GAME OF DRONES

Issue 58 Dec / Jan 2014
GAME
OF
DRONES
exclusive interview with
daniel suarez
Fiscal Game Changer
Brokers & Advisors face new rules
Higher 401K Contributions
Is there a savings shortage in America
What is the TPP all About?
Why the Secrecy?
Baby Boomers Lagging on Savings
Half a million dollars short on retirement

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publishers note
ISSUE 58 | DEC / JAN 2014
Publisher
Erwin E. Kantor
Managing Editor
Michael Gordon
Editor in Chief
Helen Moss
Editorial
Robert Jordan
Lisa Walker
Sean Goldstein
Staff Writers
L. A. Rivera
Monica Link
Wendy Connick
David Gordon
Diane Alter
A. Marie Velthuizen
Judy Magness
Maria Esposito
Rich Monetti
Edwin Camacho
Peter Hocstein
John Travis Taylor
Amy Armstrong
Rachel Velazquez
Asst. Art Director
Marienne Hilahan
Illustrators
Shafali R. Anand
Mike Moss
Marketing / Advertising
Monica Link
Sean Rome
For subscription details, contact:
info@thesuitonline.org
For advertising inquiries, contact:
advertising@thesuitmagazine.com
A Drone Economy In America
The drone revolution has finally
entered the American psyche.
In fact, in late-December, the
Federal Aviation Administration revealed
that they have chosen several
sites in a number of states to test unmanned
drones in order to integrate
them into our national airspace. The
climate has certainly changed and
unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones
- will be written by professional journalists,
who offer a fresh perspective
and an objective eye that will give
you a well-rounded look at big topics.
Our reporters L.A. Rivera, Amy
Armstrong and Monica Link have
chronicled a story dubbed, “Year Of
The Drones,” which looks into the future
of drones in America.
Diane Alter covers Baby Boomers
and how they’re behind on Savings
for retirement. Apparently, it looks
like the golden years will have to wait
for scores of Americans. According
to a recent survey by TD Ameritrade,
the average baby boomer is roughly
a half million dollars short on retirement
savings. An estimated 74% of
the survey participants said they’d
be heavily dependent on Social Security.
As a result, the IRS announced
high contributions to 401-k Plans.
She also reports on a Uniform Fiduciary
Standard, eventually imposing
tighter restrictions to broker-dealers
and investment advisors, due to the
2008 financial meltdown.
Travis Taylor reports on the
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
The 12 Trans-Pacific countries —
the United States, Canada, Mexico,
Peru, Chile, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia,
Singapore, Brunei, Australia and
New Zealand — together account for
about 40 percent of the global economy.
The TPP expansion sought
to increase trade and reduce tariffs
in the Asia-Pacific region. But with
each round of negotiations between
a growing list of countries, concerns
about the true nature of this agreement
continue to grow.
In the mean time, 2014 will be an
exciting year for The Suit Magazine.
We celebrate eight years and we have
a full slate of stories for our readers
and special features for our clients.
It feels good to give back to the community
that has given so much to us.
The coming year will bring exciting
times. I wish all our readers a Happy
New Year as we roll into 2014 with a
fresh economic prospective.
Best,
Erwin Kantor
Erwin Kantor, Publisher

CONTENTS
DEC / JAN 2014
16
Issue 58 Dec / Jan 2014
GAME
OF
DRONES
exclusive interview with
daniel suarez
6
Baby Boomers Behind on Savings
BUSINESS / FINANCE
The Age of Cyber-Warfare
Cyber Security Summit
A Women’s Journey
Unjust Dishonorable Discharge
Stress In The Workplace
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
Arctic Seed Vault
Preserving Agricultural Supply
Indeed, according to a recent survey by TD Ameritrade, “Boomers
and Retirement,” the average baby boomer is roughly a half million
dollars short on retirement savings.
FEATURES
7 Higher 401k Contributions
To be sure, there is a savings shortage in
America, despite a bevy of programs aimed
at encouraging stashing money away for retirement.
Fiduciary Standards 8A great debate over fiduciary standards (the
legal duty to act solely in another party’s best
interest) – and their impact on consumers, broker-dealers
and investment advisers –
10 What is the TPP all About?
With sacrifices seemingly outweighing
gains, is the TPP worth the trouble? And
why the secrecy?
13 Lawyers Finding Happiness
Active presence online pays off, thanks to
YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
14 2015 year of the Drones
Over the last several years, the inevitability
of unmanned drones soaring overhead in
the U.S. skies has been a controversial subject
for countless military / Gov. experts
20 Monetta Financial Services, Inc.
From Investment Club to Lipper Fund Award
22 Housing Solutions
Breaking Ground in the Affordable Housing Dilemma
23 Abacus Planning Group
Simplicity Matters
30
Ignite payments and First Data
Consumers Drive Credit Card Needs
24
Customizing a Plan
Guiding investors to financial security
25 Divorce Resource Center of Colorado
Divorce does not have to mean Financial Disaster
26
Integrated Financial Group
An “Anti-Wall Street” Approach to Investing
28
de Visscher and Company, LLC
keeping it all in The Family
30 Adams Hall Wealth Advisors
With Your Goals in Mind
31 Hawkes Wealth Management
A Conservative Approach to Asset Management
32
Balaced Asset Strategies, Ltd.
Lending an Ear to Investors establishing a good relations
33 Business Nerds
Analytical nerdiness gets the job done
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

