MGWM
MGWM

July 2026 Market Recap

July Market Recap The A.I. train veered off it tracks in July as investors recalibrated the prices they are willing to pay for the promises of future growth. The collapse of another ceasefire in Iran and rising oil prices also contributed to some risk-off behavior in equity markets. With oil again trending higher, Energy (+12.5%) […]

June 2026 Market Recap

June Market Recap Even slightly negative months for the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ couldn’t prevent US equities from booking their best three-month stretch in years. Despite slipping lower in June, the S&P 500 rose 15% in the second quarter (April 1 – June 30), while the NASDAQ gained more than 21%. It is the […]

May 2026 Market Recap

May Market Recap Rarely has the stock market demonstrated such a wide gap between the winners and losers as what we saw in May. The S&P 500 gained 5.15% last month, building on the positive momentum that began with a US-Iran ceasefire in early April. But the majority of individual stocks actually finished negative. For […]

March 2026 Market Recap

March Market Recap War dominated the headlines and drove global equities meaningfully lower in March. Uncertainty about the duration of America’s involvement in Iran as well as the energy shock it created led to spiking volatility and falling stock prices. The most immediate economic impact from the war has been more expensive oil. West Texas […]

February 2026 Market Recap

February Market Recap Major changes in US policy led to a change of direction in financial markets last month. The S&P 500 shed 1% in February and the tech-heavy NASDAQ lost more than 3% as investors digested the news that President Trump’s signature economic policy (tariffs) was deemed unlawful by the US Supreme Court. The […]

January 2026 Market Recap

January Market Recap Happy Groundhog Day to all the readers of this monthly recap. You are not stuck in a recurring time-loop. Stocks really did go up again last month. Going back to May of last year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has increased nine months in a row. All three major US equity benchmarks […]

December 2025 Market Recap

December Market Recap US stocks defended their gains in December to finish the year firmly positive for the third year in a row. Two of the three major equity benchmarks ended the month lower, but just barely, and not nearly enough to spoil yet another strong year overall. Six of the 11 sectors in the […]

November 2025 Market Recap

November Market Recap The monthly winning streak for stocks continued in November… barely. The S&P 500 increased in each of the final five trading days to eek out a seventh straight month of gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also finished positive by an eyelash. A slump in Technology stocks led the NASDAQ to a […]

October 2025 Market Recap

October Market Recap US equities rose again in October, which makes it six months in a row of gains for the S&P 500, the longest “monthly winning streak” in four years. The NASDAQ has risen higher in seven consecutive months, its longest run since 2018. Corporate earnings continued to outperform expectations and another rate cut […]

September 2025 Market Recap

September Market Recap Neither the threat of a US government shutdown, elevated valuations, or a traditionally weak month for equities could prevent stocks from rising higher in September. Boosted by the Federal Reserve’s first interest rate cut of 2025, the S&P 500 posted its fifth straight month of gains. It is now six positive months […]

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  • 4350 Baker Road, Suite 245
    Minnetonka, MN 55343
  • (952) 582–6100
  • info@marksgroup.com
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Wealth Advisor

Turner Storm, CFA, CFP®

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About Turner

Turner brings small town values and Big League work ethic to the Marks Group team. Born and raised in northern Minnesota, Turner’s father owned a local pharmacy and his mother taught at the elementary school, so he can relate to small business owners and families trying to make the most of their hard-earned savings.

Turner graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, where he majored in Finance and captained the Concordia baseball team. He still plays Town Ball 2-3 times a week for the Jordan Brewers, who play their home games at the historic “Mini Met” ballpark. He also lived in Bozeman, Montana, for a year while working for a John Deere equipment dealer.

Turner is a Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA), and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™. He advised clients at both Thrivent Financial and Carlson Capital Management before joining Marks Group in 2024. “I like seeing the tangible value we provide to clients,” Turner says. “Getting them to a goal or enhancing their quality of life means a lot to me and even more to them.”

Whatever the season, Turner lives up to the stereotype of a northern Minnesota outdoorsman. He and family members hunt together year-round, and Turner is a member of several conservation programs. He and his wife Elizabeth live in Jordan, MN, with their daughter Sloane, along with their red Labrador and hunting buddy, Walker.

Director of Asset Management

Jeremy Schmidt, CFP®

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About Jeremy

One of several Certified Financial Planners on our team, Jeremy’s in-depth knowledge of retirement planning is an invaluable resource to our advisors and a benefit to every client relationship. He coordinates the use of our planning software to help families organize the non-investment aspects of their financial lives like budgeting, insurance, and banking. As Director of Asset Management, Jeremy is instrumental in the macroeconomic decisions that govern the positioning of our Marks Group investment strategies.

