Looking to the Past and Investing in the Future

27 years have passed since Peak opened for business in 1994. Over that time, we have worked diligently to earn our clients’ trust and make a positive impact on their lives. Yet despite that deep history and the client relationships that have now turned into lifelong partnerships and friendships, at times we feel like we are just getting started.

The current update to our website is just one of the many exciting steps we are taking to invest in Peak’s future. As we continue to build, we’ve also enjoyed the opportunity to reflect on our history as a firm. It is incredible to review some of the events and changes that have transpired while Peak has been in the investment business:

  • In 1994 US GDP stood at $7 trillion. Today it has tripled to over $21 trillion. The value of global trade in US dollar terms has more than quadrupled over that same time.
  • We’ve seen three economic recessions through the course of our history as a firm and two of the largest financial bubbles expand and collapse in that time (the tech bubble in 2000 and the Great Financial Crisis in 2008-2009).
  • There have been 4 heads of the Federal Reserve: Greenspan, Bernanke, Yellen, and Powell. The interest rate on the 10 Year Treasury was ~6-7% in 1994. As we write, the 10 Year has clawed back to ~1.7% from an all-time low of 0.52% in 2020.
  • Berkshire Hathaway was one of our first Model Portfolio* stocks and we continue to enjoy owning a small piece of Warren Buffet’s business empire. Its operating revenues have grown from $3.3 billion in 1994 to $286.26 billion in 2020. The stock has compounded at nearly 12% annually since 1994.
  • In 1994 Jeff Bezos started Amazon out of the back of his garage. Today we can order products and services with same-day delivery from Amazon (a $1.5 trillion company) with the click of a button.
  • It wasn’t until 1996 that AOL started charging a flat monthly rate for their dial-up internet service. Needless to say, the smartphone in your pocket today is more powerful than any computer in existence in 1994, not to mention more powerful than the computers used to land astronauts on the moon in the late 1960’s!
  • Trading securities in 1994 meant picking up the phone to call a stockbroker and paying them a hefty commission in the process. Today, technology has compressed or eliminated nearly all trading fees and we enjoy the use of sophisticated online tools for portfolio management.
  • When Peak was founded in 1994, Peak’s assets under management were under $50 million. Today, our assets under management have grown to over $730 million.

Looking to the future, we are excited to be building Peak for the next generation and are committed to building on the trust that our clients have placed in us. We are actively building our team internally, continuing to refine our investment process, investing in the best technology and tools to enhance the client experience, and doubling down to improve our service offerings across the entire range of investment management and financial planning.

With Peak’s new website, we will also be working to expand the content and resources that are available to you for ongoing engagement and financial education. In fact, we will be using this new medium to launch a blog in addition to our Quarterly Newsletter and Financial Intelligence publications.

We are grateful for the trust you have placed in Peak to be your partner and advocate and look forward to continuing this journey with you into the future.

*The Model Portfolio is not a real cash portfolio. It represents the core direction of our portfolio management strategies. Individual client portfolios are managed in accordance with the clients’ specific investment objectives and constraints.

Peak Asset Management, LLC is an SEC registered investment adviser. This is not an offer to buy or sell securities. Past performance is not indicative of current or future performance and is not a guarantee. The information set forth herein was obtained from sources which we believe to be reliable, but we do not guarantee its accuracy.

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