Adrianna / Spring Edition 2021 by Adrianna Media

Adrianna

SPRING Edition 2021

Dear Adrianna,

Our debut magazine (2021 winter edition) went off without a hitch. I appreciate all of the effort the team made to make all of this happen. As our readership grows, we too have to grow.

This time of expansion is nota time for complacency. It’s a time for greater service to others; times to further challenge ourselves and the people around us. Realize that opportunities aren’t always found where you’re at. They're also found where you’re going.

Sincerely, Dad

Adrianna

PUBLISHEr's Note Thank you for supporting our magazine. My intention is to share even more in-depth insights into the investment and business projects of service members which is why we'll continue to grow the page length of Adrianna. Additionally, this edition continues our tradition of being written by members of the U.S. Armed Forces. Similar to our last edition, the writers have published assets they're currently holding in their investment portfolios. We are also debuting more such as our Brand Ambassador, Lyndi Jo Weston, our YouTube channel Adrianna Media and showcasing more veteran owned business projects. It’s one of the ways I intend for the magazine to become a more personal and relevant publication to our readers.

Marcus L. Craig Founder of Adrianna Group, LLC

Adrianna

Even a drop still makes a ripple.

Adrianna

Our New Brand Ambassador Lyndi Jo Weston

Adrianna Starting Out Written by Marcus L. Craig page 10

ICE Intercontinental Exchange page 12

Emergence Written by Marcus L. Craig page 14

NOMD Nomad Foods page 17

LPSN Live Person page 18

Adrianna From Club to Network Written by Marcus L. Craig page 20

WM Waste Management page 24

Why Manage Property Yourself Written by Marcus L. Craig page 25

SIRI Sirius XM Holdings page 27

ROLEX Written by Jeremiah Valentine page 29

Adrianna Doctor Doctor Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund page 33

Clean and Green iShares Global Clean Energy ETF page 34

Match the Market iShares Core S&P 500 ETF page 35

Aggressive Mix iShares Core Growth Allocation ETF page 36

Disclaimer page 38

Special Thanks page 39

Our Adrianna Times podcast is on Spotify, Google Podcast, and Amazon.

Adrianna

Starting Off When people start anything in life, it comes with a sense of humility. Because we realize everyone in this world started off somewhere. And investing is no different. When people talk about being hesitant to invest, I get the sense people often look to a myriad of past and current events. Consequently, these events get lumped together in a distorted belief which turns people off to the idea of investing. And it’s reasonable for people to come to that kind of conclusion. At the end of the day, people do not like things they don’t understand and when you throw money into a circumstance, the circumstance becomes emotion provoking. On the other hand, that place where you see yourself in the future is often separated often by a necessary change in your mentality. Mentality is at the heart of everything we do. It’s the thought process that drives not only your daily decision making but also your strategic planning for the future. Whatever your approach is, it concludes with the notion that investing is a necessary part of the advancement of your financial life. Part of that next step I alluded to is also facing head on some of the reasons why people don’t invest. For me at one point, it really came down to me feeling like either I did not have enough money to invest or that I didn’t have the discipline. I know for a lot of Americans, both of those can be real pain points that can hurt us eventually. Other points of contention when it comes to investing is that people are too risk opposed. That kind of fear or risk-off behavior can keep you from financial opportunities to better yourself but opportunities in general. Whether it’s building a college fund for your kids or you are preparing for retirement, we can’t let ourselves be paralyzed by selfdoubt or fear of the unknown. Rather than jumping in headfirst, I have found a way forward. The way forward is to start with a single company. It can be the company you work for, a company you admire or one that’s simply interesting to you. People usually go with companies that they typically interact with on a frequent basis.