A native of Bismarck, ND, Jeremy went to college at the University of North Dakota where he graduated with a degree in Financial Management and a stubborn devotion to UND hockey. Jeremy is also an alley cat who bowls a 165 average. He lives in Plymouth with his wife Brooke, daughter Bryn, and sons, Lucas and William.

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Contact US

Let’s talk.

Reach out to us anytime. Leave a message and tell us what’s on your mind. We’ll get back to you promptly.

  • 4350 Baker Road, Suite 245
    Minnetonka, MN 55343
  • (952) 582–6100
  • info@marksgroup.com

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Founder/Chief Investment Officer

Ben Marks

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About Ben

Ben’s tenacious commitment to our clients’ prosperity rightfully makes him the namesake and founder of our firm. Decades of industry experience and a nuanced understanding of the capital markets make him well-equipped to be our Chief Investment Officer. Ben oversees the composition of our client portfolios and drives the strategic direction of Marks Group. He co-authors our monthly newspaper columns in the Star Tribune and has received accolades from the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, and others.

Ben regularly volunteers with Minnetonka High School’s “Vantage Professional Studies Program” as a mentor, Shark Tank judge, and guest instructor teaching financial literacy. An avid mountain biker and cross-country skier, he is passionate about supporting healthy outdoor activities. Ben spearheaded a community effort to build mountain bike trails at Lone Lake Park in Minnetonka. He is also a Trustee for the American Birkebeiner ski race Endowment.

Founder/President

John Feste

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About John

Dating back to his time as a 17-year-old Marks Group intern, John has committed nearly 30 years to our company and to his clients. His contributions to our firm’s strategic direction helped Marks Group be named one of the 50 Fastest Growing Private Companies in the Twin Cities by Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal in 2022 and 2025.  

John has a big heart and leads our company’s charitable and community efforts. He served on the board of directors at St. David’s Center for Child and Family Development for many years. He has coordinated fundraising efforts on behalf of Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, where he was a patient as a child. John is also a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO).

A lifelong Minnesotan, John enjoys spending fall mornings in a duck blind. He lives in Deephaven with his wife Katie and their three children, Frank, Jane and Catherine.

Principal

Pat Deeg, CFP®

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About Pat

Pat sets the standard at our firm for hard work and dedication to his clients. He also has a knack for developing deep, trusting relationships. After more than two decades of advising clients, Pat remains committed to honing his skillset and finding new ways to add value to the families he serves.

Pat leads our firm’s new business initiatives and spends most of his time creating complex solutions for high-net-worth families and institutions. He is detail-oriented and takes a holistic approach to the sophisticated needs of each client. Pat’s knowledge and proficiency around multi-generational planning, trust and estate matters, tax minimization strategies, and philanthropic giving helped land him on Forbes list of “America’s Top Next-Gen Advisors” (2021) and “Best-In-State Advisors” (2020-2025).

A Minnesota native, Pat makes time for wakesurfing, golf, and pheasant hunting as much as possible. He graduated from St. Mary’s University in Winona, MN. Pat and his wife Kelli live in Deephaven with their two daughters, Grayson and Logan.

Senior Wealth Advisor

Matt Arnold, CFP®, MA

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About Matt

Leadership, expertise, and a commitment to improve the people he works with are the attributes Matt brings to Marks Group. His approach prioritizes financial planning in every relationship to make sure investment strategies align with client needs, even as those goals change through the years. The CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation next to Matt’s name demonstrates his knowledge of our industry, but it’s the desire to educate others that sets him apart.

With a Master’s degree in Education from St. Mary’s University, Matt is a natural teacher. He created Marks Group Retirement University to make it easier for families to educate themselves on retirement-specific financial topics. He also holds a Journalism degree from the University of St. Thomas, where he was a starter and captain on the Tommies basketball team.

Matt grew up in Hopkins and currently lives in Chanhassen with his wife Jessica and their two daughters, Lauren and Kate. Both girls play basketball and it’s no surprise that Matt volunteers his time as coach.

Senior Wealth Advisor

Brett Angel

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About Brett

In his 12 years with Marks Group, Brett has become a leading voice in our client communications. His journalism degree from the University of Minnesota and professional experience make Brett well-suited to share insight about investing, economic trends, and personal finance. He authors or co-authors the majority of our Marks Group publications, including newspaper columns in the Star Tribune, our Monthly Market Recap, and our economic Perspectives & Outlook. 