34 Group 50
Why companies need a strategic consultant
36 Vion Receivable Investments
A Receivables Expert Interested in Consumer
Protection
38 Metroway Properties
Renting Your Way to Home Ownership
38 Maxele Advisors
Maxele advisors promise undivided loyalty to
their clients
39 Capitol Risk Solutions
Cybercriminals Shake Up Insurance Industry
40 Life Certain Wealth Strategies
Valuing Professional Advice
42
Axiom Capital Group
Helping the Underdog Overachieve
43 Synthesis Advisors
Friendship for Successful Investment Advice
43 Oak Creek Insurance Industry
Looking out for the green industry
44 Fieldstone Financial Management
Offering Financial Advice – Not Products Real Financial
46 Newamerican Funding
No Loose Standards Keeps Lending Tidy
47 dsf Group
Experience Pulls Ahead of Competition
48 Cowan Financial Group, Inc.
Invest Only After a Thorough Examination
49 SS&G Wealth Management
Financial planning with honesty
50 Benford Cost Segregation
Tax Savings Realized, Capturing Benefits of
Detailed Engineering Analysis
52
ShorePoint Capital Partners
Singles and Doubles for Rounding the Financial Diamond
54 Engineered Risk Advisory
When You Think You’ve Thought of Everything
55 Fitzgerald Financial Partners
Without a Financial Plan it’s Just Luck It’s Not What You
Make; It’s What You Keep
55
Freshman & McGlynn
Collaborative Divorce: Leaving Families in Control
56 Provenance Wealth Advisors
Helping People Successfully Plan for the Future
57 Partners in Financial Planning
Conscious of Risk Open to Opportunity
58 Financial Recovery Technologies
Capturing Past Security Losses with Attention to Detail
60 Clarendon Capital Management LLC
Investing for Those Under 50
61 Intrepid Capital Funds
A Lone Wolf Among Sheepish Money Managers
62 Cabot Money Management, Inc.
Emphasis on Emerging Markets
64 Compass Capital Management, LLC
Keeping Clients From Unnecessary Risk
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION
Tech Advocate Group
65
Personalized Software Solutions Allowing for Small Companies
to Compete With the Big Wigs
66 NEM Technology
Effective Training Delivery/Cloud Computing IT Business
Whitham Group
67
Renewable Energy, Sustainable Executives
LAW
Collaborative Practice and Mediation Sevc.
68
Walking Couples Through Divorce-o-nomics
69
Grossman & Grossman P.A.
A More Therapeutic Alternative
70
Kaman & Cusimano, LLC
“Communicate, Don’t Litigate” Representing Comm. Ass.
71
Walter Weiss, A Law Corporation
Attorney, Advocate and Bit of a Rebel
72
73
Hall Law Group, PC
Putting the Children First
Emery Law & Mediation, P.A.
Real Estate, Practiced with Conscience
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.5

y diane e. alter
BABY BOOMERS
BEHIND ON SAVINGS
It looks like the golden years will have to wait for scores of Americans
Indeed, according to a recent survey
by TD Ameritrade, “Boomers
and Retirement,” the average
baby boomer is roughly a half
million dollars short on retirement
savings. Moreover, 74% of survey
participants say they need to rely heavily
on Social Security in their retirement
years. That’s a sobering thought,
especially with talks of Social Security
soon becoming insolvent. And, the average
Social Security check is $1,230 a
month – leaving little, if anything, for
emergency expenses.
Because they need more money,
more and more people are delaying
retirement, continuing to work past 65.
Data from the 2010 Census showed the
share of workers 65 and older in the labor
force rose to 16%, up from 12% two
decades earlier.
The National Foundation for Credit
Counseling (NFCC), which assists
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014
people who are having trouble paying
their bills, reports one-third of its 3 million
clients nationwide in 2012 were 55
or older, a 7% increase over two years.
Plus, nearly 15% of those were over 65.
An equally dismal picture comes from
American Consumer Credit Counseling,
which reports 25% of its clients are
55 and older. Unquestionably, a growing
number of seniors are headed into
retirement saddled with debt, running
the gamut from mortgages to credit
card debt to student loan obligations.
Just to make ends meet, they have raided
retirement accounts and exhausted
savings. Blame the dot.com boom and
bust, the real estate bubble and the extended
and elevated unemployment
level for these troubling findings:
• A survey by the Employee
Benefit Research Institute found that
most workers polled said they have no
savings or investments
• 37% of those polled in the 2012
Retirement Confidence Survey said
they believe they will have to wait until
after age 65 to retire
• According to an AARP survey,
34% of older Americans use credit
cards to pay for basic living expenses.
Their average credit card debt is
$8,248, and about half have been called
by debt collectors.
“Economists have many explanations
for what determines savings behavior
and what has caused the U.S.
savings rate to decline beginning in the
1980s, but none of these explanations
receives good support from the actual
numbers,” Steven Pressman, Professor
of Economics at Monmouth University
in Long Branch, NJ, told “The Suit.”
“As for the (money) problems faced
by seniors, there are many explanations
here too,” Pressman continued. “But
the explanations here do considerably

etter. In short, pensions have changed. They are now defined
contributions rather than defined benefit plans. The
economy has changed. The largest fraction of middle-class
savings in the U.S. has been in the form of home equity, and
home prices have declined significantly since 2007. And,
Social Security has changed in two important ways. First,
the age to collect full Social Security benefits was gradually
increased from 65, resulting in lower benefits for those who
retire and begin to collect benefits at age 65. Second, people
can now collect Social Security benefits at age 62, although
they get a lower amount if they collect earlier. Many have
elected to do this.”
In sum, Pressman added, “The three pillars supporting
people in old age are shaky and less reliable today than
they were several decades ago.”
There is no easy fix. Some seniors will take on part-time
job, some will alter retirement goals, and many will do
without. Without question, there is going to be an increased
need for more financial planners and consumer organizations.
The big question facing most baby boomers today
isn’t at what age they will retire, but at what income.
I
R
S
Higher Contributions
To 401(k) Plans
To be sure, there is a savings shortage in America,
despite a bevy of programs aimed at encouraging
stashing money away for retirement.
On Oct. 31, 2103, the Internal Revenue Service
announced cost-of-living adjustments affecting
dollar limit contributions for pension plans and other retirement-related
savings vehicles for tax year 2014.
Participants’ 401(k) contribution limit remains at $17,500,
and the catch-up contribution stays at $5,500, but the annual
defined contribution limit from all sources rises to $52,000
from $51,000. Also increasing is the amount of employee
compensation that can be considered in calculating contributions
to defined contribution plans. The new amount rises
to $260,000 from $255,000.
These increases give participants the potential for getting
a little more a “bang” out of the plan – at least if their employers
want to give them more money, retirement planning
firm Van Iwaarden Associates noted in an online commentary.
The primary benefit of the recent changes is that “individuals
who have very large DB benefits (shareholders in
a professional firm’s cash balance plan) could see a deduction
increase if their benefits were previously constrained
by the [Internal Revenue Service Code Section 415] dollar
limit,” Van Iwaarden wrote.
Also left unchanged is the limit on annual contributions
to an individual retirement account (IRA), which remains at
$5,500. The additional catch-up contribution for those over
50 stays at $1,000. For a Roth IRA, the adjusted gross income
(AGI) phase-out range for taxpayers making contributions
rises to $181,000-$191,000 for married couples filing jointly.
That’s up from $178,000-$188,000 in 2013. For singles and
heads of household, the income phase-out range jumps to
$114,000-$129,000, up from $112,000-$127,000.
Contributing enough to a retirement plan is perhaps the
best way to take control of a financial future. Undeniably,
the more money that is put in a retirement account, the
more there is to help investments grow. For employees of
organizations that match retirement plan contributions, not
contributing enough to get the full match is akin to refusing
extra money for the future. One of the greatest advantages
of increasing contributions is that it’s one of the few
elements an individual can control when it comes to retirement
planning.
There are a number of retirement tax breaks, including
contributing to retirement plans. The IRS wants taxpayers
to take advantage of them, yet many fail to do so. One solution,
according to John Friedman, an assistant professor of
public policy at Harvard’s John
F. Kennedy School of Government,
is to implement an automatic
retirement contribution
policy or default plan. Friedman
believes it would be an effective
way to get people to save more.
And, the monetary impact of
such a policy on the government
would be less than it currently
spends on a wide variety of tax
incentives.
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.7