An illustration of this would be a co-worker of mine Mitchell, who wants to start slowly, but surely investing. As time went by, and the more I got to know him, the more he shared about himself. By getting him to focus on a single company he was already familiar with, we concluded that he would start with video game publisher Activision Blizzard (ticker symbol is ATVI). He was already a step ahead because he’s been an avid video game player for years and the gaming community is well aware what game publishers are working on. Popular services like Twitch also can keep gamers well-informed. With that being said, I told Mitchell that the next step is to read as much as you can about the company; whether it be their product lineup, market position; you name it. What I also conveyed was that as you move along with getting a better understanding of the company, to let me know the things that you find. This in turn keeps him not just looking forward to seeing what he can find on his own but gives him the chance to better engage with other people. The goal wasn’t just for him to learn more about companies to invest in. It’s about personalizing the investment of money. This allows investing to be more engaging because people are looking into assets on their own terms. Activision Blizzard is only the beginning. Once I let him know that you can choose to invest in the gaming industry through ETFs, it allowed for things to go a step further. He may wind up not just investing in Activision Blizzard. The small task of looking into one company can easily transform into looking at other game publishers or gaming ETFs such as the VanEck Vectors Video Gaming and eSports ETF (ticker symbol is ESPO) or the Global X Video Games & eSports ETF (HERO). Above all, whatever investment Mitchell winds up making, I’ll be there to support him. But I imagine he’ll be fine. Activision Blizzard was up 30 percent last year.

Adrianna

ICE

Intercontinental Exchange

1. Owns the largest and most prominent stock exchange in America. 2. Solid profit margins from their business operations. 3. Efficient business model through the heavy use of technology. 4. Competes well with the largest exchange operators in the world.

Subscribe to Our Publisher's Instagram at marcus_lamar_craig.

Emergence America isn’t the only land of opportunity. We may have some of the most well-known companies worldwide but that doesn’t mean that businesses in other countries haven’t been handling their business. And because American companies have dominated global markets for so long, I feel as those there’s a displacement of appreciation among our foreign brethren. When I talk about other countries with friends of mine, it’s usually about places to visit for vacation. Traveling is one of those activities that everyone loves, but a number of these regions have more to offer other than their beaches, cathedrals, and additions to your Instagram. Africa is known for being a hot bed of mining activity but is also a great environment for the fast adoption of technology. This is because the continent as whole doesn’t have the long standing, well-entrenched infrastructure for products or services such as telecommunications or prime brick-and-mortar retail locations compared to more developed regions. East Asia offers investors exposure to both world-renowned technology firms as well as smaller, more up and coming consumer brands. Latin America is often known as a breadbasket to the world given its climate that’s conducive to growing food. Europe is known for its broad variety of industries. Italian fashion companies, German chemical and software companies, and Swiss financial services firms is a brief rundown of what industries parts of the European region can offer investors. Nevertheless, I couldn’t leave you with this article without going over a few companies worldwide that may be worth looking at. Ferrari is first up. Over the years, Ferrari has looked to transition itself from being characterized as solely an exotic car manufacturer to a full-fledged luxury goods maker. On the surface this may seem inconsequential to the naked eye. However, you must look at it from a business standpoint. If Ferrari were to shape itself successfully as a luxury goods maker, investors would also have to value the company differently from other car manufacturers. Ferrari as a luxury goods maker would greatly expand their product lineup which also expands their customer base. This then leads to revenue expansion.