Clear communication is also at the heart of Brett’s client relationships. He is a big believer in one of our core principles that investors need to understand exactly what they own, as well as why they own it. This applies to the families he works with as well as our institutional clients who have partnered with Marks Group.

Brett grew up in Racine, Wisconsin, working summers in the bindery of his family’s small printing business. His personal resumé includes paid employment as the lead performer in an opera, country club sous chef, and college football beat writer. He is a lifelong soccer player, dedicated Gopher fan, and occasional golfer. Prior to joining Marks Group, he spent five years as an investment advisor in UBS Financial’s downtown Minneapolis office. Brett lives in Edina with his wife Kristen and their two children, Walter and Genevieve.

Wealth Advisor

John Hanten, CFP®

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About John

John takes a client-first approach to wealth management, focusing on truly understanding each family’s goals and tailoring strategies around their needs. He has a particular emphasis on tax planning and retirement income distribution and strives to help clients feel confident that their financial lives are thoughtfully structured and closely managed.

In 2026, John was named to the Forbes “Best-in-State Top Next-Gen Wealth Advisors” list for the second year in a row, recognition of the care and specialization he brings to his work. He joined Marks Group Wealth Management in 2021 after previous roles with Carlton Investment Services Group, Morgan Stanley, and Merrill Lynch.

John graduated from Creighton University with a degree in finance. As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, he enjoys building long-term relationships and being a resource for families as their lives and priorities evolve.

John and his wife, Maddie, live in Orono with their two daughters, Susie and Hattie, and their two rescue mutts, Millie and Lou.

Director of Operations/CCO

Erica Lewerenz

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About Erica

When we began our search for a Director of Operations, we knew we needed someone with a serious attention to detail. Sure, Erica has 12 years of public accounting experience, routinely worked 60-hour weeks during tax season, and earned a double-major from Concordia College (in Moorhead, MN). But when she explained to us the difference between knitting and crocheting, then clarified the intricacies of cross-stitching vs needlepoint? Well, she got the job. She is proficient at all of them, by the way.

Erica’s responsibilities include: Managing our Human Resources, leading the firm’s accounting responsibilities, and striving to ensure that Marks Group remains compliant with all the industry rules and regulations. She has also proven most adept at resolving the inevitable IT issues. Before joining our team in 2016, Erica spent the prior three years as a Senior Associate at national accounting firm BDO.

If knitting isn’t your thing, Erica is equally happy to discuss the merits of whether James T. Kirk or Jean-Luc Picard was the better captain of the Starship Enterprise. She and her husband Mike originally met at a local science-fiction convention, then worked together at that convention for several years.  They live in Shakopee with their cats, Dresden, Dax, and Garak.

Wealth Advisor

Samantha Thorn, CFP®, (CPA inactive)

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About Samantha

One of the many benefits of hiring Sam was that our team got younger and smarter at the same time. When Sam joined Marks Group, she brought with her a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting (St. Cloud State), a Certified Public Accountant license (inactive), and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation. You would never guess she grew up on a farm in Byron, MN, racing Go-Karts with her four siblings.  

Sam’s passion for research and analytics add a new dimension to our Marks Group expertise. In addition to her professional certifications, Sam has taken classes in data science, a field of study that seeks to organize large quantities of information in a way that leads to more efficient solutions. Sam will tell you she likes numbers and appreciates how even small inefficiencies can have a big impact over time. That’s the kind of thinking that leads to high-quality financial planning for our clients.

Sam’s work experience includes time as a staff accountant at two local accounting firms. She also spent nearly six years at Murphy Pohlad Asset Management before joining Marks Group in 2019. She and her husband Tony live in Byron with their daughter Mackenzie.

Lead Trader

Nick Slettum

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About Nick

With more than 20 years working in trading and operations, Nick’s attention to detail, analytical eye and problem-solving skills are invaluable to Marks Group. As our lead trader, Nick ensures timely execution of all securities transactions in clients’ accounts. He constantly monitors our proprietary investment models and is a member of our Marks Group Investment Committee.

Since graduating from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with a degree in Finance, Nick worked with Norwest Bank, US Bancorp and Piper Jaffray before joining our firm in 2014.

His knack for precision execution also serves Nick well on the softball diamond and as acting Grillmaster for the postgame tailgate. Nick and his wife Sara live in Maple Grove. They have two daughters, Sofia and Sabella.

