September 2020 Newsletter to Clients

Enjoy this month’s edition that features a significant birthday, a significant milestone and a market update.

It’s Moneywatch’s 40th Birthday!
That’s right – back in 1980 Moneywatch was born as one of the very first independent, fee-only financial advising firms in the country. Now, in 2020, Moneywatch manages approximately $180 Million in assets owned by our 343 clients. Thank you!

Our history: Bob Bova moved to Lexington to manage the office of Thomson McKinnon Securities, Inc. where he eventually held several positions, including Vice President. Back then, the financial services industry was dominated by stock brokers and insurance salespeople, mostly men, that were paid by commission. In other words, they were paid when they sold you a stock or an annuity – regardless of whether that product would actually help you achieve your financial goals. Bob decided there was a better way so he left his comfortable job to earn his MBA from the University of Kentucky and prepare himself to start a different kind of firm. 

Bob started Moneywatch with an objective to align the firm’s interests with those of the client and provide clients advice that is in their best interest, not the advisor’s best interest – what a concept! Today, Bob remains quite active working with clients and sharing his wisdom with us obtained over decades. Ramsey Bova serves as the President of Moneywatch and now owns 100% of the firm. 

In the coming months we plan to share more stories of Moneywatch from over the last 4 decades. If you have memories to share, we’d love to hear them!

Congratulations to Bill Leffler
After 34 years with the firm, Ramsey is proud to announce Bill is now Vice President – Advisor Emeritus of Moneywatch. Bill was a passionate advisor to his clients and, as a Certified Financial Planner™, an eager counselor to his partners in the firm, as well. We’d like to congratulate Bill and thank him for his many years of faithful service.

Market Update:
August was an amazing month for the stock market with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite up 9.59% and the S&P 500 rising 7.01% - its best August performance since 1986. Furthermore, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note closed with a yield at 0.695%. That’s a drop of 1.91% since the end of 2019. When bond yields drop, their prices rise, making this a very good year for bonds this year too, so far. 

The S&P 500 performance has been led primarily by 5 companies – Apple, Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Microsoft and Facebook. Those 5 stocks collectively rose 37% this year through the end of July where all the remaining companies within the top 500 largest declined by 6% over the same period. Not surprising, then, when those companies dropped significantly at the first of September, the major stock indices fell with them. If September, so far, is any indication, we can expect greater volatility – downs and ups – over the coming months. 

Thank you for your continuing confidence.