Back in 2016, I became convinced by several industry leading voices on the importance of establishing a blog to share your individual voice. Up to that point, the notion hadn’t received the faintest of considerations as I had no desire to acquire a social media following. While acquiring a social media following hasn’t emerged as a likelihood, I have come to realize the importance of sharing some analytical pieces and insight into how I think and work. Just maybe, one or two of them has been of some benefit to a coworker, colleague, or client.
It recently hit me that I launched into the blog with a deep dive into current positioning thoughts on bond ETFS. Man, that is exciting stuff……for an uber nerd, but there aren’t too many of us uber nerds running around. What I failed to do was lay any biographical foundation outside of some professional info in the “about section”. This isn’t a complete accident to a very private /deeply introverted individual. But we have been blessed at Financial Enhancement Group, LLC (FEG) to be growing at a pretty rapid clip over the last decade. Not just growth in terms of a strong investment market but also from a growing client base and an employee base to maintain the service levels to which our clients have grown accustomed. In the past, I have truly enjoyed getting to know my coworkers on a close and personal basis, but for the most part now that just is simply not possible due to sheer number of people and their geographic dispersion. To that end, hopefully a few of our new folks here will read and learn a little about their oddball advisor. That way you don’t have to bother me by asking any water cooler personal questions (Just kidding!)
The Path
The route that led me to finance wasn’t typical. It began on a rural family farm in East Central Indiana. Fellow classmates that weren’t also from a farm family likely had parents earning a decent middle class living in the auto manufacturing industry that dominated the three closest cities – Anderson (GM), Muncie (Borg Warner), and New Castle (Chrysler). [A quick side note for those of you not from the area to connect the dots to my blog’s logo, another common thread among those three cities is they contain 3 of the world’s largest and most historic high school basketball venues. The famous Hoosier Gym from the movie “Hoosiers” is also in nearby Knightstown.] But my eyes never got set on the farm or the factory.
You may be thinking at this point that it must have been a strong academic performance with high SAT scores and good grades that propelled me towards the business world. Nah – that wasn’t it either; our class graduated 78 kids and I am not really for certain that I cracked the top 30. I clumsily found my way to Indiana University (no joke, chosen primarily for access to the basketball tickets!). Eventually, though God led me to an economics class where finally something just clicked and turned on the proverbial light bulb to do well. If this piece is running short on cliché: I can still remember the specific time I heard John Melloncamp’s “Rumbleseat” speak to me as I turned off 17th street onto Jordan Ave…”I’m gonna stop putting myself down, I’m gonna turn my life around”. That academic turn, a hard work ethic, and a curiosity in investing that started much sooner than college formed a combination that led me to FEG.
Foundational Years
In my community, a typical farm son begins early and continues a transition that takes him from childhood to a fully functioning farmer himself. A) On the job training is always there in front of you. B) The capital intense nature of the industry also lends itself quite well to family transitions, both for the sons to be able to enter with little capital and for the father to be able to exit and retire. For the most part, it’s a good gig (though you’ll hear this from them). This transition was true for my brother but not so much for me. I suspect my father knew this well before I did and along the way gave me enough room to find my own path. By the same token – pursuing that individual path did not prevent the acquisition of a hard work ethic, both by observing it firsthand and by being required to help. Duties included picking up rocks in the field, cutting weeds, driving tractors to work the ground, scraping mud off equipment, bailing hay and straw, and shoveling shit…. just to name a few.
Variety and Different Gifts
A few key clues emerged along the way to reveal my lack of interest in farming. First, I am a total failure at many skills that most men have as secondhand nature. I don’t know how to use most tools. I don’t know how to fix stuff and even have difficulty concentrating on a YouTube “how to” video fully capable of demonstrating the fix it task. It’s nearly impossible for my brain to register, let alone master, any sort of manual or technical oriented skill sets. Its just not the way I was wired. Change the oil? Maybe on a good day. Difference between flat head and Philips? Thank you google for the assist on that one. At the risk of losing my man card (wife keeps it in her purse anyhow) I’m not even really that fond of getting my hands dirty so to speak. Another side note: this is at the top of a rather long list of stuff my friends bust my nuggets over, so it doesn’t bother me to say it here. I also am not that fond of monotonous repetition of which there is plenty in farming like chisel plowing long row after long row in the fall, and certainly in those car factories nearby.
The flip side of monotony and technical skill is a little variety and working in the abstract. These have lent itself well into the development of my role at FEG. About 20% of my job is in the capacity of financial advising to a closely held group of friends, family and clients. Last year’s 4-part posts were about the satisfying aspects of that job as advisor, a job that I think is important in order to stay connected to the people for whom you are investing. But my primary job is in the capacity of Chief Investment Officer where I am responsible for overseeing the overall structure of our research, analysis and portfolio management. Some deep connections exist between early years on the farm and how I carry out the CIO role that I intend to share that with you over the next few posts. Don’t worry though, the personal stuff is now behind us.