August 5, 2020
Progress continues to be made in multiple areas in the battle against COVID-19. Through February 28, over seventy five million Americans have received at least one dose of vaccination against the virus, which is about 23% of the current population. The rate of vaccination currently stands at 1.74 million per day; although it is not […]
Read MoreMay 1, 2020
2020 will certainly be reflected on as a very unusual year in modern history. Everyone in the United States was aware that we would be in a presidential election year; however, prior to February of 2020 relatively few knew that the COVID-19 Pandemic would insert itself into the lives of nearly everyone in the world, […]
Read MoreJune 2, 2020
Happy New Year to each of you; we hope 2021 is a fantastic year for you and your family. The year has gotten off to somewhat of a mixed bag. While the much-anticipated vaccine is being manufactured and shipped, the number of those who have actually been vaccinated is far below the initial target and […]
Read MoreApril 2, 2020
We attempted to defer our publishing deadline until the outcome of the 2020 presidential election was determined, but, as you can surmise, as of November 6th the outcome was not known. At this writing, President Trump has won 214 electoral college votes and must be declared the winner in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina and […]
Read MoreFebruary 25, 2020
February 2020, Kalamazoo, MI – Greenleaf Trust announces new hires Greenleaf Trust is proud to announce the addition of two new team members: Kristin Bennett, CFP, CPWA joins Greenleaf Trust as vice president, assistant director of wealth management. She is helps lead the Wealth Management team, and specializes in the development of comprehensive wealth management […]
Read MoreFebruary 28, 2020
February 2020, Kalamazoo, MI – Greenleaf Trust announces two new hires Greenleaf Trust is proud to announce the addition of new team members: Alexandria Solis-Mullen, J.D. joins Greenleaf Trust as estate settlement officer. She is responsible for executing estate settlement for the personal trust team. Alexandria earned her J.D. from Western Michigan University Thomas M. […]
Read MoreMarch 13, 2020
As we have done for the past seven months, we will begin by checking in with the New York Federal Reserve Weekly Economic Indicator (WEI) index that attempts to measure data focused on labor, production and consumption. As much as is humanly possible, the data is real time and designed to measure GDP relative to […]
Read MoreJanuary 13, 2020
We now have endured five months of battling the COVID-19 virus and our experience has revealed much about our country and our collective as well as divided political wills. What is our present condition as we approach the sixth month of our battle to defeat the virus? Our economic condition is perhaps the easiest to […]
Read MoreJanuary 28, 2020
January 2020, Kalamazoo, MI – Greenleaf Trust announces new hire Greenleaf Trust is proud to announce the addition of a new team member: Perry Wolfe joins Greenleaf Trust as senior vice president, executive director of development. He is responsible for overseeing the development, implementation and execution of the overall strategy and growth efforts of our […]
Read MoreFebruary 20, 2020
As we enter our seventh month of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, our current condition appears to be more of the same with conditions changing marginally in some areas. Cases spiked in July and early August and have been trending downward in some regions while remaining stubbornly unchanged in others. As we put […]
Read MoreDecember 16, 2019
Awareness is sometimes a self-inflicted burden. Those of us that research information for a living are bombarded with data that, while informative, can lead to anxiety and increased senses of urgency. The greater experience that you have researching information, the more likely you will discover that the majority of people are living their lives in […]
Read MoreDecember 20, 2019
Greenleaf Trust is proud to announce the addition of a new team member: Alysha Ridderman joins the team as a project manager. Alysha is responsible for executing projects supporting all areas of Greenleaf Trust. She has over ten years of process improvement experience in a fast-paced and rapidly changing industry. Alysha earned her bachelor’s degree […]
Read MoreDecember 23, 2019
December 2019, Bay Harbor, MI – Greenleaf Trust announces CFP® Certification Wealth Management Advisor Corbin M. Donaldson receives CFP® Certification Wealth Management Advisor Corbin Donaldson, CFP®, MBA at Greenleaf Trust in Bay Harbor has been authorized by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards (CFP Board) to use the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and CFP® certification […]
