"> Our Client Experience - Argent Bridge Advisors

Our Client Experience

HOW WE'LL HELP YOU

ACHIEVE YOUR WEALTH GOALS

We are an independent advising firm of Wealth Advisors & CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERS™ serving generations of families in wealth planning. Our focus is connecting uncertainty with clarity through education, empowerment, and connection.

We want you to understand your options, give you all the information to make the most educated decision, and walk side-by-side with you through the process to help you meet your life’s biggest goals. Our team of advisors is dedicated to one thing – your success.

We engage our clients in a variety of wealth management and future planning services, including:

  • Financial Organization and Accountability
  • Capital Preservation Solutions
  • Investment Management
  • Retirement Readiness
  • Education, Charitable and Family Gifting Strategies
  • Legacy Transfer Strategies
  • Life insurance/Long Term Care
  • Concentrated Stock and Stock Option Analysis
  • Coordination of Planning with Attorney and Accountant
  • C-Suite Executive Retirement and Legacy Planning
  • Pre- and Post-Divorce Financial Analysis and Planning

OUR THREE-PRONG

APPROACH

Education

We’re committed to offering independent, researched information and resources to help you make the best decision. We strive to educate you on:

  • Investment Basics
  • Investor Behavior
  • Risk Mitigation
  • Lifetime Earnings
  • Stock Market Perspective
  • Portfolio Income
  • Tax Reform & Policy Changes
  • Wealth Management Options

Empowerment

Through our education strategies, you’ll get confidence in our process to make the best financial decisions for your future and goals. The process includes:

  • Goal-Based Planning
  • Ongoing, proactive Investment Monitoring
  • On-demand delivery of information
  • Real-time portfolio updates
  • Multi-generational investing programs

Connection

We have a true vested interest in you and your success. We want to be part of your circle and celebrate as you achieve your wealth goals with you.

As pillars in our community, we have close connections with a network of specialty attorneys, realtors, divorce lawyers, mediators, judges, mental health coaches, and more that serve as valuable resources for our clients.

Working with us means having a team on your side that truly cares.

ARE WE A

GOOD MATCH?

When you partner with Argent Bridge Advisors, you become part of our family of exclusive clients and team members who value your success.

Who We Serve

Sudden Wealth Advisors

Multi-Generational Wealth

Multi-generational wealth planning helps ensure that a family’s wealth and legacy are properly managed and passed from one generation to the next, ensuring a healthy financial picture endures to benefit younger generations.

We are a multi-generational team serving multi-generations, which allows us to offer a unique perspective that allows us to understand your unique needs and make custom plans accordingly.

Retirement & Estate Planning

Planning  ahead  is  your  most  important  asset  for  a secure  future  and  comfortable  life  for  you  and  your  family.

Our  Wealth  Advisors  are  well-adverse  in  providing comprehensive  retirement  and  estate planning.

Nothing  is  ever  guaranteed,  but  our   goal   at   Argent  Bridge   Advisors   is   to   future  -   proof   your  finances   in   order   to   provide  you   comfort  and   security.

Executive & Entrepreneurial Planning

You've tirelessly pushed yourself and toiled endlessly to achieve great things in your professional life. Whether you've started a successful business or you're a C-Suite executive who has risen through the corporate ranks, we're here to support your financial goals with your wealth.

Let us help you take your achievements to the next level by creating a fortified financial plan to achieve your wealth goals.

Divorce

We know how long and arduous it is to get divorced, especially if there is a high amount of investable assets. The process can be confusing to navigate, but Argent Bridge Advisors is here to help. With two CERTIFIED DIVORCE FINANCIAL ADVISORS® on staff, we make a powerful addition to any team assisting with divorce.

Our divorce program is separate from our financial planning programs, so there is no long-term commitment required. Our connections in the community include estate attorneys, divorce lawyers, mediators, judges, mental health coaches, and more - they serve as valuable pillars in our divorce program.

To learn more about our Divorce initiatives, click here.

Other Services

As independent advisors, we're dedicated to meeting your unique needs. We accept many clients from various walks of life to assist with meeting their wealth goals.

If we haven't mentioned your unique situation, reach out to us. We're always looking to bring clarity to all sorts of wealth planning.

CLIENT

QUALIFICATIONS

As a general rule, our financial planning clients have at least $1M in investable assets. Our in-depth knowledge and experience make us well-equipped to manage the complexities of higher value assets.

SERVING

YOUR NEEDS

At Argent Bridge Advisors, we're dedicated to our clients and passionate about delivering solutions to empower you to make the most of your wealth. We offer a variety of services and we're dedicated to helping to assist with...

  • Financial Organization and Accountability
  • Capital Preservation Solutions
  • Investment Management
  • Retirement Readiness
  • Education, Charitable, and Family Gifting Strategies
  • Legacy Transfer Strategies
  • Life Insurance and Long-Term Care
  • Concentrated Stock and Stock Option Analysis
  • Coordination of Planning with Attorney and Accountant

YOU MIGHT BE

WONDERING

What's a Certified Financial Planner™?

