Keefe Gorman – Michael Keefe Gorman

Skiing in Powder Conditions

Keefe Gorman is an established Merrill Lynch executive who has attained Barron’s Top 100 advisors ranking. When away from his work with Merrill Lynch, Keefe Gorman is active with the U.S. Ski & Snowboard association, and enjoys challenging slopes of varying terrain every winter.

One of the most sought after conditions on skis is fresh, untracked powder snow. For those new to such snow conditions, the tendency may be to try the same techniques that work on packed runs, and if so, the experience can be frustrating.

One essential to maximizing your day on the powder is acquiring fat skis that feature an 80mm to 110mm width. These allow the ski to float, rather than sinking in the soft snow to a point where work is required to get them back up and ready for a turn again.

Another critical aspect of skiing powder is maintaining balance by flexing the ankles such that the toes point toward the head, pulling the skis up and out of the snow. Resist the temptation to lean back, as this often results in a too-rapid speed gain and subsequent loss of control. If the skis are wide enough, you do not need to worry about them diving forward in the powder, and it will not be necessary to pull the toes up to get the tips up and over the snow. In addition, a majority of fat skis are equipped with a rocker, or rise in the center of the ski in relation to the tips, that helps keep the skis afloat.

Chacaltaya – Once Home to the Highest Elevation Skiing Worldwide

A member of the Merrill Lynch team, Keefe Gorman delivers knowledgeable financial advice about a variety of investment vehicles. Active with the United States Ski and Snowboard Association, Keefe Gorman has had the opportunity to travel and ski slopes across the mountainous regions of Chile, Peru, and Bolivia.

Bolivia is home to Chacaltaya, which for many years held distinction as the highest-elevation ski resort in the world. Built in the 1930s, the resort featured a glacier ski area summit at 17,785 feet, higher than Mt. Everest base camp. The rationale behind this was that it allowed for glacier skiing throughout the year, even during the November to March timeframe, when other seasonal slopes are closed to skiing. One highlight was a car engine-driven rope tow built in 1939 that enabled skiing and riding across 660 vertical feet.

With scientists starting to research the effects of global warming on the glacier in the 1990s, it was estimated that it was retreating at a rate that would make completely disappear by 2015. Unfortunately, this was a miscalculation, as glacial retreat accelerated to such an extent that the 18,000-year-old glacier completely disappeared in 2009.

United States Ski and Snowboard Athlete Development Pipeline System

Merrill Lynch professional Keefe Gorman is an accomplished New York-based wealth management advisor with over three decades of experience. Founder of the Gorman Group at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, Keefe Gorman assists individuals and institutions in achieving their wealth management goals. Outside work, he is a United States Ski and Snowboard Association member.

The United States Ski and Snowboard Association avails the resources athletes require to achieve global excellence. The association manages multiple programs, including the Athlete Development Pipeline System, whose goal is to set a clear path for athletes engaged in skiing and snowboarding and enable them to win at every level on the global stage.

Athletes learn the guidelines for progressing through the United States Ski & Snowboard competition system. The pipeline details the individuals responsible for athlete development at various stages, such as divisions, clubs, and the United States Ski Team. The critical goals of the program are to promote a multi-discipline athlete development process, identify talented athletes and coaches around the country, and train and empower them. Other goals include establishing a nationwide system where athletes receive support by empowering clubs, academies, regions, and programs.

Foodnet Meals on Wheels’ Individual Meal Plans Serve Those in Need

The LLS Susan Lang Pay-It-Forward Patient Travel Assistance Program

Patient Travel Assistance pic — Patient Travel Assistance
Image: lls.org

Keefe Gorman is a certified financial planner, a certified financial manager, and a certified special needs advisor with more than 30 years of financial services experience. He advises clients on a range of investment matters as a managing director with Merrill Lynch in Ithaca, New York. Outside of the professional arena, Keefe Gorman supports multiple charitable organizations including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

In addition to raising funds for cancer research, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) supports a number of valuable patient support programs including the Susan Lang Pay-It-Forward Patient Travel Assistance Program. Open to patients in need of significant financial assistance, LLS Susan Lang Pay-It-Forward Patient Travel Assistance provides ground transportation and lodging funds for individuals of all ages who must travel to receive adequate blood cancer treatment.

In addition to its General Fund, the Susan Lang program supports a Central and Southern California Travel Fund that specifically focuses on the needs of residents in those areas. This regional fund operates under the patronage of Stater Brothers Charities.

An Overview of the Ski and Snowboard Responsibility Code

American Association of Snowboard Instructors pic — American Association of Snowboard Instructors
Image: thesnowpros.org

Over the course of a financial career spanning more than three decades, Keefe Gorman has held wealth management and leadership positions with Merrill Lynch. In addition to his work with major financial operators such as Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, Keefe Gorman, a professional skier, serves as a Professional Ski Instructors of America-certified ski instructor.

With more than 32,000 members, the Professional Ski Instructors of America and American Association of Snowboard Instructors (PSIA-AASI) is the world’s largest ski and snowboard organization. For nearly six decades, PSIA-AASI has represented the interests of skiers and snowboarders in various areas of athletics and instruction, including safety.

The ski and snowboard Responsibility Code is the most widely recognized doctrine for trail safety, having gained the support of numerous relevant bodies including the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA). The Responsibility Code sets forth several important standards of ski and snowboard conduct, namely maintaining control of one’s speed and direction at all times and obeying right of way rules. According to the code, right of way typically belongs to individuals further down the mountain, as they cannot monitor the movements of skiers and boarders behind them. However, individuals who are merging with a trail must look in both directions and wait for a safe opportunity to join it.