Uniform Fiduciary Standards Moving Forward
A
great debate over fiduciary standards (the legal
duty to act solely in another party’s best
interest) – and their impact on consumers,
broker-dealers and investment advisers – has
been raging ever since the confidence-shattering
2008 financial meltdown.
In the summer of 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission
fielded suggestions and comments from industry
professionals regarding the possibility of initiating a uniform
fiduciary standard. Wall Street’s regulatory board
was prompted by numerous studies revealing the fact that
a great many retail investors are confused by the different
roles played by investment advisers and brokers. Additionally,
calls from myriad consumer groups for this type of uniform
standard continue to rise.
Both the SEC and the Financial Markets Association, the
main lobbying group for Wall Street firms, oppose such a
recommendation, citing legal headwinds. Such a move aims
to apply to brokers laws written for investment advisers.
The organizations’ endorsement is for brokers – who give
customers recommendations to buy, sell or hold a security
but don’t provide advice – not to be held to a fiduciary duty.
Brokers would only have to comply with the less stringent
standard of investment suitability. Meanwhile, those who
hold themselves out as investment advisers, “based either
on the titles they use or the manner in which they market
their services” should have a fiduciary duty.
The big push for a uniform standard is mainly coming
from investment advisers, who pride themselves on acting
out of duty and loyalty. They claim that, during the process
of executing orders for customers, brokers can actually wind
up providing advice, and thus should be held to the same
strict standards that they themselves follow. Independent
advisers have long worried that their so-called fiduciary
standards could be diminished or diluted by the actions of
brokers. Brokers fear they won’t be able to sell mutual funds
without falling under tougher standards, even when dealing
with customers who merely want to execute an investment
transaction and are not looking for investment advice.
The primary goal, regardless of the outcome, is to prevent
abusive sales practices.
Just before Thanksgiving, the Investment Advisory Committee,
which is advising the SEC on the regulation of securities
products, unanimously voted to recommend that the
SEC set a uniform fiduciary standard for most brokers and
registered investment advisers for acting in the best interest
of their clients whenever they give financial advice. While
the vote doesn’t mean that the SEC will adopt the IAC’s recommendation,
it is a big step in that direction. With Wall
Street’s reputation sorely sullied from the financial crisis,
the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme and the Allen Stanford
scandal, a uniform fiduciary standard would definitely add
some sorely needed improvement to the industry’s image.
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

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y travis taylor
A summit with leaders of the member states of the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP). Pictured, from left,
are Naoto Kan (Japan), Nguyễn Minh Triết (Vietnam), Julia Gillard (Australia), Sebastián Piñera (Chile), Lee Hsien Loong (Singapore),
Barack Obama (United States), John Key (New Zealand), Hassanal Bolkiah (Brunei), Alan García (Peru), and Muhyiddin Yassin (Malaysia).
Six of these leaders represent countries that are currently negotiating to join the group.
What is the Trans-Pacific Partnership All About?
With sacrifices seemingly outweighing gains, is the TPP worth the trouble? And why the secrecy?
In 2010, the Trans-Pacific Partnership
(TPP) began to take shape. An
expansion of the 2005 Trans-Pacific
Strategic Economic Partnership
Agreement, or TPSEP, the TPP expansion
sought to increase trade and reduce
tariffs in the Asia-Pacific region.
But with each round of negotiations
between a growing list of countries,
concerns about the true nature of this
agreement continue to grow.
TPSEP was initially a trade agreement
between Brunei, Chile, New
Zealand and Singapore. It sought to
expand the goals first set forth by
APEC, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation,
which were further economic
growth through trade and investment.
For the TPSEP agreement,
the founding countries were looking
to strengthen friendships between the
countries, create and secure markets
for all of their goods and promote
common frameworks within Asia.In
2008, the United States expressed an
interest in joining the negotiations. By
2010, TPSEP had expanded into the
TPP, today encompassing more than
a dozen countries, including the U.S.,
Mexico, Canada, Japan and Vietnam.
Those countries make up 40 percent of
the world’s economy with a total GDP
of $27.5 trillion.Once the basic idea of
the TPP changed, so did its alleged list
of goals – alleged because all of the negotiations
between the participating
countries are held in secret. The Australian
government recently refused to
give their Senate access to the text of
the deal. The official response from the
Australian government was that the
document would only be made public
after it was signed.
In the U.S., President Obama wants
to push the completed deal through
Congress with only an up or down
vote. An up or down vote forces a bill
past committees who would review it,
through potential legislation designed
to delay or stop it and onto a floor vote.
Members of Congress – 130 of them –
asked the White House for more transparency
on TPP but their request was
denied.
The intention of the TPP was to settle
agreements on trade in competition
policies, intellectual property, and
goods and services. So far, special interest
groups, such as those who pushed
for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)
and the Protect Internet Protocol Act
(PIPA), have been allowed access. Both
SOPA and PIPA sought to give the
federal government the ability to stop
websites with copyright infringement
issues. SOPA was for both foreign and
domestic sites, while PIPA was just
foreign sites. If a site was found to be
in violation, a court could order that
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

