Fun Facts Newsletter

Fun Facts Newsletter - April 2011

Since this is "Annual Report" season when publicly traded companies send reports to their shareholders about the past year and the company's future strategy, we thought we would do the same for Berno Financial Management, Inc. and give our clients and friends some new insights in to our firm.

We had a good year in 2010. Our most important measure is client retention and we am pleased to report that we had 100% client retention in 2010. Our new client growth was nearly 10% (okay, 9.46% for you true bean counter accountants) and as of 12/31/10 we serve 81 individuals and families and we have assets under management of nearly $100 million dollars. By industry benchmark standards our average client size is very high and our number of clients is relatively low and this is by design and fine with us!

For 2011 we have a formal strategic plan with 24 items to improve in client service excellence, operational excellence, marketing and business development excellence and practice management excellence. We'll be the first to say we won't get all 24 done but our commitment to improvement is clear! One major theme is improvement in client communication and education so look for more use of our website as well as personal contact.

We are always asking you about your personal and family news, so we are happy to share some of our personal and family news as well. Bruce's daughter, Katie, is a junior at Butler University and is spending her second semester abroad in Ireland. Donna's husband, Steve, successfully coached the Mariemont High School varsity boys basketball team to champions of the Cincinnati Hills League. Mary is going to have a busy June with the arrival of her first grandchild compliments of her son Kevin and the wedding of her daughter Jennifer. Kathy has 3 of her 4 children in college now with her oldest at University of Cincinnati and her twins at St. Louis University.

We truly appreciate your confidence and loyalty and we will continue to do our very best for you. Please contact us with any questions or comments and enjoy these early spring days!