When we launched Valhalla three years ago, we knew our differentiation would come not just from what we do but from what we believe. Over the past year, I’ve been capturing those beliefs in short reflections I call #ValhallaEssentials. Today, I’m proud to share our first 50. They cover everything from trust and client service …
I am sitting at Holger’s soccer practice. I made a note a week ago to write a blogpost about some recent activities. I have been thinking about the recent losses of people that were present for me during different times in my life: my high school friend, Dan Becker, my college friend, Matt Shaner, and …
Our family enjoyed a few weeks of vacation on Bornholm. As we were milling around, a handful of ideas for future blogposts occurred to me; I also took tons of photographs. I thought I would share some of these pictures, and summaries of potential blogposts, here. Bornholm is a small island in the Baltic Sea, …
And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shackAnd you may find yourself in another part of the worldAnd you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobileAnd you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wifeAnd you may ask yourselfWell…How did I get here? David Byrne, Once In …
Things in State College are good. I have previewed on this blog that I am establishing a new advisory firm, in addition to my consultancy with ThorCo. My partner and I have been adding some nice clients and are pleased to see the pipeline full from our own relationships and referrals from past clients and …
While business people generally know the fourth quarter of every year as “Q4,” health benefits professionals, in particular, observe a disproportionate share of work during this period that probably seems most analogous to the workload of a CPA as April 15 approaches. When you consider Q4 as the renewal months of November, December, and January, …
I love the business of insurance brokerage and employee benefit advisory. I wrote a blog post about it here. Even though I stepped away from agency leadership last year, as I relayed here, I continue to consult with some employers, insurance agencies, and other organizations (e.g. biotechnology firms). But, I miss being “in the mix” …
An important part of my business between 2010 and 2017 was pension advisory. The role of an advisor to plan sponsors was evolving as regulatory reforms were placing employers under higher scrutiny as ERISA fiduciaries. Questions that retirement services professionals had to consider included: “What should our process look like for investment selection and monitoring?” …
The exponential information age is like a verbally incontinent person: he talks more and more as fewer and fewer people listen. Nassim Nicholas Taleb: The Bed of Procrustes As a young businessman consulting clients, I recall feeling a tension between two forms of advice from elder consultants. The first form was to always prepare for …
Becca and I joined some friends last week to see David Byrne’s American Utopia. While I was familiar with David Byrne, I was pleasantly shocked by how wonderful the show was. I previously thought that his voice was special, but mostly just idiosyncratic; In fact, his voice is remarkable. I expected his message to be …