My name is Hans. I founded New Stage Investment Group®. My story begins in 2000 when I started as a trainee at Merrill Lynch. What an exciting time! The internet was changing every aspect of life and Bay Area tech stocks were leading the way.
The stock market was climbing to all new highs. Newly minted dot.com millionaires were everywhere. Everyone was enjoying what would soon be known as the dot.com bubble.
At first the markets slipped. Only gradually at first, but soon the pace quickened. Once red-hot tech stocks got crushed. Some even disappeared altogether. Between 1995 and its peak in March 2000, the Nasdaq Composite stock market index rose 400%, only to fall 78% from its peak by October 2002.
Some say it is darkest just before the dawn. And so, it felt. Things looked terrible. Yet as economies and markets tend to do, they began to recover. Soon the markets were trending higher again. Stories of ordinary people becoming real estate moguls filled the news.
Unfortunately, we all know what happened next. The market turned again. I, along with many others thought oh no, not again....
Sitting there looking at my first 10 years as a financial advisor, it had been nothing if not rough. The market and economy had experienced two bubbles, two crashes and two recoveries. The stock market as an investment had gone nowhere but sideways.
I thought about changing careers.
But I didn’t quit. Instead, I asked what lessons have I learned over the last ten years. How can I help investors have more confidence and a greater chance of success with their money?
First, the most successful investors tended to look at things differently. They acted differently. They focused on their goals and progress towards their goals. They rarely focused on what "the index" did today or last week or last year. Secondly, they had a plan. Even more important, they knew having a plan was not enough, you must act on your plan. The result of these two lessons is New Stage Investment Group®.
New Stage Investment Group® is an independent wealth management firm serving investors and their families. As a wealth manager with over 20 years of experience, I use a fiduciary focused service model. I offer flat fee financial planning, hourly consulting and fee based investment management.
After working with big brand firms, I wanted my firm to be independent. A firm should be able to access multiple leading financial firms. A client should have the freedom to look at a broad number of solutions before selecting the right one. I also felt technology can make investing easier and simpler. Therefore, my firm delivers the convenience and ease of online access to both your investments and your financial plan. We welcome video calls and texts in addition to one-on-one meetings, phone, mail and email. Making it convenient and easy to communicate and work together.
My process is collaborative. I work to coordinate your goals, address your worries and manage your investments based on a personal financial plan. My process helps ensure a personal, one-on-one delivery of financial advice and investment guidance for both today and tomorrow.
