by Stephen MacDonald | May 22, 2020 | News/Team Announcements
We are pleased to formally introduce you to our newest team member, Sammi Manuel. Some of you may have become familiar with her already as she began temporarily covering for Annick’s maternity leave at the end of August 2019. Sammi is now a permanent addition to our team and we are excited to have her on board. Please read on to learn a little bit more about her.
Sammi Manuel
Client Services
Sammi is an experienced administrator who has found her passion in the financial services industry. She is currently assisting both John and Kelley’s clients as well as taking care of insurance administration for all the firm’s clients.
Sammi has her Diploma in Legal Administration and previously worked at another financial planning firm in Kelowna. After relocating to Edmonton, Sammi joined our team in August 2019.
Outside of the office, Sammi loves to fill her time travelling, snowboarding, and spending time with her family and friends.
If you require assistance, you can contact her by email: sammi@blackburndavisfinancial.ca or phone: 780-490-4200 ext. 104.
by Stephen MacDonald | May 5, 2020 | News/Team Announcements
Protecting our clients’ personal information is our top priority as a firm. Over the past year we embarked upon an IT audit and have taken a number of security measures to ensure we have the most robust systems and processes of data protection in place.
Here is a summary of the changes we have made:
- We moved from having a physical server in our office to a secure remote, cloud-based server
- We have implemented a secure file sharing system through Microsoft OneDrive for sending private documents instead of directly via email
- We implemented a secure password protector called LastPass to store all of our computer passwords and login information for all websites we use
- We have installed two-step verification on our cell phones for access to all computer passwords and login information
- We installed software on our cell phones that gives us the ability to remotely wipe them if lost or stolen
- We now use NPC Dataguard encrypted laptops and tablets which can be remotely wiped if lost or stolen
- We installed a secure guest wifi network in the office separate from the network our computers and tablets use
- When working remotely out of the office, we use a secure VPN (Virtual Personal Network) to access our internal systems
- We have moved to become a paperless office so we don’t have physical files that could be accessed or stolen. You will notice in future in-person review meetings that our advisors will be using a tablet
Although these measures were implemented with the sole intention of securing your information, we have discovered something equally important. We have been able to shift seamlessly from our physical office environment to completely secure home offices for our entire team. We have no need for paper files and we can continue to serve your needs remotely at the highest level. We are happy to have a small silver lining to this health crisis.
If you have any questions regarding these changes, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
by Stephen MacDonald | Mar 19, 2020 | News/Team Announcements
These are certainly challenging times. We have our personal savings and the health of ourselves and our loved ones to be worried about. I happen to be one of those Canadians awaiting a repatriation flight from being out of the country, so I have a fair amount of time for research and reflection. The last few days (and hours) I have received some helpful information on the virus, its local and global impact and the impact on your savings. I pass this on to you, as on the whole I view these facts and advice as very helpful and reassuring. I know this and the other messages we are sending is a lot of information, but clients tell me it is appreciated at a time like this.
1. “Insiders” or CEO’s and Executives from the very companies you invest are buying their company shares in numbers not seen since November 2008 and March 2009. Considering you invest alongside these executives in their companies, there is no better indication of their level of confidence in their share prices being fairly discounted than this. (Dixon Mitchell Newsletter, March 19, 2020)
2. You likely know tax filing can be delayed until June 1st and any money owing to Sept 1, 2020. Additionally, the RRIF and LIF payment minimums can be decreased by 25%. This will help those taking forced withdrawals to minimize forced asset sales. If you are a RRIF client you will get a personalized detailed explanation and recommendation. (Finance Minister Morneau announcement yesterday)
4. I have attached notes from a Goldman Sachs Conference Call March 15th that came from a high school friend on the call. The news starts out looking bleak, however, it is realistic and ends with the conclusion that the market impact will be much more short-lived than 2008.
Date: March 15, 2020 at 9:42:49 AM EDT
Subject: GS Call
Conclusions of Goldman Sachs Investee call where 1,500 companies dialed in.
