At Digital Wealth Frontiers, Mark Connors, the founder of Risk Dimensions whose career spans trading desks, multi-strategy hedge funds, and client-facing data strategy roles, delivered a keynote that spoke directly to the ethos of Gannett Trust Company: disciplined optimism in times of change. In “When Doors Close, Windows Open,” he explored how each transformation in global finance, whether the end of Bretton Woods, the birth of modern bond markets, or the monetary shifts of the COVID era, has carried both disruption and renewal.
At Gannett Trust, we believe that same principle defines true stewardship. Markets evolve, systems change, and uncertainty tests conviction, but every transition opens the door to enduring opportunity. Connors’ talk served as a reminder that wealth preservation isn’t about avoiding change; it’s about recognizing when a new foundation for value is being built.
One of Connors’ most resonant ideas was his assertion that volatility isn’t noise, it’s a signal. In traditional finance, volatility is often equated with danger. But Connors reframed it as the market’s way of learning; it’s evidence that something new is being discovered, priced, and tested. He suggested that rather than fearing volatility, long-term investors should learn to read what it reveals:
- Stable prices can be deceptive. Artificial calm often signals stagnation or hidden fragility.
- Volatile markets indicate discovery. They mark frontiers; places where innovation is challenging old assumptions.
- The direction of volatility matters. Bitcoin’s long-term asymmetry—its tendency toward greater upside than downside—suggests resilience, not chaos.
Viewed this way, volatility is not a flaw in emerging systems but a sign of life within them. It’s the pulse of discovery. The sound of a new market being born.
For those building across generations, Connors’ message is clear: resilience begins with understanding. By learning to read the signals rather than react to them, we can position wealth to endure through cycles of change. At Gannett Trust, we help families, founders, and fiduciaries do exactly that: aligning legacy planning with a financial system built for the future.