CFP® professionals take a holistic, personalized approach to bring all the pieces of your financial life together. As part of the CFP® certification, CFP® professionals also have made a commitment to the CFP Board to act as a fiduciary when providing financial advice to a client.

This means we are committed to putting your best interests first, so we can provide you confidence today and a secure tomorrow.

The CFP® Board of Standards administers and manages all initial and ongoing certification

What's an Independent Firm?

Being independent means that we are free to choose from almost any investment company, product type, market sector, cost structure, and tactical outlook. We do this with a mind for transparency, liquidity, and simplicity.

Independence allows us to operate primarily on a fee basis which simplifies the cost of services for the client and allows us to move forward with the goal of scaling down the cost as assets may grow. Additionally, fee-based investing encourages us to include cost-effective investment vehicles like ETFs and institutional-share mutual funds.

What is a Certified Divorce Financial Planner® (CDFA®)?

A CDFA® is a financial professional who has the requisite test results and experience level to be certified to help people navigate the specific money issues that come up during a divorce.

What is a Fiduciary Financial Advisor?

A fiduciary financial advisor is an investment professional who is licensed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or state regulators. Fiduciary advisors are important for clients because they are legally required to put clients' interests ahead of their own.

FINANCIAL vs DIVORCE

PLANNING

We're dedicated to catering to the unique needs of each client and recognize that our divorce planning clients require different support than our standard financial planning clients.

We want to support you through all of your life changes, but understand that sometimes our role is simply temporary. But, remember, our doors are always open for you.

Click here to learn more about your divorce planning options.

What It's Like Working with a CDFA

Want to learn more about working with a Certified Financial Divorce Analyst® to help navigate your divorce? Click here to watch the video and see what it's like to have an Argent Bridge Advisor CDFA® on your team. If you're still curious about how Argent Bridge Advisors can help you with a fortified divorce plan, click here to learn more.

We Can Support You With

  • Marital vs Separate Assets
  • Balance Sheet of Assets and Liabilities 
  • Income and Expenses
  • Tax Consequences from Asset Division 
  • Pension Valuations
  • Cash Settlements for Misuse of Marital Funds
  • Restricted Stock Options 
  • Spousal Support Analysis
  • Cash in Lieu of Support 
  • Witness/Trial Testimony 
  • On-Call During Mediation Negotiations or Court Settlements 

OUR APPROACH TO

INVESTING

Asset Allocation

The most primary tenet of investing for our clients is diversification. Investing across multiple asset classes is a fundamental principle at Argent Bridge Advisors.

We believe it not only avoids the risks of being too concentrated, but also gains exposure to segments which perform well. These include US stocks, international stocks, emerging market stocks, real estate, commodities, and multiple types of bonds among others.

Independent and Fee-Based

Our pragmatic approach to investing is to start with asset allocation, focus on risk control, pick from the best investment vehicles out there, and select investments which have a superior balance of performance, risk, and cost.

We follow this up with constant monitors and periodic reevaluation at the allocation level, investment strategy level, and right down to the client portfolio level. Investment management is just one element of financial planning and we believe our diligent, patient investment approach forges the way for client success.

WEEKLY MARKET

INSIGHTS

Each week, Joe Gallemore, CIMA® Partner & Director of Investment Management for Argent Bridge Advisors, gives his insights on the state of the markets and potential futures. Here are some of his most recent updates!

[Market Recap] Cup of Joe: November Market Update

Recent Investment Focus webinar with the St James Investment Co.
We talked about how interest rates affect stocks, about the Magnificent 7 making the S&P 500 more concentrated than it’s ever been, and we talked about St James’ patient, time-tested approach to value investing and how owning great businesses helps clients in the long-term. Watch at your convenience at ArgentBridge.com.

Financial Planning Year-End Punch List – a few things you can do to help you work towards better outcomes

  • Assess any changes – Make a list and bounce it off your advisor.
  • Give your taxes a little thought – if you got/are getting a good bonus, made more than you thought, had some windfall income, let your advisor know.
  • Review your budget for accuracy – Leads to better planning for the future
  • Make sure your company retirement plans are fully funded!/li>
  • Charitable giving – If you want to gift, to charity or loved ones, tell your advisor! There’s lots of giving strategies out there and we want to help you make the most of your generosity.
  • Year-end not necessarily a time to shuffle your investments. Historically the months in Q4 and Q1 are relatively strong. Make that discussion a year-round one with Argent Bridge.
  • I-Bonds – Is it worth owning?
  • I-bonds purchased in the last few years may be less competitive than current US Treasuries that can be locked in.
    Each I-bond is different and the time it was purchased and the length it’s been held needs to be considered.
    If you have I-bonds, show them to your advisor, let us take a look and see if there’s a way we can improve your outcome.
  • Focus on your spending- Maintaining your normal spending plan, when funded by distributions from your investments, eats up bigger chunks of your assets when the markets decline.  So adjusting your spending is a great way to improve your investing outcome.Thank you for your continued trust and partnership. 