it be taken down.
The controversy lay
in fact that the court
could rule without
hearing from the site
or its owner, giving
them no chance to
defend themselves.
From leaked TPP
documents, it appears
that the agreement
somewhat
curtails sovereign independence
to institute
more standardized
global rules. To
put it in perspective,
there is the possibility
that these global
rules could violate
parts of the U.S. Constitution
– and the
U.S. would have no
choice but to follow
suit. Also, leaked sections
of the IP chapter
of the agreement
appear to severely
limit freedom of
speech online.
Several copies of
leaked drafts of these secret negotiations
show that two of the biggest focal
points of the meeting have been about
IP and the environment. Even the
World Wildlife Fund has taken steps
to influence the TPP negotiations. The
group held an event in Washington,
D.C. with other environmental groups.
The goal was to showcase their support
of the U.S. in achieving new measures
for environmental protection.
From the website of the Office of the
United States Trade Representative,
Ambassador Michael Froman said,
“Over the past decades, the United
States has been a pioneer in leveraging
comprehensive trade agreements to
promote and enhance environmental
protection on the ground in our partner
countries. The United States views
the TPP as an opportunity to build on
our existing relationships by targeting
some of most pressing regional environmental
challenges, such as conserving
wildlife and forests, and protecting
our oceans and marine resources.”
The overall secrecy of the TPP along
with the potential agreements from
leaked documents has led to myriad
outcries. One of the loudest has come
from Dean Baker, co-director of the
Center for Economic and Policy Research.
On a recent appearance on
Bill Moyers’ TV program, “Moyers
& Company,” Baker said, “This really
is a deal that’s being negotiated
by corporations for corporations, and
any benefit it provides to the bulk of
the population of this country will be
purely incidental.”
According to Baker, concerning different
parts of the treaty – be it Internet,
drugs or the environment – the industries
themselves are invited to the
negotiations. Instead of environmental
groups, oil and gas companies have
added their thoughts as to what these
new regulations should be.
Of the documents leaked, merely
five of the 29 chapters of the agreement
actually address trade issues. What has
been leaked includes allowing drug
companies to raise the prices of drugs
while at the same time lengthening the
life of patents. By lengthening patents,
the time frame is lengthened before
any type of generic drug can appear on
the market – a direct hit on consumers'
pocketbooks.
“If this were really about trade, we’d
be going, ‘How can we bring [drug]
prices down?’” Baker said on “Moyers
& Company.” “But instead, you have
the drug companies there and they’re
not talking about bringing them down.
They’re talking about how to bring
them up.”
With all of this bad news leaking out,
is there anything good about the TPP?
The Asian Developmental Bank has
estimated that a majority of the participating
countries will see an economic
gain. According to the Office of the
United States Trade Representative,
the U.S. is looking to gain $77 billion
per year in generated income. By 2025,
U.S. exports are expected to reach
$123.5 billion.
Globally, world exports are predicted
to generate $305 billion per year by
2025, as well as $223 billion in what has
been called income benefits.
As with any agreement, there is always
a certain amount of give and
take. But the big question is, does the
TPP take away too much?
Currently in negotiations
Announced interest in joining
Potential future members
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.11

y judy magness
Yes, Virginia, even Lawyers can Find Happiness Online.
Vincent LoTempio, a patent attorney
with the law firm of Kloss,
Stenger and LoTempio based
near Buffalo, New York, received a call
from a gentleman in Alaska interested
in obtaining a patent. LoTempio asked
the caller, “How did you find me?” The
caller laughed and said, “Well, I found
your blog first, then I watched a few of
your videos and a few other things – I
liked you and decided to call.” How
did the phone conversation end? Lo-
Tempio wrote a patent application for
his new client. “Just that one application
paid for a year’s worth of blogging,”
said LoTempio who, in addition
to writing the “LoTempio Law Blog,”
also has a YouTube channel, a Facebook
page and an active presence on Twitter
and LinkedIn.
Since LoTempio is a federally registered
patent attorney, he can work
with clients from anywhere in the U.S.,
which is the reason he includes a tollfree
telephone number on his blog. It
pays off – he receives inquiries from all
over the country. “Without social media,
how would I get calls from almost
every state? My phone isn’t ringing off
the wall, but people are finding me,”
said LoTempio, whose blog is published
by LexBlog, Inc., the premier
blogging network dedicated to the legal
profession. It boasts over 8,000 lawyers
from around the world, including
lawyers from almost half of the 200
largest law firms in the U.S.
Kevin O’Keefe is CEO and publisher
of LexBlog, Inc. He and LoTempio
agree about the power of traditional
word-of-mouth marketing as a valuable
networking tool within the legal
profession. As social media emerged,
however, both saw the potential to
reach people in a way they never could
before.
“Lawyers have always gotten their
best work by virtue of relationships and
their word-of-mouth reputations. The
Internet hasn’t change that, it has accelerated
it!” exclaimed O’Keefe. “Those
lawyers who are wise enough to look at
the computer on their desk and realize
that it is a way to network with everybody
else who has a computer on their
desks or in their pockets, are going to
nurture and build new relationships
and grow their reputations – and grow
their businesses.” He points to Peter
Mahler, a partner with the law firm of
Farrell Fritz who has cultivated a significant
number of new relationships,
and ultimately new clients, through his
blog, “New York Business Divorce” focusing
on business dissolutions in New
York state.
And then there is Staci Riordan, a
partner at Fox Rothschild LLP, who
built a national, if not international,
reputation as a fashion law expert
through her popular “Fashion Law
Blog” in conjunction with a Twitter and
Facebook presence.
O’Keefe’s marketing premise is simple.
He says that you have to go where
the people are and tell them something
useful. “Having influence is invaluable
as a lawyer. If you’re not positioning
yourself as an expert through blogging,
or if you’re not using Twitter or Facebook
– how do you remain relevant
when you’re not going to where the
people are? If you’re not relevant, how
do you build relationships? How do
you get work?” he poses.
Larry Bodine, editor-in-chief of
Lawyers.com, a leading consumer-focused
legal website, reports that law
firms and attorneys are warming up
to social media. In a recent post on his
“LawMarketing Blog” he shared some
statistics from the American Bar Association’s
2013 Technology Survey Report.
There has been a slow but steady
rise in law firms maintaining a social
media presence, from 17% in 2010 to
59% in 2013 and law firms with blogs
rose from 14% to 27%, respectively.
LinkedIn is the clear winner with 98%
of individual attorneys reporting that
they use this professional social media
networking tool. And while celebrities
may use Twitter to post their latest selfie
(a photograph one takes of oneself),
19% of the survey respondents said that
their firms use this dynamic platform, a
6% jump from last year.
On Twitter, O’Keefe positions himself
as an “intelligence agent” for news
in specific areas, and suggests that lawyers
do the same by sharing relevant
information that people find interesting
enough to want to share with other
people. “If you are a trusted source of
news and information on a niche that
relates to what you practice in law,
you are only one inch away from being
hired – or at least one inch from getting
a phone call. So with Twitter, think
about the power of that.”
O’Keefe, whose firm offers turnkey
online marketing services in addition
to providing a blogging platform, predicts
a shift in the mindset of the larger
firms to move towards empowering
and educating partners to build a social
media platform. “Those firms are going
to shine and be the firms that flourish.
They’ll be the firms where people want
to work. They’ll get the lateral hires and
attract young people because they are
empowering the individual.”
LoTempio concluded, “Lawyers are
inherently conservative and loath to try
anything new. But it’s hard to ignore
what everyone else is doing on the Internet
– and it’s not surprising that law
firms want a piece of the social media
pie.”
www.klosslaw.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.13

