MFG recently celebrated its 11-year anniversary and we couldn’t be more excited.
I am writing this announcement on behalf of both Elizabeth and I … this is OUR announcement, together. I’m sure I could state this in one or two sentences, but that’s no fun.
So, here’s a quick MFG story that includes some history, some milestones and some inspiration.
A BRIEF HISTORY
In August of 2010, MFG was founded out of a desire to be greater for our clients and have more meaningful relationships. We broke away from a big, traditional Wall Street firm for a lot of reasons, but one of the major reasons was we saw the world and opportunities of wealth management very differently than the big firms. For me, the last straw was the day a junior manager at the firm walked into my office and asked me how we were going to increase revenue for the firm 20% year-over-year.
I was torn. Our philosophies were very different. Elizabeth and I knew the future of financial planning and wealth management would consist of giving advice that was clearly aligned to each client’s wealth plan and investments. Then it was to deliver that in the most cost-efficient and tax-efficient manner possible, while managing risk throughout the entire process.
So, we took a leap of faith and formed Miller Financial Group. We had to trust that our clients would believe in us and our process AND we knew it was going to take time.
MILESTONES
From day one I have always believed in the team concept. Some of my greatest joys in life have come when affiliated with a team. I mean, I have never won The Masters but I could argue that even Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson had a team in place.
It took us five years to begin to crystalize the team concept. So, in 2015, we decided to ban the word “staff” and adopt words like “we” and “us” and “team” in our communications.
In 2017, MFG made the decision to make an investment and commitment to using what LPL calls its “Business Solutions” services. We hired a CFO, CMO and a virtual Admin to help round out our Team of competent professionals.
From a business perspective, we made this investment in ourselves and our business. And you know what, it worked.
Since then, we have grown the size of our business by 110%. That’s a 1.1x increase of the amount of client assets we manage.
Remember, I am saying WE. That is the entire “MFG Team.”
SOME INSPIRATION
I grew up in a small town in West Virginia and I had the opportunity to go back this past weekend to celebrate my 40th high school class reunion. I can tell you at least two things that have changed over those 40 years:
- Technology has changed. We had no internet back then and the way we listened to music was very different.
- At 9:30pm we were planning where to go out for the evening. Today, by 9:30pm, I am 30 minutes from going to bed.
But we did have a saying that said “always leave your campsite better than you found it.” It just makes sense right!
Make your place better than it was before you got there. We are the “MFG Team” and we continue to be excited about making our place better. Our team member’s attitude is their most important attribute. We all are responsible for taking out the trash. I do dishes in the kitchen and I give speeches to audiences.
We hope you will share some milestones and inspiration with us. Now, let’s go make better campsites!
Always,
Jim