Read MoreJanuary 2, 2020
Greenleaf Trust is proud to announce the following promotions: Peggy Anderson has been promoted to senior vice president, director of operations. Daniel Baker has been promoted to senior vice president, director of business development and trust relationship officer. Karen Baldwin has been promoted to senior vice president, director of human resources. Jacob Barker has been […]
Read MoreJanuary 2, 2020
With the 2020 Presidential election less than 12 months away, many of our clients have been asking how we think about investments during an election year. As human beings, each person on our team has their own set of political preferences, but as research analysts, we try to approach polarizing topics (like politics) in the most objective […]
Read MoreJanuary 13, 2020
Continuous improvement is one of Greenleaf Trust’s core values – it is a pillar of our culture and has become part of our DNA. Every tangible improvement we have made on behalf of our clients stems from a disciplined review of our practices. As we look for opportunities to serve our clients better, we begin […]
Read MoreNovember 14, 2019
“Opening the economy” is the phrase that seems to be taking up much of the oxygen lately, so let’s spend some time digging into exactly what that phrase means and how we might observe progress in the future growth of our economy. In essence, we want to put some data and facts into the equation […]
Read MoreNovember 25, 2019
Greenleaf Trust is proud to announce the addition of a new team member: Doug P. Bajor joins Greenleaf Trust as a senior wealth management advisor. Doug specializes in the development of comprehensive wealth management plans, execution of goal-based planning strategies, and management of client investment portfolios. He has over 38 years of experience in the […]
Read MoreApril 2, 2019
I think we can all agree that the crisis we find ourselves in does not come with a step-by-step instruction book of solutions. The way out is complicated, includes self-sacrifice, social order of the highest degree, individual and societal self-discipline and the abandonment of political self-interests. You may observe this list of requirements and say, […]
Read MoreJuly 17, 2019
July 2019, Kalamazoo, MI – Greenleaf Trust announces new hire Greenleaf Trust is proud to announce the addition of a new team member: Marisol Quiroz joins Greenleaf Trust as a Wealth Management Assistant in Kalamazoo. She is responsible for supporting the wealth management team in the development of comprehensive wealth management plans, the execution of […]
Read MoreAugust 17, 2019
Internal Promotion August 2019, Kalamazoo, MI – Greenleaf Trust announces promotion Greenleaf Trust is proud to announce the promotion of Asa M. Davis to Senior Business Process Analyst. After five years of service as Business Process Analyst, Asa Davis has been promoted to Senior Business Process Analyst. He is responsible for identifying business improvements and […]
Read MoreAugust 17, 2019
August 2019, Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids, MI – Greenleaf Trust announces new hires Greenleaf Trust is proud to announce the addition of three new team members: Tracy Gauthier joins Greenleaf Trust as Assistant Director of Compliance. Tracy is responsible for leading Greenleaf Trust’s compliance and risk management processes through policy and procedure development, regulatory implementation […]
Read MoreOctober 17, 2019
October 2019, Kalamazoo, MI – Greenleaf Trust announces new hire Greenleaf Trust is proud to announce the addition of a new team member: T’Ausia Bronson joins Greenleaf Trust as a human resources coordinator. T’Ausia is primarily responsible for a variety of administrative, compliance, legal and recruiting tasks. In addition to providing support during the interview […]
Read MoreOctober 21, 2019
At this writing, there are six states that have announced the phased reopening of their economies, or what perhaps is better stated as a beginning of reducing previous requirements to stay-at-home that were ordered by the respective governors of those states. These are in addition to the few states that never had stay-at-home executive orders […]
Read MoreOctober 25, 2019
October 2019, Birmingham, MI – Greenleaf Trust announces new hire Greenleaf Trust is proud to announce the addition of a new team member: Jeffrey Hoekstra joins the Greenleaf Trust team as a Business Development Officer. Jeff is responsible for new business development with a focus on company-sponsored retirement plans. He has over 13 years of […]
Read MoreMarch 13, 2019
We all run across quotes from a variety of sources during the course of our lives. Some of those quotes stick with us for any number of personal reasons. Close to twenty years ago a person who I think is a really talented behavioral scientist said “Big people share and little people keep secrets.” I […]
