A LETTER FROM OUR FOUNDER

by Ted Beringer

"While the news may not always be a bed of roses, for those committed to strategic planning, this is a great time to thrive."

Since our inception in 1979, The Beringer Group has navigated five separate recessions and multiple economic crises.

Each crisis has brought with it a similar sense of shock, doom and gloom.

Those looking for reassurance after the recent quagmire have not found much in the headlines of 2011. Bombarded by earthquakes, nuclear disasters, political turmoil in Egypt and Libya, and the unprecedented S&P downgrade of the credit rating of the U.S. Government, who wouldn't want to bury their head in the proverbial sand?

But for those with their eyes even halfway open, this is hardly a time to be pessimistic.

Just recently I got off an airplane and found that more than 40 emails had accrued in my inbox during the flight. I accessed these from a tiny wireless device that works almost everywhere I go. When I started this business in 1979, there was no such thing as an email, a cell phone, the internet, or even a fax. In thirty years time technology has completely altered the business landscape. The world is a better place to work in now than ever before. We are more productive as an economy and a society. Imagine the world even ten years from now from this perpective, and perhaps you too will see that this is actually a golden age.

Stock and bond prices already reflect the recent European crisis. Absent some totally unexpected event in Europe, we think it is unlikely we will sink back into recession.

We choose to look at the world not from a short term perspective of stock volatility, but from a long term family horizon. The private business owners we represent continue to flourish despite unsettling headlines. Entrepreneurship, optimism and hard work continue to reward those who are committed to success.

While the news may not always be a bed of roses, for those committed to strategic planning, this is a great time to thrive.

The theme of our newsletter this fall is "Success in Tumultuous Times." We hope you will find it to be useful and inspirational.

Sincerely,

Theodore Beringer
Founder, The Beringer Group