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  • Hello Friends

    2020 will certainly go down as a historical year – and we still haven’t gotten to the election yet! We hope you are well and staying healthy.

    Speaking of elections, we thought it would be interesting to go into the archives and pull the election piece we wrote four years ago. At that point, eight years of a Democratic Administration were ending and the election looked like a lock for the Democratic candidate. What’s interesting about this four year old article is that it needs NO updating – except for the date of the election which is November 3 for the 2020 election and not November 8 (which was election day in 2016).

    Here are two of the more notable quotes from the article. “Presidents from both parties have raised or reduced taxes, supported or opposed free trade, increased or reduced regulatory burdens etc.” “History tells us that there is no magic formula to the Presidency and stock market movement.” Frankly, we believe that the after shock of the Covid pandemic will consume much of the next Presidential term and dictate the direction of many policy choices.

    Despite all of the headlines these days, the markets have shown a remarkable level of resiliency. However, resiliency does not equate to all clear and we expect volatility to increase significantly in the months ahead as the election draws nearer and the economic impact of the continued rise in Covid cases starts to show. As always, remain consistent and know that your allocation is designed to be a bit of an all weather allocation as we never know when crazy stuff is going to happen.

    Unfortunately, given the current state of Covid cases, we can’t in good conscience bring together a large group of people for our usual fall meeting formats.  And for that we are deeply disappointed. But we wanted to at least do something that felt normal so we are doing a Shred Day at the office.

    Many of you have told us that you have spent this quarantine time organizing things at home and have documents that need to be disposed of properly. Here’s your chance!  We also have the option to bring your old digital devices and computer equipment for proper disposal as well. You can stay in your car and we will unload your car and bring you a box lunch.

    Our series of portfolio manager conference calls continues. These calls represent an opportunity for you to hear directly from senior investment personnel about the decisions and changes that are being made on a daily basis to your investments. These calls require no internet or computer equipment – simply dial the phone number and enter the meeting number to connect. Please join us for the following upcoming calls at 5:00 PM sharp and email us any of your questions ahead of time.

    If you have not visited with us yet in 2020 please contact the office to arrange a conversation. We are available by phone, video or in person in our outdoor meeting space with the CDC recommended universal masking protocol.

    Look forward to seeing you on Shred Day.

    Fondly,

     

     

    Joel Garris

  • Nelson Ivest Brokerage Services, Inc. & Nelson Financial Planning, Inc. Business Continuity Plan

     

    Nelson Financial Planning, Inc. and Nelson Ivest Brokerage Services, Inc. have developed a Business Continuity Plan on how we will respond to events that significantly disrupt our business.  Since the timing and impact of disasters and disruptions is unpredictable, we will have to be flexible in responding to actual events as they occur.  With that in mind, we are providing you with this information on our business continuity plan in case an event occurs that causes significant disruption.

    Contacting Us – If after a significant business disruption you cannot contact us as you usually do at 407-629-6477, you should call our alternative number 407-619-5307.  If you cannot access us through either of those means, you should contact the applicable mutual fund or variable annuity company to complete any transactions within your accounts, including investments or redemptions.  The contact information for the four mutual fund families that we predominately do business with is as follows:

    American Funds, 1-800-421-4225, P. O. Box 2280, Norfolk, VA 23501-2280

    Deutsche AM Service Company 1-800-728-3337, P. O. Box 219151, Kansas City, MO 64121-9151

    MFS Service Center, 1-800-225-2606, P. O. Box 219341 Kansas City, MO 64121

    Putnam Investments, 1-800-225-1581, P. O. Box 219697 Kansas City, MO 64105

    Our Business Continuity Plan – We plan to quickly recover and resume business operations after a significant business disruption and respond by safeguarding our employees and property, making a financial and operational assessment, protecting the firm’s books and records, and allowing our customers to transact business.  In short, our business continuity plan is designed to permit our firm to resume operations as quickly as possible, given the scope and severity of the significant business disruption.

    Our business continuity plan addresses: data back up and recovery; all mission critical systems; financial and operational assessments; alternative communications with customers, employees, and regulators; alternate physical location of employees; critical supplier, contractor, bank and counter-party impact; regulatory reporting; and assuring our customers prompt access to their funds and securities if we are unable to continue our business.

    Each mutual fund or variable annuity company backs up client records in a geographically separate area. While every emergency situation poses unique problems based on external factors, such as time of day and the severity of the disruption, we have been advised by the mutual fund and variable annuity companies that their objective is to restore their own operations and be able to complete existing transactions and accept new transactions and payments within a reasonable period of time.  Your orders and requests for funds and securities could be delayed during this period.

    Varying Disruptions – Significant business disruptions can vary in their scope, such as only our firm, a single building housing our firm, the business district where our firm is located, the city where we are located, or the whole region.  Within each of these areas, the severity of the disruption can also vary from minimal to severe.  In a disruption to only our firm or a building housing our firm, we will transfer our operations to a local site when needed and expect to recover and resume business as quickly as possible.  In a disruption affecting our business district, city, or region, we will transfer our operations to a site outside of the affected area and recover and resume business within a reasonable period.  In either situation, we plan to continue in business, direct you to contact the mutual fund or variable annuity company directly and notify you through our customer emergency number at 407-619-5307 how to contact us.  If the significant business disruption is so severe that it prevents us from remaining in business, we will assure our customer’s prompt access to their accounts.

    For more information – If you have questions about our business continuity planning, you can contact us at 407-629-6477.