Furthermore, the company has one of the highest profit margins per vehicle of any car manufacturer in the world. Couple that with high brand recognition and the gradual move into electric vehicles, Ferrari is quite the investment. Next is Baidu. This company is widely considered to be the “Google of China” due to the popularity of their search engine. But they also have well diversified product mix centered around technology. A look through their financial documents will show they have an abundance of cash on hand which is works well in competing in one of the world’s largest economies with the world’s largest internet market. Their competitors include both well-known names Alibaba and Tencent to name a few. Lastly is Arcos Dorados. The company is the world’s largest franchisee of McDonald’s restaurants in the world. And their geographic focus is both Latin America and the Caribbean. Given these points, I know what people would say. Marcus: what about ETFs that invest in emerging markets? I wouldn’t forget to mention ETFs because they’re a great way to gain both geographic and asset diversity. The iShares China Large-Cap ETF (ticker symbol is FXI) is focused on your largest Chinese companies that you would most likely be familiar with. Financial and technology companies dominate the holdings of the ETF. Some names include China Mobile, Tencent, and Xiaomi. For investors wanting exposure to Europe, you could start your search with the VanEck Vectors Russia ETF (RSX). The weighing of the ETF is concentrated on both basic materials and energy. For Latin America, you can look at the iShares Latin America 40 ETF (ILF). This ETF has a heavy exposure to Brazil with almost 60 percent of the fund being the financial services industry. Some of its holdings include American Movil, mining giant Vale, and Brazilian oil and gas company Petrobras. Like many things in the world, there are risks. Currency movements can have an ugly effect on a nation’s economy. It’s especially true in emerging economies that aren’t running efficiently. One of the advantages that Europe has is through the euro currency and the European Union as a whole. Emerging market economies don’t have this benefit of having a unified regulatory body with a common currency among them. This allows for a relatively high degree of trade stability across member nations and the region. Political instability is also a higher risk in several emerging markets. This instability can range from governments being overthrown to companies being nationalized to nations creating self-inflicted fiscal (government spending) issues.

Ultimately, emerging markets are worth looking at because America isn’t the only investment market in town. While the United States has produced some of the most prolific businesses in history, other entrepreneurs in other nations have made significant strides in several industries. And with that, you’ll start to see the pace of wealth creation quicken. One of the greatest benefits of investing is that you can take part in this wealth creation. And taking part is where investing begins.

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NOMD Nomad Foods

1. Sells a product that’s always in demand.

2. Has a lot of room to grow on additional markets. 3. Allows investors to gain exposure to Europe; the company’s biggest market. 4. Diverse product mix.

LPSN Live Person

1.Leader in the customer service technology field. 2. Fierce competitor in their industry through the use of intellectual property. 3. Company has a lot of room to run in terms of fully digitizing the customer service experience. 4. Business model they use allows for efficient customer acquisition and subsequent growth.

Coming Soon. For More Content, Go to Adrianna Media on YouTube.

Adrianna

From Club to Network People desire to be appreciated as well as be socially connected to others. It’s truer now given that social media has connected not just us to our friends, but to others around the world. In essence, these ideals serve as the backbone of my brand and its newly created investment network. For years I’ve always adhered to a genuine desire to start an investment club. It would in turn provide me the opportunity to bring others together for the purpose of fostering a social and helpful environment around investing. Back then, there weren’t many people around me that saw the allure and excitement of investing I saw. Investing is an activity that can be discussed on a frequent basis due to the daily changing nature of not just the assets, their investment climate as well as the investors themselves. Consequently, this makes investment activity inherently social. Those dynamics make for not only interesting conversation not just among the global financial elite, but for everyday people such as yourself and I. Over the course of time, people have grouped themselves together in service of both the creation and preservation of wealth. They may not have called it an investment club, but the intention is the same. Through further research, I found a fundamental issue with the idea of founding a club. Yes, clubs are beneficial to their members, but there lies the problem. I felt as though clubs are not inclusive to people who are on the outside of the club. So, I made the switch in structure from club to network because my vision isn’t meant to leave some in the cold and others in the know. A prominent example would be Tiger 21. According to their website they have more than 800 members with billions of dollars in assets. But they don’t characterize themselves as an investment club. Per the website, they are a peer-topeer membership organization. The essence is quite similar to a club, but their structure is worth replicating for future networks.

Eventually, the time was right for the Adrianna brand to have an investment network because I needed a more solid foundation that best serve investors. The clutch notion of a network comes down to the compounding nature of people serving others. The more information passes through the network, the more valuable it comes to people. And when more people join the network, the more valuable the information becomes as it passes through. When that happens, the network will reach a point where a networking effect takes shape. This is exactly what I envisioned someday. We come from different social, economic, and political backgrounds and still add value to ourselves, our families, and our communities. With that, I’m grateful for social media to help facilitate this end game. One day I’d like to read about investment networks running worldwide with the hope and expectation they’re making a positive, incremental difference in financial lives. At the end of the day, this is all comes down to a belief that if we focus on helping others, we inevitably would be helping ourselves.