2015:
Year of the Drones
U.S. Technology Flourishes despite Fears
Reported by L.A. Rivera, Amy Armstrong and Monica Link
Over the last several years, the
inevitability of unmanned
drones soaring overhead
in the U.S. skies has been
a controversial subject for countless
military and governmental experts,
as well as many technology and policy
analysts in this country. In fact, last
February Congress ordered the Federal
Aviation Administration to open up
the skies to drones by September 2015.
But imagine a cluster of metallic
birds hovering everywhere in the U.S.
skies, whizzing across urban cities and
rural areas alike, causing chaos and
alarming the masses. Techno-thriller
writer Daniel Suarez, in his novel “Kill
Decision,” tells the story of a group
of rebels who produce robotic drones
that can recognize enemies and make
the premeditated decision to kill them
without human intervention.
For over two decades, the former IT
consultant said that he designed logistics
systems for major corporations
and the military in the Silicon Valley
and throughout the U.S. Today, Suarez
is close to being a drone expert.
“Drone technology is a technology
whose time has come,” says the former
the tech-head, from his home in California.
“Like most new technologies,
we have to figure out how to incorporate
it into our society without radically
altering society. We have done that
with many things: cell phones, radios,
the Internet and email, and we grappled
with these things.” Suarez continues,
“It’s always complex, but we
still need to adopt these (new) things.
I think corporate systems will be used,
and I think many companies that will
have the most success and receive the
least public resistance will use it internally.
One industry is precision agriculture,
where they will be helping to
maintain crops in very rural places.”
He added, “Where there aren't many
people who will be disturbed by their
presence.”
However, Suarez said that corporate
America has already embraced the
new technology. “I think it will be used
in logistics by many corporations. But I
think internally it will be used in automated
warehouses. Amazon proposed
using drones to deliver packages.” he
explains. “I don’t see that as a realistic
(goal), because I see tremendous complications.
There are liability issues.
For example, a 55-pound drone could
fall on somebody’s head,” he pauses.
“But they will use them in the warehouse
(distribution centers).”
According to Suarez, one problematic
issue surrounding the use of drones
is that the impetus for automated warfare
seems inevitable. “There are a
number of people within the Defense
Department who have a problem with
it,” he added. “Back in November of
last year, the Pentagon said that human
beings must be in the loop when
a lethal decision has to be made with
a drone or with automatic sniper stations.
That’s why I wrote ‘Kill Decision,’
” he remarked.
On the international front, however,
the Middle East continues to be a sorely
troubled spot. In Pakistan, for example,
U.S. assassination drone strikes
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

persist to violate international Pakistani
rule, according to Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif. Pakistan is expected to
present the issue to the United Nation
as a “case of violation of sovereignty.”
Launching a bloodless war by sending
out missions using drones could
inevitably be detrimental to the U.S,
even in the near future, Suarez noted.
“Right now the U.S. has the most
advanced drones,” he said. “ But 70
other nations are developing drones
which can (escalate) cyber-espionage.
That’s because technology has a tendency
of spreading out throughout
modern societies that are data-driven.
Individuals with substantial data trails
can move through society, using cell
phones, telephone records and email.
And it’s these trails that killer drones
would be able to filter, particularly in
autocratic societies. For example, in
dictatorships, they can use these machines
and set them loose (into a society),”
he added.
Suarez said he supports the Campaign
to Stop Killer Robots sponsored
by Human Rights Watch. The organization
calls for a preemptive prohibition
on fully autonomous robotic weapons.
“I think we have to act ahead of time
before these robots are released,” he
said. Some experts predict that these
autonomous weapons could be fully
operational in 20 or 30 years.
Meanwhile, Suarez believes that the
drone revolution is alive and well –
and functioning largely for the good of
mankind.
For example, a “heavy drone-zone”
is flourishing in Alaska. Not only
are they up on the technology, but
the drones have plenty of terrain to
roam. And they’re finding their way
into many aspects of life in Alaska, on
what’s known as “The Last Frontier.”
From mapping shorelines near oil
field exploration to monitoring the
health of sea lion rookeries located on
isolated Aleutian Islands – rocks in the
Gulf of Alaska cropping out of some
of the stormiest water on the planet –
drones play a role in making what is a
big, big place seem just a little bit more
manageable. Alaska comprises 586,000
square miles, dwarfing Texas, the nation’s
second largest state but the most
massive one within the contiguous
states. It’s often joked, in Alaska, that
if Alaska could be cut in half, Texas
would then become the third largest
state – and by a fairly significant margin
at that. Because of its size, rough
terrain, extreme weather conditions
and rural nature, Alaska has always
been an aviation-centric state. A lot of
good pilots notwithstanding, there’s
plenty of territory to cover in Alaska
and drones are taking their place in
making things happen.
At the Geophysical Institute located
at the University of Alaska Fairbanks,
Greg Walker heads up the team comprising
the Alaska Center for Unmanned
Aircraft Systems Integration,
a federal program. Its name has been
associated with mapping glaciers in
Chile, locating ancient burial sites in
Iceland and tracking poachers in South
Africa, by piloting the center’s various
diversified “airplanes” – as Walker
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.15