The key economic takeaways were:
50% of Americans will contract the virus (150m people) as it’s very communicable. This is on par with the common cold (Rhinovirus) of which there are about 200 strains and which the majority of Americans will get 2-4 per year.
70% of Germany will contract it (58M people). This is the next most relevant industrial economy to be affected.
Peak-virus is expected over the next eight weeks, declining thereafter.
The virus appears to be concentrated in a band between 30-50 degrees north latitude, meaning that like the common cold and flu, it prefers cold weather. The coming summer in the northern hemisphere should help. This is to say that the virus is likely seasonal.
Of those impacted 80% will be early-stage, 15% mid-stage and 5% critical-stage. Early-stage symptoms are like the common cold and mid-stage symptoms are like the flu; these are stay at home for two weeks and rest. 5% will be critical and highly weighted towards the elderly.
Mortality rate on average of up to 2%, heavily weight towards the elderly and immunocompromised; meaning up to 3M people (150M*.02). In the US about 3M/yr die mostly due to old age and disease, those two being highly correlated (as a percent very few from accidents). There will be significant overlap, so this does not mean 3M new deaths from the virus, it means elderly people dying sooner due to respiratory issues. This may however stress the healthcare system.
There is a debate as to how to address the virus pre-vaccine. The US is tending towards quarantine. The UK is tending towards allowing it to spread so that the population can develop a natural immunity. Quarantine is likely to be ineffective and result in significant economic damage but will slow the rate of transmission giving the healthcare system more time to deal with the case load.
China’s economy has been largely impacted which has affected raw materials and the global supply chain. It may take up to six months for it to recover.
Global GDP growth rate will be the lowest in 30 years at around 2%.
S&P 500 will see a negative growth rate of -15% to -20% for 2020 overall.
There will be economic damage from the virus itself, but the real damage is driven mostly by market psychology. Viruses have been with us forever. Stock markets should fully recover in the 2nd half of the year.
In the past week there has been a conflating of the impact of the virus with the developing oil price war between KSA and Russia. While reduced energy prices are generally good for industrial economies, the US is now a large energy exporter, so there has been a negative impact on the valuation of the domestic energy sector. This will continue for some time as the Russians are attempting to economically squeeze the American shale producers and the Saudi’s are caught in the middle and do not want to further cede market share to Russia or the US.
Technically the market generally has been looking for a reason to reset after the longest bull market in history.
There is NO systemic risk. No one is even talking about that. Governments are intervening in the markets to stabilize them, and the private banking sector is very well capitalized. It feels more like 9/11 than it does like 2008.
Be calm, be healthy and be kind to others.
– John Davis
by Stephen MacDonald | Mar 16, 2020 | News/Team Announcements
As you are aware, on March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic. Yesterday, AB health officials closed all schools and daycares in our province. This is a challenging time but we are all willing to do our part to stop the spread. We are prepared in our office and in partnership with your Portfolio Manager, to remain available and continue operating business as usual. Technology allows us to work remotely, and effective immediately this is how our office will be working until further notice. If you have a meeting scheduled with one of the advisors on the team, we will be contacting you directly to complete any scheduled meetings by phone and screen sharing.
As the situation continues to evolve, we wanted to share with you our preparedness efforts to ensure the health and safety of our staff, as well as our continued service to our clients.
For some time now, we’ve had the capacity to work remotely. Our technology team has set each member of our team up with fully secure workstations and network environment. Additionally, we are:
• Utilizing a secure VPN (Virtual Personal Network) to access our internal systems. This is a safe way for our office to communicate while offsite.
• Arranging for all phone calls to our office to be directed to the personal cell phones of our staff. Should you wish to contact your advisor or an admin team member, we will be available directly by phone using the same office line you’re used to reaching us at.
• Continuing to schedule our regular reviews with clients. We are offering both phone and video meeting options to clients.
• In contact with your Portfolio Manager regularly. We have assessed their preparedness and are entirely assured that they are completely prepared to run their offices remotely as well.
We will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation and follow guidance from government health authorities. We are confident in the actions we are taking to safeguard our employees, our clients, and our community.
Our office is fully available remotely and will continue to provide you with ongoing service. We encourage you to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.
