News and Commentary

April 2025 Quarterly Update

Friends, Coming into my 31st year as a Financial Advisor, market trends and opportunities begin to look similar as if I’ve read this book before. What a year we had in 2024 and very unexpected by most advisors and investors-we got a “soft landing” economically!  I believe 2025 is shaping up to be a year of earnings growth, Fed cuts, and potential volatility, with a new but familiar administration in office. This could be the year of “active” managers, and we may see earnings accelerate. Time will tell and we will continue striving to meet your goals and our obligations to your as your trusted advisors. See here for more details on Q4: Market Review 2024SWM NEWS: Jeff and SWM were once again named to the CEO Roundtable at Janney, reflecting the top 15% of the company’s Financial Advisors. Jeff and Michele visited the island of Aruba over the holiday: Caroline spent time with family over the holidays and enjoyed cheering on the Dawgs in Q4. She is busy studying for her security licenses in Q1.Clarke and Laura enjoyed the holiday season by hosting family members for a memorable and excessively filling Thanksgiving celebration. This year, they also ventured into new territory by participating in a turkey trot—despite earlier promises to avoid such endeavors. Pictured below, they pause to rehydrate after their spirited effort.For Kevin, 2024 ended with a number of highlights for he and his family. Coaching his son’s first season of flag football all the way to the NYO semi-finals……Coaching his daughter’s NYO softball team and watching her being awarded team captain by her teammates. Holiday’s were filled with memories that last a lifetime.

Hello! Fall and election time! What a summer it was though and as I’ve mentioned all year, we were waiting to see if the rest of the market (less Technology) was going to catch up and rally. It did and we are seeing double digit gains in all our stock models.  The S&P 500 ended the quarter up 20%, the Dow 12%, and International Indexes up around 11% year to date.   We hit a bunch of new highs this year and this market has been resilient with all that’s going on globally and here in the U.S.  I’m still cautiously optimistic we won’t see a deep recession next year, but there are still a lot of unknowns to come with the elections, the FED moves, economic numbers, International disputes..etc.  Our team will continue to monitor the landscape for strategic moves and opportunities for you, our Private Clients.See this insight from First Trust on the election: The View From Late September (ftportfolios.com)SWM News:We are very excited and proud to announce the addition of Clarke Williams, Financial Advisor, and Caroline Ballou, Director of Service and Administration at SWM. See more about them below and welcome them next time you call or visit!With over 15 years in life insurance design and estate tax planning for the high-net-worth community, Clarke Williams brings valuable experience in financial planning, wealth management, and asset protection to our practice. He will join us as a Financial Consultant on the team and assist with wealth management, financial planning, and client relationships.Clarke is a proud alumnus of Florida State University, a Chartered Financial Consultant, a golf enthusiast, and is actively engaged in his church community in the Roswell area where he lives with his wife, Laura.Caroline is another graduate from University of Georgia and joins us from a background in project management and consulting, where she provided her clients with a first-class customer experience. Caroline will replace Allison/Danielle and be your point of contact for anything service/admin related. SWM is confident Caroline will be a valuable asset to our team, putting your needs first each step of the way. In her spare time, she enjoys attending Atlanta Braves baseball, exploring new restaurants, and hanging out with her family/friends. Store Caroline’s contact info in your phone: 404-926-2010 or email at cballou@janney.com.