On behalf of everyone here at The Center committed to serving our clients and each other, we hope that you and your family had an enjoyable Labor Day weekend filled with family, friends, and fun! While The Center wasn't quite yet founded in 1894, since then the first Monday in September has been a national holiday meant to honor the contributions workers have made to the well-being of our country. For many, Labor Day is also considered the unofficial end of summer.
Fortunately, endings also lead to exciting beginnings; Good-bye Summer and Hello Fall! It's back to school time for the kids (happy parents), the college football season kicked off, and of course the cider mills start pumping out donuts and cider – our favorite!
We want to thank you for the opportunity to work for you as well as share some of the changes and happenings here at The Center. Much has changed in our 33-year history, but like the celebration of Labor Day, much has stayed the same.
Transitions and Continuity
The firm's four partners, Matt Chope, Sandy Adams, Laurie Renchik, and myself, continue to be committed to upholding The Center's organizational culture and passion for client service. Recently, Melissa Joy transitioned out of the firm. Over the years Melissa held a variety of roles, most recently as Director of Marketing and financial planner. Our strong foundation established by our founding partners, all whom have successfully retired, provide guidance and grounding during periods of change. In addition to the firm's four partners, we have a deep bench of talented professional advisors, supported by a dedicated in-house investment department and terrific client service group to ensure continuity.
Awards and Recognition
The Center has once again been recognized as a Great Place to Work by Crain’s in addition to being named one of the Best Places to Work by InvestmentNews. I was also named to Forbes Top State-by-State Advisors List for 2018 in Michigan and to 2018 Financial Times 400 Top Financial Advisors. I don’t mention the last two awards to toot my own horn, but rather to demonstrate the strength, dedication, and commitment of The Center team.
Awards are cool and we are very proud of the recognition. More importantly, this type of recognition allows us to attract top talent to provide world-class service and strive towards our core purpose of improving lives.
Center Growth
Since you’re already here, why not stay a little longer and take a look around our refreshed website. You’ll find some new videos and pictures. There are also a few more folks than when The Center started in 1985; the growth has been consistent and measured as we do our best each day to serve you. The graphic below showcases The Center and its growth in a more visually pleasing way.
Making decisions in the best interest of our clients is at the core of The Center. It all goes back to where we first began, our humble beginnings of Marilyn Gunther, Dan Boyce and Estelle Wade championing comprehensive financial planning to improve lives. The Center's current team of 28 embraces this awesome responsibility each day. In the end, we appreciate that our firm is about people - our firm is about you.
As we move into autumn, we wish you a colorful season of happiness and much success. As always, feel free to reach out if we can be of service. We love to hear from you!
Sincerely,
Timothy Wyman, CFP®, JD
Managing Partner
Timothy Wyman, CFP®, JD is the Managing Partner and Financial Planner at Center for Financial Planning, Inc.® and is a contributor to national media and publications such as Forbes and The Wall Street Journal and has appeared on Good Morning America Weekend Edition and WDIV Channel 4. A leader in his profession, Tim served on the National Board of Directors for the 28,000 member Financial Planning Association™ (FPA®), mentored many CFP® practitioners and is a frequent speaker to organizations and businesses on various financial planning topics.
Crain's Cool Places to Work recognition program honors employers that go the extra mile to make employees feel appreciated.
InvestmentNews “2018 Top 50 Best Places to Work for Financial Advisers”, March 2018. 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 9 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. These awards are not representative of any one client's experience, are not an endorsement, and are not indicative of advisor's future performance. Neither Raymond James nor any of its Financial Advisors pay a fee in exchange for this award. InvestmentNews, the Best Companies Group, and Crain's are not affiliated with Raymond James.
The FT 400 was developed in collaboration with Ignites Research, a subsidiary of the FT that provides specialized content on asset management. To qualify for the list, advisers had to have 10 years of experience and at least $300 million in assets under management (AUM) and no more than 60% of the AUM with institutional clients. The FT reaches out to some of the largest brokerages in the U.S. and asks them to provide a list of advisors who meet the minimum criteria outlined above. These advisors are then invited to apply for the ranking. Only advisors who submit an online application can be considered for the ranking. In 2018, roughly 880 applications were received and 400 were selected to the final list (45.5%). The 400 qualified advisers were then scored on six attributes: AUM, AUM growth rate, compliance record, years of experience, industry certifications, and online accessibility. AUM is the top factor, accounting for roughly 60-70 percent of the applicant's score. Additionally, to provide a diversity of advisors, the FT placed a cap on the number of advisors from any one state that's roughly correlated to the distribution of millionaires across the U.S. The ranking may not be representative of any one client's experience, is not an endorsement, and is not indicative of advisor's future performance. Neither Raymond James nor any of its Financial Advisors pay a fee in exchange for this award/rating. The FT is not affiliated with Raymond James.
The Forbes ranking of Best-In-State Wealth Advisors, developed by SHOOK Research is based on an algorithm of qualitative criteria and quantitative data. Those advisors that are considered have a minimum of 7 years of experience, and the algorithm weighs factors like revenue trends, AUM, compliance records, industry experience and those that encompass best practices in their practices and approach to working with clients. Portfolio performance is not a criteria due to varying client objectives and lack of audited data. Out of 21,138 advisors nominated by their firms, 2,213 received the award. Neither Forbes nor SHOOK receive a fee in exchange for rankings. This ranking is not indicative of advisor's future performance, is not an endorsement, and may not be representative of individual clients' experience. Neither Raymond James nor any of its Financial Advisors or RIA firms pay a fee in exchange for this award/rating.