likes to call them. Within the United
States, those “airplanes” have helped
track wildfire patterns, searched for
missing hikers, identified the size of
the salmon population on Idaho’s
dam-laden Snake River, monitored
dome activity in what is left of the
Mount St. Helens volcano in southern
Washington and demonstrated search
and rescue mapping capabilities in interior
Alaska at temperatures ranging
from lows of minus 20 to minus 30 degrees
Fahrenheit.
His team has nine different platforms
– the more technical term for unmanned
aircraft of various types and
sizes.
Walker's smallest, weighing in at
3 to 5 pounds, is capable of carrying
a highly-sensitive camera into some
tight spots. One of the most important
of these is the North Slope oil field operations,
where thousands of miles of
intricate pipes contains oil before being
piped more than 800 miles across the
state’s wilderness to the port of Valdez,
where it is shipped to lower 48 refineries.
Even the smallest of leaks is costly,
as British Petroleum painfully learned
in March 2006, when a dime-sized hole
leaking for five days spilled 212,252
gallons of crude oil on 1.9 acres. This
cost BP $66 million between the $20
million fine under the U.S. Clean Water
Act, a $25 million civil penalty to the
state of Alaska and reimbursements to
other oil producers for the time period
the pipeline was shut down.
“A little leak – and it was a little leak
in terms of the size of the hole – can
cause a lot of environmental damage,”
Walker said. In 2006, humans on the
ground checked pipeline integrity.
Today, drones are being tested and
demonstrated for the task.
Other applications include flying
drones at ten feet above sea ice – far
closer than even the most sophisticated
traditional airplane can safely manage
– to track how much solar radiation the
ice is absorbing, as well as measuring
the depth of ice. That second parameter
has major financial implications for
transportation as increases in cross-polar
shipping traveling via the Arctic
Ocean between Asian and European
ports includes icebreakers shepherding
large cargo ships through treacherous
conditions.
If drones can prove successful in
measuring sea ice depth ahead of the
ice breakers, capable of directing them
to areas with thinner ice, the savings
in the cost of fuel alone will make this
northern shipping lane even more viable
and its reach global. Using drones
could also save human lives. Three
Canadian Coast Guardsmen died in
Sept. 2013 from exposure after their
helicopter crashed in McClure Strait
in the Canadian Arctic Ocean while
monitoring ice depth for a Canadian
icebreaker.
For now, Walker’s program is focused
on developing unmanned
aircraft that can perform civilian or
commercial-oriented tasks. It’s challenging,
as each type of terrain; each
weather condition has its own specifications.
“Initially, these aircraft were built
for military surveillance in the desert
in the Middle East,” Walker said.
“Something that was designed to basically
be a glider in the desert isn’t
going to work in other environments
such as we have here in Alaska and
other parts of the world. So we have
to find ways to adapt the technology.”
In fact, the UAF program was
named as one of six national test sites
by the Federal Aviation Administration
on Dec. 30, 2013 as part of the
administration’s effort toward its current
stated goal of allowing commercial
unmanned aircraft in the nation’s
airspace by 2015.
Actually, small and large drones
have been used for years to aid top-secret
military missions, but today small
business owners are also finding new
ways to use drones – small flying
remote-controlled objects that are
equipped with cameras – to shoot aerial
photos and videos.
***
In fact, in the city of Detroit an innovative
entrepreneur is already
making his mark, using his version
of drone technology to aid police and
fire departments in financially cashstrapped
municipalities. Harry Arnold,
founder of Detroit Drone, has
always loved flying radio-controlled
airplanes. As a young boy, it was one
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

of his favorite hobbies. Detroit Drone
allows Arnold to combine his love for
flying model airplanes with his love for
photography.
“I've always wanted to get involved
with technology that would help get
cool camera shots,” Arnold said. “I like
working with drones because the shots
are unique. The pictures the drones
take are not the same as a traditional
camera. They are very different.”
Arnold is developing a program that
would allow first responders to deploy
drones to an emergency situation prior
to their arrival. “Firefighters would
be able to see footage and know how
a fire is burning before arriving on the
scene,” Arnold said.
Arnold is a part of a growing trend
among small and large business owners
using drone technology to take aerial
photos from high above building
rooftops. Drone flights last between
four and five minutes and have the ability
to capture high resolution shots to
be used for research and development.
The technology in small drones has
been rapidly growing. Small drones
that use GPS technology to find locations
are currently being developed. In
a recent interview with CBS “60 minutes,”
Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com,
said that the company is researching
ways to implement drone technology
to fly packages weighing five pounds
or less from its fulfillment centers to
customer homes. The drones Amazon
proposes using would have a flying
range of 10 miles or less, requiring permission
from the FAA.
The U.S. military is also looking at
ways to expand its hefty lead in deploying
drone technology. Some of the
latest developments include electric
and fuel powered versions of drones
that can be used for defense purposes.
While some larger businesses can offer
the use of drone technology, small business
owners or struggling municipalities
can't afford to pay the cost of using
it. Harry Arnold is launching a $20,000
crowd funding campaign in 2014 to
fund more equipment so he can lease
his drones to the city of Detroit and
to small businesses, who wish to use
drones for other research purposes.
“Big companies who provide drone
service can cost up to $100,000.” Arnold
said. “People should support an independent
effort to help first responders.
As an independent business I can make
drones much more affordable. These
drones are something that
can help Detroit since they
are going through financial
problems.” As for the future
of drone technology,
Arnold agrees with Amazon
CEO Bezos.
“In the next five to 10
years, I see the use of drones
expanding.” Arnold said.
“I wouldn't be surprised if
mail will start being delivered
by drones.”
***
Meanwhile, thousands of civilian
drones are expected to
crowd the U.S. skies within a
few years, raising much concern that
they can be used for corporate spying.
“It’s not difficult to create essentially
a flying hacking platform,” Suarez
argues. “I saw one installed in an old
gunnery drone from the 1980s, which
was used in the military. They were
able to put in a 4-5 pound tracking system
and use it to intercept cell phones.
And when the drone was done. It was
able to fly away,” he added: “Basically,
eliminating the evidence.”
Jay Stanley, a Policy Analyst for
the American Civil Liberties Union
(ACLU), said that the stirring controversy
surrounding drones and the issue
of privacy has been hotly debated
amongst lawmakers, policy analysts
and law enforcement officials. “Our
biggest concern is that drones potentially
might be used in mass surveillance
and could track an entire city,”
Stanley explains. “We want to ensure
that we adopt privacy regulations, so
privacy invasions don’t happen.”
Now the drone revolution has landed
squarely in middle America. In a small
rural town in Colorado’s Eastern Plains,
Mayor Frank Fields has declared war
on drones. The town of Deer Trail plans
to pass an ordinance in April 2014 to
begin issuing drone-hunting licenses.
“The ordinance was to prohibit drones
in our airspace and in the town limits,”
Fields said. “It was more of a novelty
to generate a little money for a community
center,” he added. “People in our
town are leery. So it kind of opened up
people's eyes to drones.”
If the mayor of Deer Trail spots a
cluster of drones airborne in the sky
will he shoot to kill? “No, because I
haven’t bought my license yet,” he says
with sly chuckle.
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.17

