Money Matters MALLARD Financial Partners INC
MALLARD Financial Partners INC
Getting Organized,
by Susan Lehnerd, CFP®, Director of Financial Planning
You’ve likely been told to create documents so your wishes are followed: a will,
power of attorney, and a healthcare directive. You’ve probably also heard to
keep these in one place and make sure people know their location.
Hopefully, you’ve followed that advice. But have you included your financial
and personal documents? Will your executor or family member know where to
look in order to settle your affairs?
A will directs where your assets go; it doesn’t mention where to find them. If
your loved ones can’t find your assets, how will they get them? We know of
cases where wealth transfers took years because the beneficiaries didn’t know
which firms held their loved one’s assets.
We’ve begun providing clients a binder to help them organize their
important information. It includes many sections, including:
• bank accounts • credit cards • emergency contacts • legal information • retirement income • insurance policies • pet information • real estate records • funeral arrangements
You should also document your online accounts, including usernames and pass-
words. Many people use social media to communicate their loved one’s passing
and share funeral arrangements. Your online accounts may be the only way ex-
ecutors can access information, especially if other documents aren’t organized.
However you gather this information, safeguard it in a fireproof lockbox in your
home. Since you put valuable time compiling it; you don’t want to risk it being
destroyed.
Just as your will, power of attorney and healthcare directive provide guidance
for your family and responsible parties, an organizer directs them to more per-
sonal information. So don’t stop at the legal documents – go a step further and
get organized! You’ll go a long way towards granting your loved ones some
peace of mind at a time when they will really appreciate it.
Mallard Gold and Platinum clients can get an organizer at their Spring
or Fall financial planning meetings. If you’re not yet a Mallard client, we
encourage you to create your own organizer soon.
Mallard Money Matters July 2019 Page 2
Most investors recognize the connection between the business cycle and the changing value of their stock in-
vestments. But in my experience, few investors recognize factors that influence the changing values of their
bond investments. Factors such as creditworthiness, duration, supply/demand, yield, as well as inflation. To
give you a behind-the-scenes look at our bond strategies, I’m going to explore what we call our ‘Home Base’
for bond fund selections. I’ll explain why we’ve been returning bond fund selections to Home Base the
last few months. For context, I’ll review where markets have been the last few years, and what our bond
fund selections have been in response.
We start with a focus on studying current economic conditions in order to anticipate the most likely future
economic paths, and to position our clients’ portfolios to maximize return, within their given risk tolerance.
One factor that impacts bonds is the Federal Funds
Rate (fed rate). Put simply, the fed rate is the interest
rate banks are allowed to charge one another over-
night while banks are closed, so that banks can keep
their books balanced if the day’s deposits and loans
don’t net. The Federal Reserve has been steadily
raising this rate since late 2015/early 2016. In
that rising interest rate environment, we positioned
portfolios into bond categories which do better when
interest rates go up, which in turn, reduced our bond exposure in categories which get hurt when interest rates
go up. A rising interest rate environment is a special economic environment; it isn’t Home Base.
We anticipate interest rates will stay steady, or potentially drop, over the next year or two. So dur ing
the last few quarters, we’ve been transitioning from our rising-interest-rate-style toward a neutral stance, our
Home Base. This has included reducing our exposure to Opportunity Bonds (higher-risk, higher-reward
bonds), including eliminating exposure to floating-rate bonds. The result has been increasing exposure to
Quality Bonds (lower-risk, lower reward bonds) from its low point of 65% of bonds, up to our stated Home
Base of 80% of bonds. We are always looking forward, and if we appear to enter a falling-interest-rate-
environment next, we will consider increasing Quality Bonds beyond our Home Base, up to a maximum of
100% of bonds.
The fed rate is just one of numerous factors which impact bond markets, bond investor’s returns, and our bond
portfolio strategies. I’ve been occasionally asked by clients, “Why should I care about bond fund selections
when I’m actually relying on my stocks for growth?” My answer is simple, “If stocks are your accelerator,
bonds are your brake pedal. You need the whole car in working condition to safely ar r ive home at the
end of the day.” After all, an investor’s nest egg is constructed from stocks and bonds and no matter what is
inside your portfolio, one day it has to translate to cash to pay the bills.
Managing Bonds Matters to Your Nest Egg, by Joseph Daigle, CFEI, Investment Analyst
Mallard Money Matters July 2019 Page 3
Mallard will be introducing a new quarterly report format for our
Gold and Platinum clients this year. The streamlined Quarterly
Investment Portfolio Review will feature more graphs and charts
and fewer text-heavy paragraphs. This should help clients better
understand their portfolio’s holdings and performance.
The first time clients receive this new report format, we’ll include a
handy “how to read your report” guide which will serve as a road-
map for reading the report. It will provide an overview of the infor-
mation being presented and should be kept for future reference.
The two page image on the right shows a new Comprehensive
Overview of a sample portfolio. It includes the:
Portfolio value
Asset allocation breakdown
Cash flow details
Portfolio performance over multiple time periods
Portfolio returns versus benchmark data
In addition to these two Comprehensive Overview pages, clients
will continue to receive market commentary, review, and outlook
information from our Investment Department, along with a detailed
billing summary by account.
As always, please give us a call at 302-737-4546 (or toll free at 888-
737-4546) if you have any questions about your portfolio, quarterly
reports, or anything else in your financial life.
And remember, all Gold and Platinum clients are entitled to two
meetings per year with their Financial Planners. Call our office to
schedule an appointment today!
If you’re not yet a Gold or Platinum client, please contact us to
learn more.
Please join us in welcoming Nick Gaetani! He will be part of the Financial Planning Division, serving as
Support Advisor. He brings to Mallard nine years of experience in relationship management and providing
financial planning to individuals.
A New Look for Your Reports,
by Jacqie Thompson, AAMS®, Investment Operations Manager
Welcome Nicholas (Nick) Gaetani, CFP®, ChFC®, Support Advisor
For illustration only—your report will be much less blurry!
750 Barksdale Road, Suite 3
Newark, DE 19711-3245
Working together, building your financial security
We are currently accepting new clients. If you know someone who is looking for financial advice, please think of us!
We offer a free 60 minute meeting — as a
nice way to get to know each other without
making a firm commitment.
We work with individuals, small businesses,
family trusts, estates, and nonprofits. Our
clients’ portfolios range from $20,000 to
$10 million. We can offer financial advice
on specific topics, such as retirement, tax
planning, education planning, estate planning,
financial planning, etc. We also offer full-
service Fee-Only investment management.
Your questions and comments
are always welcome.
Contact us at 302-737-4546 or
At Mallard Financial Partners,
we are fiduciaries.
That means we always put
our clients’ interests first.
Our business is about relationships,
not transactions.
Pam Baumbach, CFP®, IACCP® is our
President and Chief Operating Officer. On
May 29th, she was invited to be a corporate
grader for the “Me at 23” final projects at
Smyrna High School. The freshman and
sophomores made PowerPoint presentations of
their “Me at 23” projects and answered ques-
tions to a panel of industry judges. “I was so
impressed by the range of financial life skills
students could envision,” said Pam.
Referrals Welcome ! Fee-Only Advisors
www.mallardfinancial.com
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