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Have you ever approached your family’s finances as a generational endowment?

Endowments can work because they start by defining what matters now and what must still matter decades from now. I believe decision fits within a long-term decision structure — balancing today’s needs with the next generation’s priorities, not just “retirement” as a finish line.

One of the main reasons I view a family’s finances as an endowment is simple: most families want to influence money moving in one direction. They want to prepare assets to move downstream to the next generation with purpose — and they want to prevent money from needing to move upstream to support unplanned expenses like long‑term care.

That’s an endowment mindset. Protect today, prepare for tomorrow, and make decisions that support both.

Most families have plans that are “fine.” But “fine” rarely creates continuity across generations. And while many advisors want long-term, multi‑generational clients, they rarely have the framework in their practice that makes that kind of relationship possible.

My role is to help you shift from a typical planning and investing approach to an endowment‑level approach that connects today’s decisions to your defined current and long‑term goals.

Families who seek this level of depth tend to value three things:

• Confidence in good markets and bad
• Decisions made intentionally, not reactively
• A plan and portfolio built around what truly matters

 

Planning Services

When I begin working with a family, the first step is always the same: understand what matters most, what decisions are ahead, and what needs to be coordinated—not just for today, but for the years that follow. As their CFP® professional, my role is to help them organize what they have today and lay out a plan for the decisions ahead.

Some relationships are one‑time engagements, others are ongoing. Either way, the process stays the same. We take a clear, analytical look at your current picture, organize the moving parts, and build a structure that helps you make decisions with confidence.

Shifting from a typical “retirement plan” to an endowment‑oriented approach means looking at your finances through a wider lens. It’s a way of planning that supports major decisions, balances today with tomorrow, and gives you a way to stay steady when life or markets change.

Investment Management

I believe Investing shouldn’t be driven by headlines, predictions, or whatever is grabbing attention that week. An endowment-oriented approach requires a steady framework, clear criteria, and decisions tied to long‑term direction—not short‑term excitement.

As a CIMA® professional, my role is to bring institutional‑level discipline to the portfolios I manage: a focus on risk awareness, a consistent process, and decisions grounded in fundamentals rather than speculation or market noise.

Most portfolios begin with a core discretionary strategy built for long-term planning and risk‑adjusted outcomes. From there, we may incorporate satellite allocations—including alternatives or market‑linked investments—to help manage risk and broaden potential outcomes.

This approach isn’t about beating the market in the short term. It’s about helping you stay positioned through full market cycles and the major life transitions that matter most.

How We Work Together

  • Planning comes before investing. We start by understanding where you are currently and what matters most. From there, we coordinate what needs immediate attention and what decisions are ahead. There’s no generic questionnaire but real-life conversations and planning.
  • Investment strategies come only after the planning work is done. Once I understand your priorities and confirm the right fit, then I build the portfolio around the structure we’ve created. Not the other way around.
  • Your plan and portfolio stay connected over time. As life changes, markets move, and priorities evolve, we revisit and refine the plan so your decision‑making stays grounded and consistent. This is how an endowment-level mindset develops: clarity first, structure second, steady adjustment over time.

Support for Business Owners & Executives

Some financial decisions carry more weight than others, especially when business ownership, equity compensation, or major life transitions are involved. For clients with this added complexity, I provide guidance that builds on the same structured approach used throughout planning and investing.

Common areas of focus include:

• Executive compensation and stock‑based pay
• Business transition and liquidity event guidance
• Risk mitigation strategies, including key‑person coverage
• Support for entrepreneurs and family business owners

As your circumstances evolve, the decisions can get more complicated. My role is to help simplify the options, evaluate the tradeoffs, and provide a framework so you can make decisions with clarity and confidence.

How I Approach a Family’s Finances

My practice is built around four things I believe every family deserves and what I see missing most when I meet new clients: clear analysis, coordinated planning, a defined investment process, and ongoing direction that actually helps people make decisions.

This straightforward concept shapes everything I do: approach a family’s finances with the same long‑term discipline great institutions bring to their endowments. It’s a simple concept, but I rarely see it in practice when I meet new clients.

That means helping clients define what matters most, building a coordinated approach for both planning and investing, and maintaining a consistent connection between the two as life evolves.

As a CFP® and CIMA® professional, I bring the technical depth and decision‑making discipline to support the long-term aspects of a family’s financial life — today and across the years ahead.

Brian S. Whatley, CIMA, CFP

Senior Financial Advisor
First Vice President - Investment Officer
PIM Portfolio Manager

View Brian S. Whatley's Bio

Kelsey Ruttenberg

Registered Client Associate

View Kelsey Ruttenberg's Bio

Let’s start the conversation.

Schedule a 20 minute Intro call