Have you ever thought about how we prepare for your review meetings? There’s more to our preparations than just printing off your performance documents.

Quarterly results for financial markets often resemble my favorite roller coaster at Arnold’s Park Amusement Park on the shore of West Lake Okoboji. It’s a local landmark having weathered the decades and being a mandatory experience for generations of families. Every nook and cranny of its circuit having been endlessly discussed and debated. I would hazard to guess that by now over a million passenger circuits have been made over the old wood structure. A million shrieks of fear, a million laughs for joy and a million memories made.

I was lucky to start my career at a small firm in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Securities Corporation of Iowa (SCI). Lucky, in that SCI put an emphasis on teaching its brokers how to be portfolio managers and the CEO, John Knapp, took a particular interest in instructing the youngest members of the firm.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup recently started in June, and like many former players and crazed soccer fans, my eyes have been glued to the television for every game. Their recent win against the Thai team, a whopping 13 - 0 victory, was an unusual type of game. Typically each game looks about the same, and can be at times predictable.