Level Named One of Best Places To Work For Fifth Year In A Row

Level employees at Best Places To Work party

PRESS RELEASE Level Financial Advisors has once again been voted one of the Best Places To Work in WNY by Buffalo Business First.  The annual competition, based in part on employee surveys, measures several different factors, including engagement, benefits and perks, paid time off, and career advancement opportunities. "We are proud for the continued recognition by our employees as being a great place to work!  Everyone on the team is committed to a culture of transparency, honesty and respect for each other. When you have that, it's hard not to succeed," noted Level's Chief Operating Officer and Partner, Michael Heburn. Level Financial, with offices in Amherst and Hamburg, has seen steady growth over the last five years, surpassing $500M in assets under management.  According to Heburn, the reasons behind it's growth are easy to see.  "It's starts with the team.  Everyone is focused on our mission and each other.  There are no egos...

Read More

Dimensional Ranked No. 1 in Barron’s ‘Best Fund Families of 2022′

Dimensional Fund Advisors Logo and Sign

Barron’s has named Dimensional Fund Advisors No. 1 in the outlet’s “Best Fund Families of 2022” list. The rankings look at the one-year records of how each firm’s actively managed funds performed vs. peers, based on data from Refinitiv Lipper. “Dimensional is known for its roots in academic research on factor investing, particularly involving value investing, and its tendency to favor smaller companies that are highly profitable,” the outlet noted. “As such, the firm sidestepped the meltdown in mega cap growth names and companies with few, if any, profits.” Barron’s also commented on how Dimensional keeps close tabs on equity premiums through daily price information. The firm’s managers watch for buying opportunities when growth stocks fall into value territory, and they also rely on factors such as momentum to help determine if it’s time to buy. Dimensional is No. 17 on Barron’s “5-year Ranking” of fund families and No. 7 on its 10-year list, the...

Read More

Our Perspective on Schwab & The Markets

Level Financial Advisors logo

Last Friday markets were rattled as Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) shares plummeted and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced they had taken over the bank’s operations. They were the 16th largest bank in the nation at the time and will go down as the second largest bank failure in history. Over the weekend, Signature Bank was also taken over by NY bank regulators and will go down as the third largest bank failure in history. Fortunately, the FDIC, the Treasury and the Federal Reserve announced late Sunday night that they would make all depositors of both banks completely whole with full access to their money on Monday. This was an extraordinary move since normally bank accounts are only insured up to $250,000 per account owner. They also announced a new lending facility for banks to borrow against their temporarily depressed bond portfolios should they find themselves in a cash crunch like...

Read More

ELISE MURPHY, CFP® APPOINTED PARTNER AND DIRECTOR OF CLIENT SERVICES

Elise Murphy promoted to Director of Client Services and Partner

PRESS RELEASE Level Financial Advisors, Inc. announced today the appointment of Elise Murphy, CFP® as Director of Clients Services and Partner.  Murphy joins Rosanne Braxton, CFP®, Steven Elwell, CFP® and Michael Heburn as co-owners of the Amherst-based financial planning firm. Murphy, hired by the firm in 2012, will lead the company’s support teams and serve on the corporation’s board of directors. She will continue her advisory responsibilities while taking a direct role in the firm’s day-to-day operations.  She is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM professional and a graduate of SUNY Fredonia. Murphy is a board member of the Junior League of Buffalo and a member of the Financial Planning Association of WNY.  She lives in Kenmore with her husband and two children. Level Financial Advisors serves 618 individuals and families throughout WNY and the U.S., managing $520 million in assets. The firm employs six CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM professionals with offices in Amherst and Hamburg, NY....

Read More

VIDEO: SECURE ACT 2.0 – What Retirees Need to Know

SECURE Act 2.0 was signed into law on December 23rd bringing big changes for retirement accounts

President Joe Biden signed the SECURE Act 2.0 of 2022 into law on December 23rd. The law is filled with many changes impacting retirement accounts, individuals and taxes. In this brief video, Elise Murphy, CFP® zooms in on some of the key takeaways for those approaching or in retirement that could affect financial planning and investment decision-making.