Sub-advisor

Seth Cogswell, MBA

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About Seth

Seth has been a strategic partner of Marks Group since 2017, when he began managing our flagship Core Equity strategy. He is the founder and managing partner at Running Oak Capital, a Minnesota-based boutique investment firm that provides portfolio management to Registered Investment Advisors like Marks Group.

Seth’s management style includes a rules-based method of managing risk that adds more discipline to the process of screening, selecting, and monitoring individual stocks. His investment philosophy aims to deliver efficient growth, meaning companies that offer higher earnings growth, attractive valuations, and historically lower downside risk.

Seth also lived and worked in New York for 14 years, where he was a lead portfolio manager at Trillium Asset Management. He graduated from the University of North Carolina with a degree in Operations Research and earned his MBA from The Wharton School in Pennsylvania.

Portfolio Manager/Consultant

Bill Patterson, CFA, MBA

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About Bill

Since January 2015, Bill has served as lead portfolio manager of our Marks Group Tactical Equity strategy. His approach focuses on “stalwart stocks,” meaning high-quality companies with strong franchises run by shareholder-oriented management. Our most actively-traded strategy, Tactical Equity also contains several “special situation stocks,” including some more likely to be involved in mergers or acquisitions.

Bill’s investment style is agnostic to traditional benchmark weightings. He is comfortable concentrating exposure in specific sectors or asset classes to maximize value. He is a student of the global economy and believes macroeconomic trends are an important contributor to investment returns.

A Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA), Bill is the founder of Second Avenue Capital and previously managed a long/short equity portfolio at Deephaven Capital. He graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration and has more than 35 years of experience in the financial industry.

Bill enjoys golf, CrossFit, hockey, and skiing with family and friends. He and his wife Joanne have three adult children and live in Edina.

Director of Client Service

Jeremy Netka

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About Jeremy

When Marks Group had a job opening for a client onboarding specialist, our Chief Investment Officer already had his ideal candidate in mind. Jeremy worked five years as a senior banker and brokerage associate at Wells Fargo’s Minnetonka branch and Ben, who lives down the road, was a frequent visitor. Jeremy made such a positive impression that Ben recruited him (successfully) to Marks Group in early 2018.  

Jeremy quickly distinguished himself at Marks Group and was promoted to Director of Client Service in 2021. Our company’s transition to a new custodian (Fidelity) would not have been possible without Jeremy’s hard work. He remains instrumental in helping new clients get up and running quickly and efficiently. New account paperwork, 401(k) rollovers, establishing online access, beneficiary info, statement preferences, and banking info… Jeremy has you covered. 

He grew up in Mound, MN, and has a degree in Finance from the University of Minnesota – Duluth. Jeremy lives in Plymouth with his wife Katie and their two children, Hudson and Isla.

Client Service Associate/Office Coordinator

Sara Wright

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About Sara

Sara had some incredibly popular shoes to fill when she joined Marks Group in 2025. She took over the client service and office coordinator role from the recently-retired Janet Jakobitz, our company “mama bear.” Sara, who lives down the street from Janet, passed her interview with flying colors and a full endorsement from her Minnetonka neighbor.

Sara is likely to be the first person you see when visiting the Marks Group office. She works closely with the rest of our service team to satisfy a wide range of client needs related to online access, IRA contributions, rollover checks, and annual tax forms. Sara graduated with a Studio Art and Music degree from Gustavus. She worked as a paraprofessional in local elementary schools and taught piano lessons for 20 years. Chopin’s Waltz Op. 69 No. 1 (in A-flat major) is among her favorite compositions. No wonder it was a harmonious transition inside the Marks Group office.

Sara has road-tripped to nearly 30 national parks with her husband Pat and their children, Audrey and Andrew. She also likes to hike, paddleboard, and ski.

Client Service Associate

Jesse Gamble

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About Jesse

Jesse started at Marks Group in 2021 after three years as an investor services representative at Sit Mutual Funds in downtown Minneapolis. He graduated with an Economics major from Iowa even though he grew up in Ames and his mom went to Iowa State. Exceptional service has long been the expectation at Marks Group and Jesse is a big reason why that remains the case. “I like helping people out,” says Jesse. “Being someone they can rely on to provide support and solve problems.” 

If you think keeping clients happy requires heavy lifting, you should see Jesse in his off time. His pandemic project was powerlifting, a commitment that requires waking up at 4:30am four days a week for gym sessions. He “sleeps in” until 6am on weekends before tuning in to Formula One racing.

Jesse grew up playing hockey and has played in the Pond Hockey Championships on Lake Nokomis. He’s also a pro hockey fan and an avid gamer. He lives in Hopkins.