Adrianna

Honest Bookkeep

Honest Bookkeep offers virtual professional bookkeeping for Real Estate Investors from secure, cloud-based software so they can: -Focus valuable time on investing, not administrative necessities

-Have records at the ready to secure future financing - Maintain current and accurate data to analyze which investments maximize ROI - Stand ready for tax season, with us or another preparer Having your books in order is critical to securing your next deal!

visit honestbookkeep.com

Subscribe To Our Podcast Series.

WM Waste Management

1. Company works in an industry that’s resistant to recessionary economic conditions. 2. Able to issue new debt at record low prices due to a solid financial strength which works well for future financial activity. 3. Market leader in their industry. 4. Due to the nature of their business, they’re at the leading edge of limiting pollution, increased recycling as well as generating renewable energy. 5. Pays a decent, but steady dividend to their investors.

Adrianna

SIRI Sirius XM Holdings

1. High brand recognition in the audio entertainment space. 2. Market leader in America for providing satellite radio. 3. Management shows willingness to adapt business model vision and model to fit changing consumer behavior and preferences. 4. Could convert radio content to other original programming for other mediums (podcasts, shows, etc.) 5. Potential to become a takeover target of an entertainment or technology firm. 6. Share price is appealing to investors with not a lot of money to invest.

Join Adrianna Media to feature your investment and business ventures. Email Marcus L. Craig at marcuscraig@adriannagroup.com

Adrianna

Rolex I want to buy my dad a Rolex. It seems like such a stupid thing, right? The idea, of buying a piece of jewelry for a man who helped create me. Most children get their parents an iPhone or a cheese and wine platter. With that being said, I am going to tell you the why. Rickey Valentine was raised on the East side of Detroit with two sisters and one brother. The man didn’t grow up poor, however, he recalls countless stories about hustling for money in order to help his family get by. He sold newspapers, fixed cars, worked odd jobs and worked for people in the neighborhood; he did what he could. Detroit often teeters between growth and decline, and his childhood was no different over the years. The city of Detroit was where my father would grow up; more specifically, the 70’s and 80’s. At one point, he didn’t think he would make it to his 18th birthday due to the social backdrop of racial tensions and riots at the time. He remembers when Woodward had to be turned into a highway certain times of the day because of traffic. Additionally, he recalls when Detroit developed a black community nicknamed Black Bottom. This was neighborhood filled with black owned businesses in the heart of the city. Black Bottom would fall into decline and ultimately disappear due to the construction of the Chrysler expressway. In time, Mr. Valentine would enlist in the Army, becoming a troop transport driver. He met and ultimately married my mother, Nanette, after his years of service. Mrs. Valentine would later graduate from Wayne State University with a bachelor's degree in education with the aid and loving support of my father. At the time, he was the breadwinner of the family, later he would become the patriarch. During the Great Recession of 2008, both of my parents were working full time. Amid the recession, my father would be laid off from his job and reverted to odd jobs while my mother would concurrently be working full time. Years later, he founded his own transportation company named Royal 10 transportation. Its namesake came from the 10 people he provided for in our family. Over the years, Royal 10 would employ my brother and I to deliver dental work to dental offices from their labs. His end game was for the company to be passed down to his children, as a means of building employment and generational wealth within our family. Over time, growth at Royal 10 would stall and ultimately never recover. Shortly thereafter, the company was dissolved.

