One year ago, Birds Eye Wealth opened its virtual doors for the first time. Nothing like hanging your shingle in the middle of a global pandemic! The reason I felt confident enough to do that was because of all of you and the relationship we have built through the years…or maybe I’m just an idiot? That’s ok, because thanks to you, the Birds Eye family, the company is on pace to grow 25% year over year and 35% since its launch. So once again I thank you for the faith and trust you put in Judy and myself.
When I sent the announcement letter last year, I told you my biggest desire was to communicate more through various platforms. To that end, I think we did an okay job but there is much more to do. With the growth we have experienced comes the need to scale the business better. I think we took major steps to do that as many of you are now on the same investment platform. Behind the scenes, Judy and I have done a lot of work on the back end of our systems to ensure data accuracy, timely reviews and investment rebalancing and monitoring.
While I was not initially a fan of using tools such as Zoom, it has proven to be incredibly helpful in getting meetings completed despite everyone’s crazy schedules. It will continue to be a tool moving forward that I will utilize in some of our meetings when in person scheduling presents too many challenges. Is it me or have sports schedules gotten even crazier since Covid made its way into our lives? Zoom has really helped in that regard.
The markets have been interesting since September of last year. They have managed to battle through the pandemic, sky high unemployment rates, Presidential change, The Afghan crisis, short term hyperinflation, potential long term inflation problems, meme stock disasters, a debt ceiling crisis, an infrastructure bill that nobody can agree on and supply chain disruption. Yes, September wasn’t great. The S&P ended down 4.8%, which was the worst month since the pandemic started. But it’s also only the second negative month this year and is still up over 20% since September 1, 2020. However, October is off to a great start as we find the S&P up over 3.5%, almost making back our September losses. As you can see from all the issues I mentioned before, there will always be issues, whether real or manufactured in the media, that may scare you about the markets. We spend a lot of time together before we implement your plan. Don’t let media headlines derail your plan and what we have started. When your life changes, that’s when it’s time to change.
As the business grew last year, I hired an outside company to help me with posts on social media and things of that nature. I put that attempt to bed at the end of last month. While they did a good job, I want Birds Eye to be more personal. I want you to hear my voice, not stock content that you can pull up on any Google search. My job is to continue to build the infrastructure of Birds Eye to allow our conversations to take place. To that end, I have some exciting news coming next week. As I continue to write, I always encourage your feedback. I can’t know what you are thinking if we don’t talk about it! With Covid restrictions loosening, we also have some exciting in-person events being planned for next year. Finally, I want to send a huge thank you to all that sent donations for the golf outing in support of my friend BJ Thomas and his family. For year 1 it was a huge success, and we were able to provide some much needed support for the family. We have a full year to plan now so the date for next year will be out in the coming months for any of your golfers that want to join us.
As we move towards the end of 2021 and into 2022, I feel more confident than ever in the mission of Birds Eye to put you and your families in a position to succeed in your plans now and in the future. As I’ve always said to you the easiest plan we put in place is the day we start working together. A good planner is there for you when life throws you a curveball. I’ll be here. Please continue to share any feedback. If there is a specific topic you would like to hear more about, just send me an email and let me know. As I mentioned above, be on the lookout for exciting announcements as we continue to grow. We are looking forward to working alongside you to accomplish your financial plans together.