The Caldwell Trust Company Blog

With the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) crossing the 20,000 level we realize what a difference a year can make in domestic capital markets. At this time last year the domestic equity markets were off to one of their worst yearly starts ever. The S&P 500 corrected almost 15 percent between the first of January and mid-February before reversing and gradually moving higher through mid-year. The correction culprit was investors’ fears of a global slowdown. That fear of a slowdown was the result of weak economic growth numbers coming out of China and the U.S., as well as crude oil prices declining into the mid-$20 range and general fragility in the energy sector. As crude oil and commodity prices reversed and more favorable U.S. economic releases occurred, markets stabilized and moved higher. By mid-2016 most domestic equity markets had slightly positive returns. 

In late June the Brexit vote signaling the U.K.’s intention to leave the European Union took world markets by surprise. Most importantly, the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yield declined to 1.36 percent, reflecting general uncertainty about implications of the vote. The yield on the 10-year had commenced 2016 at 2.27 percent and most pundits had projected higher levels by year-end 2016. Domestic equity markets were initially down on the news but recovered quickly. Through the end of the second quarter of 2016, S&P 500 earnings had declined on a year-over-year basis for six consecutive quarters.
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H. Lee Thacker, Jr., CFP, Senior Executive Vice President, Secretary, Trust Officer and very good friend of Caldwell Trust Company, is celebrating his twenty-year anniversary with us. He has been with the company since 1996, when he moved to Venice from Georgia. The long-time banker and his wife Suzanne—both with extensive financial backgrounds—were looking for a solid, reputable company to handle their investment needs. “We read an article about Roland Caldwell and the company he had founded,” Suzanne said of Kelly Caldwell’s father Roland, co-founder of Caldwell Trust Company. “They were right down the street so we met with Kelly.” Lee said, “I visited as a potential client and was so pleased that I signed on. I’ve never regretted it for a moment.”
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Every family has their own unique make-up and no two are alike – each member of a family has their own separate distinctions and when planning for loved ones, creating a Statement of Intent is important not only for the trustee, but also for the Grantor’s beneficiaries. It would be nice if all families got along, all children were gainfully employed and without issue, family meetings took place and all children were fully informed of their parent’s estate plan. This is generally not the case and doesn’t happen very often. Thus it is important for a Grantor to provide some guidance to the trustees.

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