Retirement age is fast approaching as he will 60 at the end of this year. Currently, he is working at FedEx and every week he posts sport commentary to his Facebook page. My father has had moments where the priority is survival. For the last thirty years, he provided for my siblings, my mother, and I. Creating a family; raising a family; then supporting our family. The contributions he’s made over time aren’t solely monetary, they’re cultural yet cohesive. He’s a man I proudly look up to with the hope that he’s always with me. Although there will a time where he won’t be. At least not in the physical sense. So yes, I want to buy him a Rolex. For sure, a Rolex watch would be the most expensive possession ever gifted to him and often a symbol of wealth; a symbol of “making it”. Once enlisting in the Navy, I shortly realized, I shouldn’t rely on the Navy to make things happen for me. Because of the lack of support, I started to invest heavily. Accordingly, I figured there was a need to start investing in myself. Investing is also a means for me to use my savings productively. And watches are a way for me to store wealth. That motivation led me to aid others in my ship’s division. Subsequently, several of us profited greatly of investing in companies such as Tesla at the beginning of last year. My father never made a billion-dollar company, nor did he invest in Apple in the 90’s. Raising a son that can afford a Rolex without issue is a milestone in and of itself. Now I get an opportunity to expand his kingdom with the name he gave me. After telling him about my success investing, he wants me to teach my siblings what I’ve accomplished so they can do the same. Black people don’t have a lot of wealth relative to other groups. We have challenges, from systemic racism to food stamps, and kids without fathers. And there’s generational issues that won’t be corrected with a check or an overnight solution. Watching my dad fail and subsequently persevere in his experiences is inspiring. Those experiences have provided me the foundation to not only start endeavors but also the resolve to keep them going.

The Novel, "Loving Social" Is Now Available from Jeremiah Valentine on SubStack. boltedloose.substack.com

Adrianna

All things considered; I am a writer with the goal to start self-publishing. I want to start my own business. I want to inspire others. Ultimately, I want my friends and colleagues to learn from the things I’m doing in order to assist them with their own goals and expectations. Gifts aren’t always about their value in the physical sense. All gifts should have sentimental value. Besides, who turns down a Rolex?

The following are the ETFs, their themes, and the reasons why writer Jeremiah Valentine chose to invest in these particular assets. Stay tuned for more writers and more assets from their portfolios in the next editions of Adrianna.

Adrianna

XLV

Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund

is best apt to take 1. The healthcare industry commercial advantage of the pandemic.

2. Health companies will continue to thrive well after COVID due to the nature of people requiring some degree of coverage throughout their lives.

3. Market size for healthcare is massive.

4. Consistent stream of pharmaceuticals and other treatments every year.

ICLN

iShares Global Clean Energy ETF 1. Belief that the new presidential administration will prioritize clean energy investment.

2. This century will begin an era of sustainable energy.

3. A clean energy ETF would decrease exposure to companies with high volatility.

4. Desire to invest in companies that were good for the environment.

IVV

iShares Core S&P 500 ETF 1. The S&P 500 has a well-established history of sustained growth over the decades and I wanted an ETF that would capture that performance. 2. With that being said, I've missed too many instances where the S&P 500 has slumped and recovered briskly with time and needed to start building a position.

AOR iShares Core Growth Allocation ETF 1. This ETF is the only one I own that has a healthy mix of bonds and ETFs compared to the other ETFs I've owned in the past.

2. The fund not only an ETF that contains a number of seperate funds but its holdings include assets from international developed markets, emerging markets, U.S large, mid cap, as well as small cap companies.

Subscribe to Jeremiah Valentine's SubStack subscription Bolted Loose for more of his content. boltedloose.substack.com

B.L.

Disclaimer The Founder and personnel associated with Adrianna magazine are not certified/registered financial professionals. Additionally, Adrianna Group, LLC is not a registered/certified financial institution within the United States, its territories, or other jurisdictions. All information and views provided via this magazine and its related businesses are for entertainment purposes only.

The company, its founder, and associated personnel are not liable for the investment performance of any asset. Investment performance may differ from individual or group to another.

Individuals are encouraged to conduct their own research. Consult with a registered investment advisor (RIA) for your investment needs.

The opinions and commentary of our website, podcast, and parent company do not reflect any official policy of the U.S. government or its entities to include the U.S. military or any of their personnel.

Adrianna

Special Thanks A Special Thanks to the People Who Made The Spring Edition Happen. Adrianna Craig-Lopez Lyndi Jo Weston Denise Craig Robert Sanchez Jeremiah Valentine Jessica Jaral Karina Ramirez The Summer edition of Adrianna will debut May 2021.