This time of year has a way of making us slow down. Between the market swings and the client meetings, it is easy to let a whole year go by without stopping to notice what made it good.
So this year, we asked people across the Perennial team a simple question: what are you thankful for? The answers we got back were honest, personal, and a lot more about people than about portfolios.
For some of our advisors, this was a year of big leaps. Going independent is a major decision, and nobody wants to make it alone. One advisor who launched with us this year put it this way:
"I am thankful to the Perennial team for supporting my launch as an independent/hybrid RIA advisor. They have been extremely helpful, knowledgeable, and authentic throughout the entire process."
Authentic is a word we will happily take. Others pointed to the relationships that carry them through every day, whether that’s a trusted business partner, the clients they’ve grown alongside, or the firm itself. One advisor summed it up simply: "My partnership with our clients and this firm." It is a good reminder that a practice is really a collection of relationships, and those relationships are worth tending to.
One of the answers that stuck with us most was not about a milestone at all. It was about balance:
“I’m thankful for a life where my job isn’t the whole story. I get my work done, think strategically, and help the firm keep growing, while still having room to grow as a person, too. Most of all, I’m thankful for a team that doesn’t just check in on how I’m doing at work, but cares how I’m doing in general.”
That’s exactly the culture we want to keep building. People do their best work when they have room for a life outside of it.
It probably will not be a surprise that family came up multiple times. One advisor told us about a weekly tradition: family dinner every Thursday with mom, dad, sister, and two grown sons (plus a future daughter-in-law). That is Thanksgiving fifty-two times a year, and it sounds pretty wonderful.
The same advisor is also grateful for the simple things that make coming home the best part of the day: a fiancé and a dog waiting at the door. And above all of it, "every day and all the wonderful things in my life!!" We could not have said it better.
Others kept it short and true. "I am thankful for my family who supports me and my friends who push me." Another shared their gratitude for "my kind and wonderful family and watching my kids grow up healthy and happy," along with their own health. These are the things that do not show up on a statement, but they are the reason so many of our clients plan in the first place.
Financial advice can sound like a numbers business from the outside. The people doing it know it is a people business. One advisor said it beautifully:
"I'm grateful to work in a profession where empathy, compassion, and genuine human connection can make a real difference in someone's life, even if it feels small."
Those small moments add up. A steady voice during a volatile market, a plan that lets someone retire on their terms, a phone call returned at the right time. That is the work, and we are grateful to get to do it with you.
Looking back on this year, what stands out is not any single launch or award. It is the people: the advisors who trusted us with their next chapter, the clients who had confidence in them, and the team that shows up for each other in ways big and small.
To everyone who is part of Perennial, thank you. We hope your Thanksgiving is full of good food, good company, and a few moments to notice what you are grateful for.
We are already looking forward to what we will continue to build together.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.