Contributed by: Jeanette LoPiccolo, CFP®
To celebrate the annual college basketball tournament, The Center Team hosted an internal spin-off competition. We set aside our favorite teams and adopted individual stocks instead. You may be thinking – that sounds kooky! It is a bit. Our celebration is a mash-up of internal team education, some charitable giving, and a bit of friendly competition.
How It Works
Our investment strategies contain mutual funds and ETFs that are comprised of individual stocks. The stocks are our basketball teams. Nick Boguth, our trusted portfolio administrator, highlighted 30 of these stocks within our carefully chosen strategies. Each stock was then selected by a team member and entered into our March “Market” Madness brackets. While the Center takes a long-term approach to investing, we are tracking these stocks for a short period just for fun. The top four winners will receive a donation to their favorite nonprofit organization.
To kick off our competition, our amazing team members, Lauren Adams, Nick Boguth, and Jaclyn Jackson led a Zoom presentation on the fundamentals of stock investing, valuations techniques, and where those 30 stocks fit within client portfolios. It was a great opportunity for all team members–not just those in investment or planning roles—to “check under the hood” of our most commonly used investments to see the stocks that help determine the fund’s performance. Each team member then selected their best guess to “win”. The Center will donate $1,000 to the final four nonprofits. Go team!
Our Final Four Winners
Josh (HD), Alex's Saints Foundation
Kelsey (TGT), Ruth Ellis Center
Sandy (JNJ), Haven (Oakland County)
Matt T. (LB), Methodist Children's Home (Redford, MI)
P.S. Want to know more about The Center’s charitable giving?
Check out our Center Cares page. Our internal Charitable Committee is made up of 6-8 team members who help coordinate charitable giving activities, volunteer events, and promote donations of our time and talent to local nonprofits. We believe in supporting our local community, building relationships with nonprofits, and promoting financial education to underserved communities.
Jeanette LoPiccolo, CFP® is an Associate Financial Planner at Center for Financial Planning, Inc.® She is a 2018 Raymond James Outstanding Branch Professional, one of three recognized nationwide.
The RJFS Outstanding Branch Professional Award is designed to recognize support professionals in RJFS branches who contribute to the success of their advisors and teams. Each year, three winners are selected and recognized during this year's National Conference for Professional Development. To be considered for this award, Branch Professionals must have been affiliated with Raymond James for at least one year and could not have won the award in the past.