The Genesis Story

It all started when…

In the summer of 2001, Chris Madel was part of a team of Wilmington Trust professionals recruiting Chris Kreicker for a Portfolio Manager position in the Wealth Advisory Services Department.  At the time, Mr. Madel was the leader of the portfolio management function for a team of Delaware based Investment Advisors. 

Mr. Madel would go on to lead all the Investment Advisors of the firm and was later promoted to Senior Vice President and Head of Investment Implementation. In this role, he managed a division of the company comprised of the Equity, Fixed Income, Derivatives, Centralized Trading and Application Support Groups. Mr. Madel also had oversight responsibility for approximately 100 Wealth Advisory Services Investment Advisors and Associates who serviced high net-worth clients. He retired from the company in 2017 after 19 years of service.

Mr. Kreicker often assumed roles that Mr. Madel was leaving as both successfully advanced through the organization. Mr. Kreicker soon became the National Investment Advisory Lead for the firm. He lead all of the Investment Advisors in the Wealth Advisory Services Department while serving individually as an advisor to some of the wealthiest families in America.

Meanwhile, the near-death experience of the firm which had led to its acquisition by a large regional bank was starting to change the company.  By the summer of 2018, the new leadership wanted to transform the culture of the firm in directions to which Mr. Kreicker was opposed, so he left the firm and spent the next few months talking to dozens of investment firms and influencers. There was one persistent theme that was difficult to escape; if you want to own the strategic decisions around serving clients, especially those regarding the allocation of capital, you must own the firm.

That opportunity came to us in the form of a family office that was speaking independently with each of us about serving as the investment advisor to the family.  Instead of hiring one of us, we created a firm that includes us both.  The opportunity to build a firm on the principles (see nearby) in which we zealously believe was an incredible gift.  We desire to pay it forward with the immodest objective of transforming the wealth management industry to better serve clients. 

Our goal is to challenge today’s standard business model that is riddled with conflicts of interest. Many of the industry’s leaders are obsessed with driving profit margins by forcing clients into centralized models, often filled with high priced, opaque proprietary products. Instead, we believe that focusing on advice while being sensitive to clients' preferences and starting points is in their best interest - yet it is a rare attitude in the industry.

To be successful, we knew that we would need to create a firm with different principles, priorities and a unique cost structure. We are fervent believers that the cost of investment management services in the wealth management industry is generally too high especially when the costs of implementation are considered.

We are laser focused on investing our capital only in places that directly help clients. This discipline around expenses means we evaluate all of our expenditures based on the extent to which the dollars spent deliver direct benefits to our clients. Consequently, it is unlikely that you will be seeing our corporate logo on your local sports stadium or a splashy advertising campaign.   As good stewards of capital, we manage our cost structure in a way that allows us to deliver our services with an exceptionally competitive and transparent fee. 

Your wealth deserves a partner who listens to you instead of sells to you; a partner who works with your existing assets instead of driving them to a centrally run model. If you want to work with investment professionals who are guided by knowledge that only experience can inform, let’s talk.