeing you virtually at an upcoming event.

Best wishes,

Parker

Parker Trasborg, CFP®

2020 FPA NCA President

TrasborgP@cjmltd.com

President’s Message

Parker Trasborg, CFP®

Dear Members,

2020 has been quite a year already and we are just halfway through.  The S&P 500 hit its record high in February, followed by a swift 34% drop as the pandemic really began to hit the US in mid-March. Most recently, the world has watched the global protests against racism, injustice and inequality.   Our office closed on Friday, June 19th, in observance of Juneteenth.  The day off was used as a time to reflect and think about what each of us can to do make a difference.  The truth is there is a lot that can be done even in our own financial planning community.  According to Financial Planning magazine on February 28, 2020, less than 4% of the 86,000+ CFP® Professionals are black or Latino.  That figure is staggering.  Locally, we can work to be a more inclusive organization by raising awareness, actively supporting people of color and increasing the diversity of our speakers as we plan future events.  I encourage you to read FPA National’s note and learn more about their efforts and how you can help here: https://www.financialplanningassociation.org/fpa-message-need-inclusive-community and more about the CFP Board’s Diversity & Inclusion initiative here: https://www.cfp.net/initiatives/diversity-and-inclusion .

On June 1^st, FPA National rolled out an 8-week externship program to help support financial planning students whose summer opportunities were impacted by the Coronavirus.  The program exceeded expectations and had over 1,950 students signed up to participate including over 20 from our chapter.  If you are interested in getting involved and learning how you can help, please reach out to Board Secretary, Kelly McNerney - kmm@fjyfinancial.com .

With over 20 people participating, we recently held our most successful Community Forum yet.  Platinum Sponsor, Gary Altman and Coryn Rosenstock, from Altman & Associates hosted a discussion about estate planning.

We are going to take a respite from the community forums through the summer as we host our upcoming Virtual Multi-Day Symposium on July 7^th, 9^th, 14^th and 16^th.  We are pleased to have a number of speakers covering a variety of topics at the symposium.

-        On July 7^th, we have Joe Richardson from Nationwide discussing Traditional vs. Investment-Only Variable annuities and Gary Altman covering Estate Planning Post COVID and the 2020 election. 

-        On July 9^th, Michael Townsend from Schwab will be reviewing the Current Economic & Regulatory Outlook and Rita Cheng will be presenting CFP® Ethics. 

-        On July 14^th Eddy Vataru from Osterweis presents the topic on a Post COVID Playbook and Susan Kay from MFS will discuss Achieving Meaningful Growth: Engaging Our Clients. 

-        Lastly, on July 16^th we have Lisa Crafford from Pershing discussing Empowering Your NexGen and Jeffrey Brooks from American Funds talking about Wealth Planning Across Life Stages. 

We have 9 CFP® CE credits approved including 2 CFP Ethics and 2 Virginia Ethics insurance credits approved.  2 Maryland Ethics insurance CE is pending approval. 9 CIMA CE is pending approval, including 2 CIMA Ethics. Register today - https://www.fpanca.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=1386130&group=

Our programs co-directors are now shifting their focus towards our virtual Fall programs, if you have any specific topics you would like covered or speakers that you would like to hear from, please reach out.  As always, the board welcomes any and all feedback on how we can make the chapter a better experience for you.  You are welcome to e-mail me directly at TrasborgP@cjmltd.com.  I look forward to seeing you virtually at an upcoming event.

Have a happy and safe Independence Day!

Best Regards,

Parker

Parker Trasborg, CFP®

2020 FPA NCA President

TrasborgP@cjmltd.com

President’s Message

Parker Trasborg, CFP®

Dear Members,

I hope that you, your families and your clients all continue to remain healthy.  If you don’t follow the FPA National e-mails closely, you may have missed that on May 20^th they released a new national website, logo, branding, and slogan.  This is the initial rollout, and the updated branding and website design will start to trickle down to the chapters through the end of the year and into next year.  The technology change is part of the broader OneFPA initiative that was announced at the end of 2018.

To help support financial planning students whose summer opportunities were impacted by the Coronavirus, FPA National has rolled out an 8-week Externship program beginning June 1^st.   The program has 1,400 students signed up to participate.  If you are interested in getting involved and seeing how you can help, please reach out to Board Secretary, Kelly McNerney - kmm@fjyfinancial.com.

Looking locally, our region has begun to re-open and is trying to return to a sense of normalcy. I am pleased to announce that our chapter is also looking forward to returning to a new normal by offering a few upcoming events.

First up on June 3^rd, we will continue our bi-weekly community forums. The topic of discussion this week is Managing Teams Remotely.  As many of us continue to work from home, we think this is a timely topic and should be a great discussion.

On June 9^th at 5:30pm, NexGen will be hosting their next roundtable discussion, a virtual summer check-in via Zoom.

Lastly, our Programs Co-Directors, Cat and Carl, have been hard at work planning a Virtual Summer Symposium.  As sitting through an eight-hour single-day Zoom meeting sounds like a special kind of torture, we are splitting it up among four days, July 7^th, 9^th, 14^th and 16^th for a couple hours at lunch time each day.  Included in the symposium will be CFP® Ethics.  Additional details and registration information will be announced soon.

We won’t allow the pandemic to spoil all of our plans and are diligently planning additional events for the second half of the year.  The board welcomes any and all feedback on how we can make the chapter a better experience for you.  Our membership is the lifeblood of the organization.  You are welcome to e-mail me directly at TrasborgP@cjmltd.com.  I look forward to seeing you virtually at an upcoming event.

Best regards,

Parker

Parker Trasborg, CFP®

2020 FPA NCA President

TrasborgP@cjmltd.com

President’s Message

Parker Trasborg, CFP®

Dear Members,

I hope that you, your families and your clients all remain healthy and are staying sane while being cooped up at home for over 6 weeks now.  In early April, my wife and I welcomed our son, Hudson, into the world.  While we have all had to get used to getting little sleep each night, our family is happy and healthy and adjusting to our own “new normal”.  Keeping up with two young kids at home has been exciting during this pandemic.

During these unprecedented times, the chapter has been forced to cancel/postpone many of our events through the spring and for the foreseeable future.  In place, we have been hosting community Zoom forums for members to log on, catch-up and chat during lunchtime.  We have also been advertising much of the great material that our sponsors have been putting out during these uncertain times.  We invite you to join the community forum or listen to some of the sponsor material.  Our sponsors are here to support and help us in any way that they can.  As we all continue to socially distance and avoid crowds, we are hopeful to offer additional programming virtually.

As always, we appreciate any and all feedback on how we can make the chapter better.  If you have any ideas of things that we can do to enhance your experience during the quarantine, please reach out!  You are welcome to e-mail me directly at TrasborgP@cjmltd.com.  I look forward to seeing you at an upcoming event.

Best Regards,

Parker

Parker Trasborg, CFP®

2020 FPA NCA President

TrasborgP@cjmltd.com