Today is January 8th, 2026. I’d like to say a few words about the last few years, so let’s start with the most recent.
2025: Is it just me, or did that year happen very quickly? Despite concerns about tariffs, interest rates, wars in Europe and the Middle East, stocks managed to climb the proverbial “wall of worry”. That’s three good years in a row for stocks. We make no predictions as to whether a fourth year is in the cards.
Most of our clients were well served by financial markets this year. Blue-Chip stocks and higher quality bonds served our purposes well (despite some nervousness at the start of tariffs). Your results are in the following pages.
January 8th, 2010: It was on this day, the first Friday of January, I walked into my manager’s office at Morgan Stanley and handed in my resignation letter ending with the words, “to take a similar position with Iowa Wealth Management”. My manager was a good man and an industry veteran. He’d seen such letters before, but he was obviously a bit confused and so he asked me, “who is Iowa Wealth Management”. “Well,” I replied, “at the moment that would be me”.
The best part of going out on my own was the client reaction. Obviously, I had hoped my clients would make the transition with me and thankfully almost all did. What was most touching was the concern people showed for my well-being and my family. The first few months it became readily apparent that little Iowa Wealth Management (IWM) had a small but fervent cheering section. I can never repay your loyalty, but every day I will try.
2017: IWM was (fortunately) a success from day one, but by 2017 we really expanded. We had offices in three different cities, a credit union and a couple of extra advisors/brokers in the West Des Moines office. What I didn’t have was peace of mind. The other advisors/brokers ran their own books making it all but impossible to establish standards and practices. My solution was that IWM would become a Registered Investment Advisory (RIA) firm, and we’d transition to a fee-only fiduciary practice. The result was a smaller firm, but a firm where standards were set and adhered to. This final step further cemented our relationship with our clients and community. Around this time, Becca Shager joined as an administrator and shortly after, Libby Glaser (soon to be Johnson) joined as an advisor. Today, Becca is our Director of Client Experience and Libby is a Partner and Shareholder. With their assistance, IWM has grown consistently while maintaining exceptional standards for client service.
One last time frame:
1967 to 2026: In 1967, James Glaser returned to Iowa and become a Stockbroker and Manager for First Mid America. My mother, June, joined him in 1974, and I got my start in Cedar Rapids in 1985 before coming home in 1988. Libby got her start in northwest Iowa in 2016 and joined IWM in 2018. My family has now served our client’s financial service needs for 60 continuous years. To do so is not so much an achievement as it is an honor that you, our clients, have bestowed upon us. Each day we strive to be worthy of the trust you have placed in us. We start this year, as we have each year, with your best interest in mind.