Additional aspects of the ski and snowboard Responsibility Code include preventing the progress of runaway equipment whenever possible, learning and obeying relevant trail markers, and learning how to properly use a ski lift.

Speakers at the Second Annual Forbes-SHOOK Top Advisors Summit

Forbes-SHOOK Top Advisors Summit pic — Forbes-SHOOK Top Advisors Summit
Image: forbes.com

A New York-based financial advisor with Merrill Lynch, Keefe Gorman manages financial assets for institutional clients and high-net-worth individuals. Recently, Keefe Gorman was named a Best-In-State Wealth Advisor by Forbes following an extensive selection process conducted by SHOOK Research.

Forbes and SHOOK together hosted the second annual Top Advisors Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada, from February 27 to March 1, 2018. The exclusive forum was attended by advisors with a combined $1 trillion in assets under management and included the following three speakers.

1. Bill Miller – Before serving as chairman and chief investment officer of Miller Value Partners, this Washington and Lee University alumnus held executive positions with Legg Mason and JE Baker Company. He was named Morningstar.com’s Fund Manager of the Decade and Greatest Money Manager of the 1990s by Money Magazine.

2. Mike Novogratz – Formerly a principal with Fortress Investment Group, Mr. Novogratz serves as CEO of Galaxy Investment Partners. In addition to his financial success, he’s the founder of Beat the Streets, a New York-based nonprofit that builds wrestling programs in NYC public schools. He also serves on the board of the Jazz Foundation of America and NYU Langone Medical Center.

3. Kayvon Pirestani – As director of institutional sales for Coinbase’s institutional brokerage and exchange offering, Mr. Pirestani is tasked with marketing functions to grow the number of institutional investors in cryptocurrencies.

Forbes Top Advisor Selection Process

An experienced Certified Financial Planner professional, Keefe Gorman is managing director of investments at a Merrill Lynch-affiliated firm based in New York. In 2018, Keefe Gorman of Merrill Lynch was recognized by Forbes as one of the best wealth advisors in New York State.

A total of 50 financial advisors were listed as best in-state advisors outside of New York City and Mr. Gorman, who operates out of Ithaca, ranked 14th. The Forbes Best-In State Wealth Advisors list highlights financial advisors with strong reputations in all 50 states and is curated through extensive research conducted by SHOOK Research. In creating the list, the firm looks for advisors whom they would recommend to a family member or friend, and that determination is made through face-to-face or telephone interviews as well as quantitative data such as assets under management, industry experience, and revenue trends. To qualify, wealth advisors must have a minimum of seven years experience.

SHOOK only considers advisors with acceptable compliance records who meet predetermined minimum thresholds and were nominated by their respective firms. It received 21,138 nominations for the 2018 list and conducted 5,264 telephone interviews and 1,157 face-to-face interviews at advisors’ places of business.

An Introduction to the Serve and Volley Tactic in Tennis

Serve and Volley pic — Serve and Volley
Image: optimumtennis.net

Keefe Gorman is an experienced wealth advisor with Merrill Lynch in New York. Beyond his activities as an advisor and managing director at Merrill Lynch, Keefe Gorman enjoys leading an active lifestyle. He is particularly fond of playing tennis.

Tactics individuals can implement on the tennis court include the serve and volley play. A typical exchange between tennis players involves the server beginning the point and both players remaining at the back of the court until an error or winner has been hit, or until one player can move into the net and end the point with a volley. Once the dominant style of play in tennis, the serve and volley is now used as a change of pace or surprise tactic in which the server immediately moves forward and, ideally, finishes the point at the net within one or two strokes following the serve.

There are a number of components to a successful serve and volley play. For example, a fast, powerful serve can sometimes overwhelm the returner and produce a weak reply that makes for an easy volley. On the other hand, a skilled returner can use the pace against the server and hit a return winner before the opponent has made more than a few steps toward the net. In many cases, a more effective play is a wide, slicing serve or a kick serve into the body, either dragging the returner far off of the court or jamming his racket to prevent a strong return.

The surface of the court can also influence the outcome of the serve and volley play. On a grass court, for instance, balls stay low to the ground after the first bounce. Slice serves are particularly effective on grass, further enhancing the tactic on a grass court. On the other hand, clay courts are less forgiving to slice because they produce high bouncing balls that allow the returner to take his time and measure a perfect passing shot before the server has positioned himself at net.

An Overview of Tennis Elbow

Keefe Gorman has nearly three decades of experience as an advisor with prominent financial institutions such as Merrill Lynch. Beyond his financial activities with Merrill Lynch, Keefe Gorman enjoys staying physically active by playing tennis.

Though not exclusive to tennis players, tennis elbow ranks as one of the most common injuries tennis players suffer. Tennis elbow is the colloquial term used to describe lateral epicondylitis, a condition characterized by pain in muscles and tendons around the elbow. The condition is brought about not only by overuse of the forearm but by repetitive motions made by the hand and arm, making tennis players particularly vulnerable.

Tennis elbow can begin either as a symptom of a sudden injury or as a long-developing standalone condition. The lateral epicondyle, the area of the arm where muscles and tendons meet the bony exterior of the elbow, is typically the source of discomfort, with symptoms generally originating in the dominant arm.

All types of athletes suffer from tennis elbow, though the malady is more commonly seen in nonathletes. Fewer than 5 percent of tennis elbow cases involve actual tennis players. That said, the condition is prevalent in the tennis community, with an estimated 50 percent of tennis players experiencing the problem at some point in their careers.

Unfortunately for tennis players and other athletes, the primary treatment for overuse injuries is simply resting the impacted area. Before or after a bout of tennis elbow, players should consult a trusted coach or physical trainer. There are various technical adjustments players can make to put less stress on the lateral epicondyle and exercises that can strengthen the area.