What a journey thus far!

I started at the kitchen table. Bought the office building at 228 Main when I could neither afford it nor afford to pass it up. Struggled and juggled for years. Fit a snowbird lifestyle into the middle of it. Survived personal tragedy, a cruel disease that slowly took the life of my high school sweetheart.

And through it all, we grew. More and more people entrusted more and more wealth to our care. More and more teammates helped me hold up my end of the deal.

They say it is not the strongest or the smartest who survive and thrive, but those who adapt and adjust to change.

But then, there are the things that have not changed. We are a team of four advisors—myself, Greg, Caitie, and Billy—along with two full-time service team members, Whitney and Brenda. All of us serve one book of business. Everyone gets access to the same set of services. One story, one philosophy, one book of business.

You may not recognize how different this makes us. (But you also know I’ve never been one to follow the crowd!)

• In an industry seemingly focused on getting new clients and finding new money, we instead aim all of our intentional efforts entirely at you, our clients. Don’t have time to chase “new money.” Not me, not my teammates.
• Eliminating sales activity enables us to put investment research, portfolio management, and communicating with you at the center of our work. Many other investment advisors outsource all of that into model portfolios managed by others and buy canned communications, all so that they can go look for new customers.
• Paradoxically (or not), when we stopped pursuing prospects, we began attracting more clients. People tend to like it a lot when their buckets grow.

Many financial advisor shops, however, are a collection of sole proprietors, each on the prowl for new business all the time. There may be other four-advisor shops that work more like four separate teams that happen to compete nearby each other—not like teammates who play together, toward the same goal.

We believe we are organized differently—and better.

With a team set-up, any client can call any one of us. Four advisors, two service team members, one team. No matter who picks up the phone, we’re committed to getting you pointed in the right direction.

That’s what the team means to me, today.

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This time of year often invites some reflection. We’ve said goodbye to 2024 and are welcoming 2025. We’re thinking about beginnings, endings, and transitions.

In Roman mythology, Janus is the god of these things. He had two faces, one looking forward and another looking back. His purview included doors, archways, and gates.

It feels natural at this time to take stock of where we’ve been—and think about the best way forward. That’s what we’re doing at 228 Main.

When Mark founded this enterprise decades ago, it was just him at a kitchen table. In 2000, he moved the business to the digs at 228 Main Street in beautiful downtown Louisville. He knew that he was on to something, that he could keep building something special on a simple but powerful foundation: if he took care of his clients, their business would take care of him.

And the work kept growing. In those intermediate years, he hired staff to help him manage. Among their ranks were family and friends who provided administrative and service support.

Since 2020, the staff has continued to transform. Today, the team is both more specialized and more interwoven. The three of us “next-gen” advisors are co-owners with Mark, with three portions of 24.9% of the shares to his 25.3% portion.

Now we’re in transition, preparing for the decades ahead. There are six of us total on the LFS team, each one still growing and learning. But it takes all of us to make sure our three key activities can happen: 1) We talk with you to sort out what you are trying to do in life. 2) We research investment opportunities. 3) We manage your portfolios.

As we do these things, we’re planning a structure for the enterprise that is collaborative and collegial, where every generation and every teammate puts their gifts on the table for the benefit of all: the wisdom of experience, the energy of youth, and all the diversity of talents and interests we bring.

Many of you know from company lore—and your friendships with Mark—that he intends to work to age 92. (It’s a whole thing for him, a vision that he gleaned from some important mentors early in life. Ask him sometime.) We can’t know the future. And some of us may actually have more years ahead of us in this line of work than there are behind us.

But it’s fair to say that we are all indeed in this for the long haul. So how do we make this thing more sustainable?

We’re all committed to some important things: continuing to build on our strengths and what’s working and staying open to the future and all the opportunities ahead. We learn and grow from both perspectives.

Like the Roman god Janus, we’re looking back and we’re looking forward. Working with the foundation of our history and the road ahead—that’s the superpower of this team.

Want to talk about this or anything else? Call or write, anytime.

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