Read MoreJuly 16, 2019
Recently, I had the opportunity to speak to two different groups of educational leaders about the implications of artificial intelligence on employment and global economies, principals and superintendents of K–12 systems as well as leadership in post-secondary community college systems. I was able to share with them some relevant information produced by the global consulting […]
Read MoreMarch 13, 2019
As you can imagine, recent events such as the US drone attack that killed a top Iranian military commander, Qassem Soleimani, in Iraq has caused many questions from clients and readers of our newsletter. Nick Juhle and his research team have offered their perspectives and advice with respect to the economic and investment implications of […]
Read MoreDecember 13, 2019
Federal Reserve Chairman Powell gave a recent speech titled “Building on the gains from the long expansion.” Within the speech, Powell focused on two important themes: maintaining a stable and reliable pace of two percent inflation and, somewhat surprisingly, spreading the benefits of employment more widely. Part of the Fed’s stated mandate has always been […]
Read MoreJanuary 13, 2020
As you can imagine, recent events such as the US drone attack that killed a top Iranian military commander, Qassem Soleimani, in Iraq has caused many questions from clients and readers of our newsletter. Nick Juhle and his research team have offered their perspectives and advice with respect to the economic and investment implications of […]
Read MoreMay 15, 2019
Real US economic activity data reveals a continued mixed picture with strength in consumer spending and recession-like weakness in manufacturing. Consumer confidence surveys, both U of M as well as the Conference Board, are weaker and reflect growing concerns and uncertainties in global and domestic sustainability. The concerns seem to be focused on geopolitical hot […]
Read MoreApril 16, 2019
The connection between “Wall Street” and “Main Street” is always up for debate, as is the seemingly different focus between those inside the beltway and those who reside, live and work outside of the beltway. Media is driven by advertising revenue, which is highly correlated to viewership and subscription, whether that media be electronic, digital, […]
Read MoreApril 6, 2018
April 5, 2018, Grand Rapids, MI – Greenleaf Trust announces new hires and promotions Greenleaf Trust is proud to welcome the following new team members: Jacob A. Barker – associate manager selection analyst Stacy L. Beekman – trust relationship officer Thomas R. Christy – participant services coordinator Jennifer L. Dohm – team service coordinator Lisa […]
Read MoreNovember 20, 2018
November 2018 Kalamazoo, MI – Greenleaf Trust announces new hires Bradley LaTour, J.D., CTFA, joins Greenleaf Trust as Vice President, Senior Trust Relationship Officer. He provides service for high net worth individuals, including trust administration, tax and estate plan consulting and family governance. Bradley has more than 20 years of experience in trust and wealth […]
Read MoreMarch 5, 2019
March 2019, Kalamazoo, MI – Greenleaf Trust announces new hires Patrick Bruining and Mercedes Sims join Greenleaf Trust as a trust operations specialists. Patrick is responsible for cash processing, along with providing support to the rest of the operations team. He earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration and sports management from Aquinas […]
Read MoreMarch 20, 2019
March 2019, Kalamazoo, MI – Greenleaf Trust announces new hire Beverly Whaley joins Greenleaf Trust as a team service coordinator. She is responsible for providing comprehensive administrative support, day-to-day servicing of account needs, and driving the efforts of the client centric team. Beverly ensures clear, concise communication by coordinating the team’s workflow and acts as […]
Read MoreMay 29, 2019
May 2019, Kalamazoo, MI – Greenleaf Trust announces new hire Greenleaf Trust is proud to announce the addition of a new team member: Mandi Doster joins Greenleaf Trust as a Client Service Representative in Kalamazoo. Her responsibilities include delivering comprehensive administrative support for the Personal Trust Division, providing reception area coverage and assisting in marketing events, […]
Read MoreSeptember 25, 2015
September 2015, Kalamazoo, MI – Rosalice C. Hall has been promoted to retirement plan relationship service coordinator. Rosie works alongside the director and assistant director of the retirement plan division. She is responsible for providing comprehensive support for individuals, retirement plans and corporations. Rosie earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in business administration with […]
