2020 — What an Unforgettable Year
This month’s cover story highlights many of the biggest headlines of the past 12 months. It’s not a “easy read” by any means, but it is a valuable and moving one.
Looking back to earlier this year, I recall being glued toTwitter 24/7, as advisors and industry executives sharedthe latest news and views onchanges to office policies, taxrules and everything else imaginable during the first few monthsof the pandemic.
I became stuck to Twitter againon Nov. 3 and continue to followany and all election and presidential transition updates.
As Melanie Waddell explains
in this month’s Washington
Watch: “President-elect Joe
Biden and Vice President-elect
Kamala Harris wasted little time
in early November assembling
the transition team,” which
includes Gary Gensler, former
head of the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission, and Dennis
Kelleher, president and CEO of
Better Markets. Both Gensler and Kelleher are “staunch
fiduciary advocates.”
Biden’s election win and the Republicans’ control of the
Senate are “the best thing possible — an early Christmas for
the stock market,” says Wharton’s Jeremy Siegel in our VIP
Q&A. “It’s an excellent combination to block the tax increases.
If the Democrats do get those two Senate seats in Georgia, [any
tax increases] will be muted, because conservative Democrats
won’t go for some of the more extreme measures.”
As for the advice business, there’s much to be optimistic
about, according to Mercer Advisors CEO Dave Welling. The
executive said at a recent conference that despite the chal-
lenges of 2020, “I’m as excited about the growth prospects
for our industry as I have ever been in 23 years in this indus-
try.” For more insights shared at
the event, see this month’s RIA
Lessons & Leaders.
Looking ahead to 2021 and a
possible New Year’s resolution,
columnist and consultant Angie
Herbers offers some thoughtful
advice in this month’s install-
ment of The Fast Track: “If you
do the work immediately in
front of you, do it consistently
and do it well, then you will be
better tomorrow than you were
today. And, from my perspec-
tive, being better tomorrow than
you were today is really the only
goal you need.”
The Investment Advisor team
wishes you a happy and healthy
holiday season, despite the pan-
demic. We hope you all have lots to be grateful for this year and
much to look forward to in 2021, which is poised to be another
unforgettable 12 months.
As for the advice business,
there’s much to be optimistic
about, according to Mercer
Advisors CEO Dave Welling.
The executive said at a recent
conference that despite the
challenges of 2020, “I’m as
excited about the growth
prospects for our industry as
I have ever been in 23 years
in this industry.”
EDITOR’S NOTE
By Janet Levaux
GROUP EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
