investment management, income planning,
tax strategies and estate planning.”
Clients can often see the difference in
Vimvest Advisors’ approach from the initial
meeting, according to Stuart Dickson,
Senior VP/Advisor, who is a licensed
Registered Representative and Certified
Fund Specialist. “Before we make any
investment recommendations, we take
them through a procedure that determines
the critical facts of their current investment
structure, risk tolerance and goals,” Dickson
said. “Once prospective clients experience
this, nine out of 10 of them become our
clients.”
Since this process was implemented two
years ago, the company’s growth rate has
been 82 percent annually. “Once those
critical factors are identified, all investments
are determined by their time horizon and
risk tolerance,” he said. “We make sure
no money is falling through the cracks
and build a customized portfolio that will
meet their goals and limit any downside
on income.”
The company has plans that are separated
into three categories depending on clients’
time horizons. Plans for growth build on
proven economic research that allow for
growth while minimizing risk. Plans for
protection help insulate savings from the
vagaries of the stock market to provide
guaranteed pension income, and plans for
retirement include income planning, Social
Security strategies, asset growth protection
and tax analysis.
Vimvest Advisors has a buy and hold
approach to investing, and its philosophy
is based on 50 years of research by three
Nobel laureate economists–Eugene Fama,
Kenneth French and Merton Miller–who
have helped shape modern portfolio theory.
“Our investment services are extremely
low-cost through utilizing structured
exchange traded funds that are globally
diversified across 45 free countries and
automatically rebalanced,” said Phillip
Dickson, VP/Advisor, who is a licensed
Registered Representative. “We also create
tax efficiencies inside our portfolios by
properly managing gains and losses at the
end of the year,” he added.
Because relationship building is so
important, Vimvest Advisors works in a
fiduciary capacity and is strongly focused
on communication and education.
“People tell us they’ve never had a team
so attentive, and that others do not offer
the sort of transparent education we do,”
Stuart Dickson said. “We sit on the same
side as our clients.”
In order to help clients understand the
complexities of financial management, the
company offers two workshops each month,
designed to provide helpful information
about wealth building and retirement
planning, including portfolio management,
diversification, asset allocation, fee
structures and more. “We are trying to create
a client experience that is built around
very strong communication because new
clients often tell us they previously were not
being contacted frequently enough,” Hixon
said. “We promote education because we
value transparency and want our clients to
understand what we are recommending for
them and why. When people become a part
of our group, we take them in like family.”