    Joe Gallemore, CIMA®, Partner

[Market Recap] Cup of Joe: October Market Update

Equity markets finished the 3rd quarter on a two month skid. Rising oil prices and interest rates were the main culprits for this.

Looking back, this feels like a market that got out over its skis up through July and spent the last two months back pedaling to more reasonable expectations. The stock market is focused on how long interest rates may remain high and when the tightening effects of that will start to alleviate. Things like mortgage rates declining and what the squeeze on corporate profits.

What do market statistics mean to you?

  • Timely perspective and why it should matter to you:
    Today’s S&P 500 level takes us back to 5/3/2021.  The trailing return for the 2.33 years since then is flat, excluding dividends.And in fact, the index is still down approximately 11% from its peak in January of 2022.  Still not back to where we were pre-pandemic and pre-rate hikes. When you hear these sound bits on TV you should think, “Does this apply to me?”
  • Index concentration: The top 5 names of the S&P 500 amount to a whopping 24% of the index; the top 10 names account for 31%!.  At one point this year, the top 7 stocks were responsible for around 80% of the Index’s return.
  • Unless you owned only those 5-10 stocks, then you’re not going to experience this. Unless you owned only the index, you won’t experience this.  And never would we recommend you focus your portfolio in 10 stocks or even one single index fund.
  • Last time interest rates were this high was in July 2007.  This is a market environment most people are not used to.
    Why is that important? Because the Fed’s actions have an enormous impact on how markets behave and, thus, your portfolio.  The Fed began raising interest rates last year and volatility was rampant.  But before this, a rate hiking cycle of this scale was so long ago that it seems people forgot what this feels like.
  • Many economists are referring to today’s levels as “back to normal interest rates”. Hopefully this means that the Fed can make adjustments without causing massive price dislocations, which is what happens when rates sit at such an extreme (0%!) for such a long spell. The Fed has said they intend to keep rates higher for an extended period of time, so investors should reset their expectations and think of this as the proverbial New Normal, at least for a while.
  • What a recession may mean for your portfolios.
    Volatility experienced in a recessionary market is typically good for actively managed strategies. It allows for what’s referred to as price discovery- where the market price of a stock is lower than what is implied by the fundamentals of the underlying company.  Active managers love to pounce on these opportunities.
  • Typically, asset allocation has a more pronounced impact during and out of a recession.  For example, small & mid cap US stocks tend to do very well and often outpace large caps, coming off the bottom of economic cycles.  Growth, particularly Tech, stocks should have less of an oversized effect. Bonds historically have acted as a stabilize. Hopefully we see this as the Fed nears the end of the hiking cycle.  In the mean time, savings rates are providing a nice return to weather the storm, per se.
  • Focus on your spending- Maintaining your normal spending plan, when funded by distributions from your investments, eats up bigger chunks of your assets when the markets decline.  So adjusting your spending is a great way to improve your investing outcome.Thank you for your continued trust and partnership. 


    Joe Gallemore, CIMA®, Partner

[Market Recap] Cup of Joe: September Market Update

Stock Markets cooled off in August

The August decline seems to be not such a bad thing. Not a good thing, per se, but good in the sense that it may be healthy for the market.  Staving off the proverbial irrational exuberance and keeping expectations in check.

  • The S&P 500 was +20.6% through July 31st.  On pace for a calendar year return of +35.4%. That has happened only 5 times since the Great Depression, and the last time was in 1958. So a year like this would be exceptional.

In our opinion, one good thing about the market repricing in August is that it seemed to happen on its own, it was not caused by any surprise headlines or negative reports.

  • The August cool-off also happened with a very average amount of volatility, average by historical standards.
  • Except for a three-day period right in the middle, the daily moves were mostly in bite sized chunks, which is nice to see.  This is also good for the investing mentality, because it keeps the financial media quiet which prevents either our Fear or FOMO reactions from flashing red.
  • A market moderating itself on its own isn’t always a bad thing because it keeps expectations in check and mitigates the amount of emotional frenzy we experience.

What this August performance could also be signaling is that the Fed is still in the driver’s seat. Market participants were seemingly watching the data roll out and gauging the potential signaling of if-you-give-a-mouse-a-cookie will it end up with the Fed hiking rates more or pausing for a while.

A big positive right now is:

  • Job market has remained strong and the Unemployment rate has remained low.
    Employed workers fuels spending which fuels corporate profits.
    Corporate profits are the main driver of long term stock prices.

Thank you for your continued trust and partnership. 


Joe Gallemore, CIMA®, Partner

OUR PARTNERS IN

SUCCESS

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I'M READY TO CHAT!

PLEASE REACH OUT TO ME.

We'd love to connect with you and work together to build a bridge to your successful financial future.