Excerpt of “Influx” by Daniel Suarez
Reprinted by arrangement with DUTTON, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, A Penguin Random
House Company. Copyright © Daniel Suarez, 2014.
In addition to his book “Kill Decision,” about drones, Suarez is also the author of “Daemon,” “Freedom,” and
the upcoming tale, “Influx,” which will be released on February 20, 2014.
His new opus chronicles particle physicist Jon Grady and his team. Together, they create a device that can reflect
gravity. Their research will revolutionize the field of physics – the crowning achievement for Grady and
his crackerjack team. Now Grady expects widespread acclaim and perhaps even the Nobel Prize. Instead, his
lab is locked down by a shadowy organization.
Here is a brief excerpt from “Influx”:
The man motioned for his visitor to come forward. “Mr.
Grady, it’s good to finally meet you. I’ve read so much
about your life and work. I feel I know you. Please, sit.
Can we get you anything?”
Jon Grady still stood twenty feet away. “Uh. I’m…I’m
just trying to understand what’s going on.”
The man nodded. “It can be disorienting, I know.”
“Who…who are you again? Why am I here?”
“My name is Graham Hedrick. I’m the director of the
Federal Bureau of Technology Control. I must congratulate
you, Jon – may I call you Jon?”
Grady nodded absently. “Sure. I …hold it. The Federal
Bureau of what now?”
“The Federal Bureau of Technology Control. We’ve been
monitoring your work with great interest. Anti-gravity.
Now that is a tremendous achievement. One might
say a singular achievement. Likely the most important
innovation of modern times. You have every reason to be
proud.”
A male voice spoke just to his right, startling him. “Your
water, Mr. Grady.”
Grady turned to see a humanoid robot standing next to
him – a graceful creature with soft, rubber coated fingers
whose body was clad in a carapace of white plastic. Its
face consisted only of beautiful tourmaline eyes, glowing
softly. Looking at him expectantly.
Grady glanced down to see a glass of water in its hand.
“Uh…” He gingerly accepted the water and held it with
increasing numbness.
Hedrick watched him closely. “You really should sit
down, Jon. You don’t look well.”
Grady nodded and moved toward a chair in front of the
great desk. “What the hell is this place?”
“I told you, Jon. This is the Bureau of Technology Control—the
BTC. We’re the federal agency charged with
monitoring promising technologies, foreign and domestic;
assessing their social, political, environmental, and economic
impacts with the goal of preserving social order.”
“Preserving social order.”
“We regulate innovation. Because, in fact, humanity is
far more technologically advanced than you know. It’s
human nature that remains in the Dark Ages. The BTC is a
safeguard against humanity’s worst impulses.”
Hedrick continued, “Mankind was on the moon in the
1960’s, Jon. That was half a century ago. Nuclear power.
The transistor. The laser. All existed even back then. Do
you really think the pinnacle of innovation since that time
is Facebook? In some ways, what the previous generation
accomplished is more impressive than what we do now.
They designed the Saturn V rocket with slide rules. That
they could make it work at all. So many parts. So many
points of failure. They were the great ones. We’re just
standing on their shoulders.”
Grady turned forward again. “What does any of this have
to do with me? Why am I here?”
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

y judy magness
From Investment Club
to Lipper Fund Award
Robert S. Bacarella reminisced
about the investment club he
started in 1979. “We were five
guys in a basement and we each put
in $250,” he said. “We named the club
‘Monetta,’ which is a take-off on the
Latin word for money, ‘moneta.’”
The five club members asked friends
and relatives to invest, too, and before
long there were over 100 people.
“When you have family money, you
have to do well – or you know what
happens,” quipped Bacarella. So the
“fab five” decided to form a limited
partnership that was the basis for
starting a mutual fund. “We started
the process in 1984 and by 1986,
we launched the Monetta Fund. This
eventually led to the establishment
of the Young Investor Fund, and one
other mutual fund we have today.”
The other fund that Bacarella references,
is the Orion/Monetta Intermediate
Bond Fund. Together, along
with the flagship Monetta Fund and
the award-winning Young Investor
Fund, they comprise the Monetta
Family of Mutual Funds managed by
Monetta Financial Services, Inc. Together,
along with the flagship Monetta
Fund and the award-winning
Young Investor Fund, they comprise
the Monetta Family of Mutual Funds
managed by Monetta Financial Services,
Inc.
Monetta’s equity investment strategy
is to identify and invest early on
in growth companies, while following
changing investor sentiment and
market trends. Their fixed-income
strategy seeks high current income
and preserves capital, primarily
through investment quality bonds.
The family of funds offer diversified
investment opportunities, low minimum
investments*, retirement accounts
and investing programs for
children.
“We are money managers – we are
not investment advisors or financial
planners,” said Bacarella, who was
well prepared to lead Monetta Financial
Services as the firm’s chief executive
officer. After college, he worked
in the treasury department of a Fortune
500 company responsible for
investing excess cash, commercial paper
and treasuries. As he moved up
in rank, he oversaw more than one
billion dollars in assets, handled by
several pension fund managers within
the company.
Monetta’s mission is to assist shareholders
in reaching the financial goals
they set for themselves and their families.
They do this by creating a range
of investment products and striving
to generate above-average performance
results by using an active
team-managed investment approach.
The Young Investor Fund, which invests
approximately 50% of its assets
in exchange traded funds (“ETF’s”)
and other funds that track the S&P
500 Index, seeks to control risk relative
to the market through the Index
weightings.
“In all the different approaches
I’ve tried throughout my career, I am
most comfortable with this. I feel I can
control and minimize risk relative to
the market with this innovative passive
and active approach,” Bacarella
said. “I have my kids, grandkids and
other family members in it and I’m
excited about the fund’s long-term
prospects.” And there is good reason
to be excited about it. The Young
Investor Fund was the recipient of
the 2013 Lipper Fund Award for the
best Multi-Cap Core Fund based on
consistent risk-adjusted performance
among 214 funds over a five-year period,
ending November 30, 2012.
Bacarella not only derives professional
satisfaction from being fund
manager of the Young Investor Fund,
but also personal fulfillment, in fact in
2008 his son Robert J. Bacarella joined
the firm. The fund exemplifies his belief
in a family approach to investing
and in the importance of promoting
investment education at a very early
age. “We have a whole program on
financial literacy and education for
children to open their minds to the
concept of investing,” Bacarella said.
“We know that children are technology
savvy, so we connect with them on
our website by providing a page that
features numerous games and activi-
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