Read MoreJanuary 13, 2016
Christopher D. Burns has been promoted to fixed income analyst. His focus is on developing and implementing fixed income portfolio strategies. Carol A. Chandler and Melissa K. Coffin have been promoted to recordkeeping specialists. Carol and Melissa are responsible for Greenleaf Trust’s in-house participant recordkeeping system. Sharon A. Conran, J.D., has been promoted to vice […]
Read MoreFebruary 20, 2016
February 19, 2016, Kalamazoo, MI Jermaine J. Johnson joins the team as a trust operations specialist – cash processing. He is responsible for securities processing and providing support to the rest of the operations team. Jermaine has nearly ten years of banking and accounting experience, including office management and account reconciliation. He earned his bachelor’s […]
Read MoreMay 24, 2016
May 2016, Kalamazoo, MI Jessica D. Ball joins Greenleaf Trust as a Trust Operations Specialist. Jessica is responsible for cash processing as well as providing support to the rest of the operations team. She has more than five years of experience in the financial sector. Jessica graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s […]
Read MoreJanuary 19, 2017
January 2017, Kalamazoo, MI – Greenleaf Trust announces promotions Peggy Anderson has been promoted to vice president, director of operations. Wendy Cox has been promoted to vice president, director of personal trust. Oliver Krings has been promoted to chief information officer. Catie Matzka has been promoted to senior team service coordinator. Julie Mentzer has been […]
Read MoreJanuary 19, 2017
January 2017, Grand Rapids, MI – Greenleaf Trust announces new hires Ana I. Endres joins Greenleaf Trust as a family office advisor. As part of The Family Office at Greenleaf Trust, she is responsible for providing world-class service to high net worth families, including multigenerational comprehensive wealth management, trustee and private foundation services, as well […]
Read MoreJune 28, 2017
Kalamazoo, Michigan, June 26, 2017 Greenleaf Trust is proud to welcome the following new team members: Brian Farrell – trust operations specialist Kelly Jorgensen – team service coordinator Tonia Kennedy – vice president, trust officer Nancy Schmidt – team service coordinator Rob Taylor – senior business intelligence engineer Bruce Vandermeulen – senior family wealth planner […]
Read MoreApril 15, 2015
April, 2015, Kalamazoo, MI – Greenleaf Trust announces new hires Christine M. Czopek has joined Greenleaf Trust as a client fiduciary specialist. She is responsible for the internal review of client information to ensure compliance with policies and procedures and fiduciary responsibilities and requirements are met. Chris has over 27 years of experience in both […]
Read MoreJanuary 6, 2014
Kalamazoo, MI, November 2014 – Greenleaf Trust announces new hire. Greenleaf Trust is pleased to announce that Anne Johnston joins the firm as a Marketing and Business Development Specialist. She will be responsible for providing comprehensive support and administrative assistance for the business development and marketing team. Anne will assist the team in numerous activities […]
Read MoreFebruary 6, 2014
Kalamazoo, MI, February 2014 – Greenleaf Trust announces new hires Christine M. Hansen joins Greenleaf Trust as a Controller. She will be responsible for accounting, tax and financial reporting functions. Chris has over eight years experience in the accounting field, most recently as finance manager within the Global Product Organization at Whirlpool Corporation. Prior to […]
Read MoreNovember 6, 2014
Kalamazoo, MI, November 2014 – Greenleaf Trust announces new hire Greenleaf Trust is pleased to announce that Ean Hamilton, Esquire, has joined the team as a trust relationship officer. Prior to joining Greenleaf Trust, she practiced law specializing in trusts and estates, where she helped clients prepare comprehensive estate plans and assisted them with the […]
Read MoreNovember 11, 2014
Ashley Hamlin joins Greenleaf Trust as a team service coordinator. She is responsible for providing comprehensive support and administrative assistance within the personal trust area and has over four years of experience in client service. Ashley earned a bachelor’s degree in public relations from Western Michigan University.
Read MoreJune 8, 2013
Kimberly G. Dudley has been promoted to a Human Resource Specialist. In her new role, she is responsible for assisting with and supporting functions within employee relations, recruiting, and benefits administration. Kim also functions as the new employee liaison welcoming new employees to the Greenleaf Trust team. She also works with scholars and interns as […]
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