Your Personal CFO
The Bergland Wealth Management difference is rooted in the depth of our professional credentialing. Our industry has labeled us as “financial advisors,” but have you noticed how virtually anyone can claim that description? Your insurance agent or your banker can have a business card that reads, Financial Advisor. Today those two words have lost their meaning. That’s why we believe the term Personal Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is a more telling description of what we do.
To fully appreciate the value of Bergland Wealth Management serving as your Personal Chief Financial Officer, it’s instructive to examine how the CFO role has evolved in the business world. In the past the duties of the finance function were narrowly focused on bookkeeping and records, financial reporting and compliance matters. These remain responsibilities overseen by a company’s CFO, but now are considered to be minimum requirements. Today, the modern business CFO takes comprehensive financial data and leverages it to help guide operational decision-making and overall strategic direction.
This expanded, holistic role is how we approach operating as your family’s Personal CFO. We take an overarching approach to managing all aspects of your finances and the support of your goals and aspirations. We streamline the complexities of your financial life – minimizing taxes, transferring assets to heirs, effecting charitable giving and philanthropy, protecting your assets against a healthcare event, and much more – freeing you up to live your ideal life. Getting to know you is our first and most important step in the process to make sure the fit is right.
You likely already have a CPA, attorney, insurance agent, and/or other professionals; but do they interact as a team? We collaborate with your team of experts in the context of a long term plan in which we work with you to formulate and implement. Rather than merely looking at your needs in the present moment, our view encompasses years, even decades.
As your Personal CFO we provide our core service offerings: Wealth Management and Investment Management.
Wealth Management
Wealth Management is a comprehensive discipline comprised of three components: Investment Consulting, Advanced Planning, and Relationship Management.
Investment Consulting involves the management of all investment elements to maximize the probability of achieving targeted ROI (return on investment).
Advanced Planning goes beyond investments to address other types of financial challenges or concerns: wealth protection, wealth enhancement, wealth transfer, and charitable giving.
Relationship Management centers around three groups: the client (you), your third-party professionals, and our own professional network.
Our professional network includes CPAs, attorneys, insurance agents and other subject matter experts. We are skilled at orchestrating open communication, contribution and collaboration among your professional team and ours to ultimately yield a very positive impact on the overall success of your wealth management plan.
We do not accept referral fees from any other professionals; this ensures there is zero conflict created by our recommendations to utilize outside professionals.
It’s our mission to meet your needs in a manner that optimizes the probability of achieving your goals, and living your ideal life.
Investment Management
We take an evidence-based approach to investing, focusing on the efficiency of the global markets. Markets work, and we know how to put them to work for you. By diversifying across the global markets you are able to capture market rates of return with lower risk. The overall goal is to limit fees, turnover, and taxes (i.e., by being tax efficient), by being globally diversified to avoid exposing your portfolio to uncompensated risk.
Our investment philosophy focuses on these fundamental strategies:
- Minimize fees
- Minimize turnover
- Minimize taxes
- Maintain broad global diversification across asset classes
