FSGBank helps customers with wealth management

From left, Robert Clark, CFA, CFP; Bart Rolen; and Darrell Jones, CFA, work on growth strategies for clients' portfolios.

When it comes to wading through the services of wealth management, experts at FSGBank are ready to help.

"For those unfamiliar with the service, wealth management provides customized personal financial services such as investment management and financial planning to private and institutional investors," explained Bart Rolen, Director of Wealth Management and Trust at FSGBank.

"[Wealth management] can also include advice on the use of trusts and other estate planning vehicles, business succession, private banking and insurance services," he added. "Our mission is to help individuals and their families effectively manage both personal wealth and business needs."

FSGBank's Wealth and Trust team applies tested principles and provides highly individualized financial solutions for clients. The group works closely with high-net-worth individuals, families and foundations to develop wealth and investment management strategies and then identifies investment opportunities to help them reach their objectives.

While FSGBank Wealth Management does work with a wide range of individuals, families, business owners and institutions, clients who have a minimum of $250,000 of investable assets are best suited for wealth management services.

For those concerned about leaving a legacy or protecting assets for future generations, a trust may be something to consider. "Trusts can be flexible and customized instruments that perform many useful estate planning functions and offer protection in many different situations," Rolen said. "While you don't have to be independently wealthy to use one, it does make it cost effective to have a certain level of assets, such as investments, real estate, etc."

Trusts can be used to control and direct assets, minimize estate taxes and protect assets from lawsuits and creditors, and FSGBank Wealth Management has trust officers who are Certified Trust and Financial Advisor (CTFA) designees and have many years of experience in designing and administering trusts. For clients with investable assets who desire active investment management, a portfolio manager from FSGBank Wealth Management is a good solution. Such managers make investment decisions and manage money for individuals or institutions.

"On the investments side, we perform analysis and research and are ultimately responsible for establishing an investment portfolio that is customized to the needs and objectives of the client," said Darrell Jones, Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Senior Portfolio Manager. "First, we select and allocate appropriate investments according to the investment objective selected by the client.

Next, we monitor economic and market trends to maximize portfolio returns while minimizing risk in the choice of fixed income versus equities or alternative assets, domestic versus international, growth versus value, and other variables encountered in the attempt to maximize return at a given appetite for risk."

When looking for a wealth management partner of any sort, Robert Clark, CFA, Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and Portfolio Manager said, "The most important factor is determining whether the team in question is qualified and experienced in helping clients with their personal financial affairs and seeing that they have access to a full range of products and services to meet your needs.

"Also, how the advisor is compensated is extremely important, as this will indicate whether he or she has a conflict of interest," Clark cautioned. "Finally, having a local team that can be responsive and accessible is very important as well. With our team headquartered here in Chattanooga, FSGBank Wealth Management is committed to this market and has over 200 years of combined experience in serving client needs."

He added that the management model used at FSGBank is fee-based, as opposed to commission-based. "We aren't incented to use certain products or funds, so we are completely objective in our role as investment manager," he explained. FSGBank Wealth Management portfolio managers can perform a comparison review to show how an individual's or institution's investment portfolio would have performed under FSGBank's management versus the potential client's current wealth management partners.

"We have the ability to analyze each prospective client's account to review the investment return and the risk of that portfolio," Clark explained. The service is free and interested parties only need to bring a copy of their latest statement. "This leads to a discussion about ways we can improve on that process, and to better understand a client's overall asset allocation across multiple accounts," said Clark.