Maple Capital
Monthly Commentary as of 12/31/2023
December in Review

Financial market performance in December was astonishing (see table). The total returns for this single month would qualify as quite solid results for a full year, which may be important to remember as 2024 unfolds.

Continuing the trend from November, Treasury bond yields fell dramatically across the entire maturity spectrum, with the long end again leading the way. The yield on the two-year Treasury declined by 43 basis points, while the thirty-year fell by 46. Lower yield translates to price gains which help diminish unrealized losses on portfolio holdings.

Within the fixed income market, corporate bond yield spreads narrowed, which also leads to price gains. Mortgage-backed securities had another solid month. Lastly, municipal bonds turned in solid results albeit lagging Treasuries.

Equities enjoyed exemplary results, with broad-based gains across valuation, geographic, and size classifications. Leading the charge was the Russell 2000 Index of small-company stocks followed by the Nasdaq Index. The S&P 500 Index ended the year with nine consecutive positive weeks, its longest streak since early 2004.

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ESI Operations Field Notice 2023-31
December 29, 2023

Summary
ESI Operations has created a new form for Illuminations managed accounts to aid advisors in providing cash management instructions consistently, accurately, and efficiently. For the purposes of this form, cash management instructions include:        

• Dollar Cost Average
• Trade Hold
• Protect Cash
• Raise Cash

Historically, advisors have leveraged Home Office associates to remit the above cash management instructions to Envestnet. Due to the absence of a form to collect the information, instructions have been provided through a wide range of channels (verbally, on transaction disclosure documents, emails sent to the ESI Trading mailbox, Docupace memo notes, etc.). The lack of a consist, repeatable process has resulted in processing errors and negative firm and client impact.

Effective January 12^th, the Managed Account Cash Management Form will be the only accepted means for submitting these requests. Instructions provided through any other channel will be honored on a best-efforts basis. Any corrective activity resulting from instructions that were provided outside of the new form will be deemed to be the responsibility of the account advisor(s). Additionally, we strongly recommend that the form is provided at least 5 business days prior to any account funding/trade activity.

Submission Through Docupace
ESI advisors can submit the new form electronically through Docupace. There is no client signature required. The form can be submitted as an optional form in a new account kit, or separately for existing or subsequent business. For existing or subsequent business, the form can be processed through Docupace maintenance kits. If an advisor submits the document outside of a Docupace kit, it may be submitted as a new work item through the “NFS Advisory Cashiering” workflow. Due to the time-sensitive nature of these requests, the system will automatically prioritize the form within the workflow.

Questions
Questions on the new form can be called into the Illuminations Service Line at 1-800-344-7437.

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