Finance Monthly M&A Awards Winners Edition

FINANCE MONTHLY M&A AWARDS 2020 31 of the firm’s business and Bud and his team of advisers travel coast to coast to deliver market commentary and investment guidance for companies and their employees. On a philanthropic side, Bud believes that reinvesting in the community where you live is an important aspect to long- term success. To that measure, he believes in investing in the next generation of the community. In 2012, Bud formed the Wentz Family Foundation as a means of making a difference in the lives of children across the country. Over the past decade, the foundation has made donations to various children’s charities with the core principle of enhancing the lives of children and their families. Bud is an avid supporter of the Akron Children’s Hospital Foundation, Foundation with Empowering Citizens with Autism, and the TC Open; an organisation focused on helping children of military families. FIRM PROFILE Bud has been in the business since 1997 and uses a personal portfolio construction process for each and every client recognizing that each clients goals and objectives are unique. The team goes through a five step process with each client which includes the initial meeting to learn everything possible about the clients. From there the team establishes a written plan unique to the individual clients, then match the investment plan to the individual written plan at which point they communicate with the client how the investments will be evaluated on a continuous basis. The evaluation process involves utilizing Blue Print Software, Riskalyze and proprietary software for ongoing monitoring. Finally, Bud and his team share the expectation with their clients to insure the client understands the importance of their partnership with on-going scheduled communication. As independent financial advisers , Wentz Financial Group has the ability to take advantage of open architecture in the construction of their clients’ portfolios. After all, Bud and his team treat each and every client like family and manage every dollar like its their own. Investment management for your lifetime is not just a tag line – it’s what Wentz Financial Group is built on. ABOUT BUD WENTZ Bud began his career in the financial services industry in 1997 and has built his company, Wentz Financial Group, to manage nearly 1 billion dollars in client assets. He employs a team approach to managing money focused on due diligence and extensive research. Wentz Financial Group has an investment analyst on staff and will frequently have conversations with industry professionals to aid in the investment decisions his firm makes. Bud has instilled in his staff an approach of “client first” in every aspect of the business and “attention to detail” in everything that they do. The team at Wentz Financial Group is made up of six other advisers and seven administrative professionals that see to it that clients’ needs are met timely and accurately. The primary headquarters for the business is located in Hudson, Ohio where most of the team is housed. In addition, he acquired a satellite office in Ravenna, Ohio late in 2019; a path that Bud and his team look to continue in the future as another avenue for growing the practice. Bud and his most senior staff eclipse over 80 years of industry experience. Building on that knowledge base, Bud also employs an internship program where he utilises the local universities to give college students the opportunity to learn the industry and gain experience in the workforce. Two of Bud’s tenured staff were part of this internship program back in 2005 when he started it. Bud also engineered an education platform to use in local businesses to help them understand how employer retirement plans work. He found that with many local employers, the 401(k) plan was usually a benefit that had to be offered, but few really took the time to invest in their workforce to help their staff save for retirement. Many employers followed the model of passing out a booklet, that often confused participants and made it difficult for them to understand the benefits that were being presented. This prompted Bud to build his own customised education platform that he used to take the complexities out of the education process and really employ an ‘investments 101’ approach. That education model is now utilised for nearly 60 retirement plans across the country to help tackle the intimidation participants feel when tasked to plan for retirement. Retirement plans make up approximately 30% www.wentzfinancialgroup.com