In celebration of 6 Meridian achieving its 10-year anniversary milestone, we are taking a quick look back at the Top 10 Events impacting markets since the practice’s founding. As we often discuss, everything seems so obvious after it happens, but in the last decade, the market has endured through both a lot of excitement and concern.
- Sept. 2016 – 6 Meridian opens its new doors, setting forth on a vision to better serve our most important assets – our clients, employees, and community.
- Nov. 2016 – Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, a stunning result at the time given what was considered to be long-shot odds by political forecasters and media.
- Dec. 2017 – The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed, driving lower corporate tax rates and directly boosting the bottom line of U.S. businesses.
- Mar. 2018 – The U.S. and China initiate a Trade War that disrupted and reshaped global supply chains, effects that remain relevant today.
- Dec. 2018 – The S&P 500 falls 20% as a culmination of the Fed continuing to tighten policy amidst the Trade War, falling oil prices, and concerns of a slowing economy.
- Mar. 2020 – COVID, no further explanation needed, but the stimulus provided would have implications in the years ahead.
- Feb. – Mar. 2022 – Russia invades Ukraine, creating major geopolitical implications and sparking concerns about the global energy and food supplies. Shortly thereafter, the Federal Reserve begins an aggressive rate-hiking cycle as the economy was faced with rapidly increasing prices that propelled inflation to peak at about 9% in June 2022. The inflationary pressures primarily stemmed from the COVID-era fiscal and monetary stimulus, but the Russia-Ukraine conflict added further pressure through higher commodity prices.
- Nov. 2022 – OpenAI releases ChatGPT, kicking off a new era in technological advancement and big promises for the future of business. Artificial Intelligence remains the dominant theme across equity markets today.
- Mar. 2023 – Silicon Valley Bank failed, prompting fears of contagion amongst regional banks. Concerns ultimately proved to be short-lived, despite a few additional subsequent failures.
- Apr. 2025 – “Liberation Day” tariff announcements rattled markets and sparked significant volatility. But swift modifications to some terms eased investor concerns and the downturn was ultimately short-lived.
At the end of all these headlining events and stories, global markets have continued to endure, providing investors with strong returns so long as they had remained committed to their plan. That’s what 6 Meridian is here to help our clients do: preserve, protect, and grow wealth for today, tomorrow, and for future generations.
