The world has supplied plenty of reasons for markets to struggle this year: war, higher oil prices, trade uncertainty, stubborn inflation and questions about interest rates.

Markets, apparently, didn’t get the memo.

Despite it all, global equity markets have remained remarkably resilient. That does not mean volatility has disappeared or markets cannot decline. It is simply a reminder that markets do not wait for the world to become calm, predictable or sensible before moving forward.

There will always be a compelling reason to wait for greater certainty. Unfortunately, by the time things feel comfortable, markets have often already moved.

The goal is not to ignore what is happening. It is to avoid confusing awareness with a requirement to act.

We continue to watch, assess and do the work. Your portfolio continues to do the job it was built to do.

If you have questions, concerns or a touch of existential dread, reach out to anyone on our team. We genuinely love talking about this stuff, whether you are worried about what you are seeing or perfectly happy with how things are going.

As Verecan continues to grow, so does the team helping us do it thoughtfully.

Emily Dunn, MBA, joined Verecan as Chief Operating Officer, bringing more than 20 years of financial-services experience in operations, business systems and client experience. Emily was already deeply familiar with Verecan before joining us, having helped shape many of our core systems through her work with Advisor Solutions by Purpose. Emily has actually been around for awhile! We’ve been remiss in not sending out a formal intro. You can read about Emily’s arrival HERE.

Jim Andrews, CA, CPA, has joined Verecan as Chief Financial Officer, bringing more than 25 years of financial and executive leadership experience. Jim will help guide Verecan’s financial strategy as we grow, including supporting future acquisitions and creating new opportunities for clients, advisors and firms looking for the right long-term home. Read Jim’s announcement HERE.

Although you probably won’t spend much time chatting with either of them, Emily and Jim are responsible for lots of the good stuff happening behind the scenes. If you attend client events at any of our Ontario locations, you’ll definitely have a chance to say hello.

Now, here’s a random sample of just some of the times our team members contributed to the news in recent days:

-Josh Sheluk chatted about the risks of speculative investing in Wealth Professional Magazine and the risks of using AI for financial planning in The Toronto Star.

-Corbin Footitt spoke with Wealth Professional on why behavioural risk management should be part of every client conversation.

-Colin White sat down with David Kitai from Wealth Professional to talk about CIRO’s proposal to allow more financial advisors to incorporate and why he believes the option should have been available years ago.

-Daniel LeBlanc shared his thoughts with Global News on how workplace pensions have changed and why Group RRSPs have become more common.

–And, in a new regular feature for Kootenay Biz, Ainsley Mackie touches on the ways we learn about money and why some of those lessons might be worth unlearning.