12/12/2023
A year end message from Gryphon:
Embrace your inner ant!
Well…that was quite a year, wasn’t it!!
In case you missed it, India surpassed China as the most populous country in the world, 70 000 delegates descended on Dubai to discuss the impact of climate change (if that isn’t ironic enough, many of them flew in in their own private jets – because Zoom meetings are so 2020) in a year likely to be the hottest on record, AI arrived at the party bringing Pandora’s Box as a gift, and global conflict extended its dark shadow over humanity.
But that’s not all that happened…Gryphon celebrated its 25th anniversary, taking the opportunity to reflect on the enduring nature of our philosophy, having proudly upheld the significance of our name inspired by the mythological creature, the gryphon. Our commitment to supporting and safeguarding the prosperity of our investors remains unwavering in a year that has brought extreme challenges, financially, emotionally, and socially.
In 2019, as part of our Gryphon@21 celebrations, we embarked on a fun, creative project titled Gryphon Miscellany. Using the letters from G – R – Y – P – H – O -N, we came up with a series of images and descriptions that define Gryphon’s ethos and characteristics. We then illustrated these words and created a masterpiece called the Gryphon Miscellany. We incorporated contributions from all the staff and believe that the outcome reflects the varied and diversified perspective of our team.
One of the images is of an ant, characterizing resilience with the following explanation: Eusocial ant colonies have been around for more than 50 million years. An ant that knows where to find food leads a new ant to the spot slowing his pace to that of the other ants. This behaviour does not benefit the leader, who could locate and collect the food about four times faster on its own, but enables other ants to locate the food faster than they would have discovered it on their own; thus the entire ant nest benefits.
More recently I learned that ants can theoretically survive a fall from any distance. An ant falling through air has a terminal velocity of just 4 mph. Comparatively, a human body (with limbs fully extended) has a terminal velocity of about 124 mph. This, combined with their formidable exoskeleton, allows ants to theoretically survive a fall from any distance.
With this in mind, we invite you to embrace your inner ant. No one has come through this last year unscathed, and the new year is not likely to offer much in the way of immediate relief. But, with the opportunity to rest, reflect, breathe, and read, lies the opportunity to rest, restore, and reset.
And talking of reading, here’s a random selection of books to inspire just that (with extracts courtesy of Goodreads.com):
Finding Endurance: Shackleton, My Father and a World Without End - Acclaimed South African writer Darrel Bristow-Bovey has a deeply personal relationship with the story of Endurance and in this lyrical, loving journey into past and present, into humanity and the natural world, above and below the Antarctic ice, he revisits the famous story from a contemporary perspective. If the story of Ernest Shackleton and Endurance tells us anything, it's that in the face of self-inflicted natural disaster, when there's no one to help us but ourselves, we can still pull off a miracle or two. From the bottom of the Weddell Sea, Endurance still whispers that not all is lost, and not forever.
Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story – Bono: "When I started to write this book, I was hoping to draw in detail what I'd previously only sketched in songs. The people, places, and possibilities in my life. Surrender is a word freighted with meaning for me. Growing up in Ireland in the seventies with my fists up (musically speaking), it was not a natural concept. A word I only circled until I gathered my thoughts for the book. I am still grappling with this most humbling of commands. In the band, in my marriage, in my faith, in my life as an activist. Surrender is the story of one pilgrim's lack of progress ... With a fair amount of fun along the way."
The Little Prince- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: (this is apparently the second most sold book in the world, after the Bible!) A pilot stranded in the desert awakes one morning to see, standing before him, the most extraordinary little fellow. "Please," asks the stranger, "draw me a sheep." And the pilot realizes that when life's events are too difficult to understand, there is no choice but to succumb to their mysteries. He pulls out pencil and paper... And thus begins this wise and enchanting fable that, in teaching the secret of what is really important in life, has changed forever the world for its readers.
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse - Charlie Mackesy: Enter the world of Charlie's four unlikely friends, discover their story and their most important life lessons. Here, you will find them together in this book of Charlie's most-loved drawings, adventuring into the Wild and exploring the thoughts and feelings that unite us all.
Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet – Xinran: It was 1994 when Xinran, a journalist and author, received a telephone call asking her to travel four hours to meet an oddly dressed woman who had just crossed the border from Tibet into China. Xinran made the trip and met the woman, called Shu Wen, who recounted the story of her thirty-year odyssey in the vast landscape of Tibet. In the haunting Sky Burial, Xinran has recreated Shu Wen's journey, writing beautifully and simply of the silence and the emptiness in which Shu Wen was enveloped. The book is an extraordinary portrait of a woman and a land, each at the mercy of fate and politics. It is an unforgettable, ultimately uplifting tale of love, loss, loyalty, and survival.
The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture - Gabor Maté, Daniel Maté: In this revolutionary book, renowned physician Gabor Maté eloquently dissects how in Western countries that pride themselves on their healthcare systems, chronic illness and general ill health are on the rise. Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug; more than half take two. In Canada, every fifth person has high blood pressure. In Europe, hypertension is diagnosed in more than 30 percent of the population. And everywhere, adolescent mental illness is on the rise. So what is really “normal” when it comes to health?
IN CONCLUSION, A NOTE OF GRATITUDE FROM OUR CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, PANKIE KELLERMAN
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our clients, partners, and the entire Gryphon team. Your unwavering support and trust have been instrumental in the success of this wonderful business. As we navigate the dynamic landscape of the financial industry, your collaboration inspires the determination to continue to excel. We remain committed to delivering exceptional value and stewardship of your assets. Thank you for being an integral part of our journey.
AND A FINAL THOUGHT…
"Eat at a local restaurant tonight. Get the cream sauce. Have a cold pint at 4 o’clock in a mostly empty bar. Go somewhere you’ve never been. Listen to someone you think may have nothing in common with you. Order the steak rare. Eat an oyster. Have a negroni. Have two. Be open to a world where you may not understand or agree with the person next to you but have a drink with them anyways. Eat slowly. Tip your server. Check in on your friends. Check in on yourself. Enjoy the ride."
~ Anthony Bourdain
Be light
Team Gryphon