ties to educate them about money and investing. They also
receive an entertaining quarterly newsletter to fill out. They
learn something – that’s the whole idea.”
“This emphasis on families and kids is important to us,”
said Bacarella. “We reach out to investors and families to
help them understand how money should be managed and
we help people develop the life skills that they will need to
do well over time.” Promoting financial literacy is so important
to Bacarella and his Illinois-based firm, that he authored
a 24-chapter investment workbook that is currently
given to Monetta fund investors and their children, and is
also being used in some Chicago area high schools to teach
students basic investment concepts.
Helping families start early to invest for a child’s college
education is also a part of the Monetta mission. They created
a gift registry for the children of their investors. After
parents enroll their children in the registry, then family
members can contribute to that account for the child’s college
education with a debit or credit card.
Monetta Family of Mutual Funds
1776-A S. Naperville Rd., Suite 100
Wheaton, IL 60189
1-800-MONETTA
Phone: 630.462.9800
www.monetta.com
Monetta Financial Services, Inc. paid to have this article
produced.
* An account may be opened with a minimum deposit
of $100 and a monthly automatic investment
plan deposit of at least $25, or with a $1,000 deposit.
An Automatic Investment Plan does not assure, and
does not protect against, a loss in declining markets.
Such a plan involves continuous investment in securities
regardless of fluctuating price levels and investors
should consider their financial ability to continue
purchases through periods of low price levels.
The fund’s investment objectives, risks,
charges and expenses must be considered
carefully before investing. The summary
and statutory prospectuses contains this
and other important information about
the investment company, and may be obtained
by calling 1-866-964-4683, or visiting
www.younginvestorfund.com. Read it
carefully before investing.
All investments, including mutual funds, have risks
and principal loss is possible. Mid-sized companies
and mid-cap stocks may be more volatile than
large-cap stocks. The Funds may invest in foreign
securities which tend to be more volatile and less
liquid than investments in U.S. securities and may
lose value because of adverse political, social, or
economic developments overseas. In addition, foreign
investments may be subject to regulatory and
accounting standards that differ from those of the
U.S. The Funds may make short-term investments,
without limitation, for defensive purposes, which
investments may provide lower returns than other
types of investments.
The Monetta Young Investor Fund invests approximately
50% of its assets in exchange traded funds
(ETF’s) or other funds that track the S&P 500 Index.
The cost of investing in the shares of ETF’s will generally
be lower than investing in other mutual funds
that track an index, which will be subject to certain
risks which are unique to tracking the Index. However,
if the Fund invests in other mutual funds that
track an index, your cost of investing will generally
be higher.
The S&P 500 Index is a broad based unmanaged index
of 500 stocks, which is widely recognized as representative
of the equity market in general. Since indices
are unmanaged, it is not possible to invest in them.
A Lipper Fund Award is awarded to one fund in each
Lipper classification for achieving the strongest trend
of consistent risk-adjusted performance against its
classification peers over a three, five or ten-year
period. Although Lipper makes reasonable efforts
to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data
contained herein, the accuracy is not guaranteed by
Lipper. Users acknowledge that they have not relied
upon any warranty, condition, guarantee, or representation
made by Lipper. Any use of the data for
analyzing, managing, or trading financial instruments
is at the user`s own risk. This is not an offer to buy or
sell securities. Lipper Analytical Services, Inc. is an independent
mutual fund research and rating service.
The Lipper Fund Awards are part of the Thomson Reuters
Awards for Excellence, a global family of awards
that celebrate exceptional performance throughout
the professional investment community. The
Thomson Reuters Awards for Excellence recognize
the world’s top funds, fund management firms, sellside
firms, research analysts, and investor relations
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also include the Extel Survey Awards, the StarMine
Analyst Awards, and the StarMine Broker Rankings.
For more information, please contact markets.
awards@thomsonreuters.com or visit excellence.
thomsonreuters.com.
Opinions expressed are subject to change, are not
guaranteed and should not be considered recommendations
to buy or sell any security.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Distributed by Quasar Distributors, LLC.
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.21

y diane e. alter
CREATING SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITIES
Breaking Ground in the Affordable Housing Dilemma
Housing costs vary greatly across the United States,
but a serious lack of affordable housing affects
low-income and low-wage workers in every corner
of the country. According to the National Housing Trust
Fund, in order to close the gap between the swollen demand
for affordable housing and the limited supply, the U.S.
would need to add 4.5 million units affordable to extremely
low income households.
At first blush, that sounds like a daunting task. But, “with
funding and creativity, anything is possible,” Thomas E.
Nutt-Powell, owner of Capital Needs Unlimited, told “The
Suit.”
also directed the Manufactured Housing Research Program
of the Harvard-MIT Joint Center for Urban Studies. In addition,
Nutt-Powell has worked with agencies in some of the
country’s most devastated housing markets including Detroit,
Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington,
DC, Boston, Phoenix and East St. Louis.
Nutt-Powell explained, “I like providing practical and
sustainable solutions today for tomorrow’s pressing housing
needs. The key is to get the community to work together
to support quality, healthy neighborhoods with a range of
housing options so that families of all income levels have
an opportunity to thrive. But our job doesn’t stop there.
Based in Brookline, MA, Capital Needs Unlimited is a
consortium of national planning and development experts
dedicated to providing fully-integrated long-term community
solutions. Working hand-in-hand with clients, Capital
Needs Unlimited assists in the areas of community development,
housing and community transformation, leveraged
financing, mixed income communities, capital needs assessment
and asset management.
The highly specialized and acclaimed Nutt-Powell is a nationally
renowned planning professional with nearly three
decades of experience in the public, assisted and conventional
housing markets. Nutt-Powell has served on the faculty
of MIT’s prestigious School of Architecture and Planning,
where he headed the Master in City Planning program. He
Also important is to help people transition from renters to
home-owners. Many have no idea how to handle things like
a dripping faucet or running toilet.”
With so much left to do and so many ideas still to share,
the accomplished Nutt-Powell, says his greatest success is
yet to come.
We all have to live somewhere. Thanks to Nutt-Powell,
scores of people now actually do have somewhere nice to
live that they can afford.
www.housing-solutions.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

y rachel velazquez
Be not afraid of
growing slowly,
be afraid only of
standing still
- Chinese Proverb
Simplicity Matters
It’s easy to hear a smile in the tone
of Cheryl R. Holland’s voice. In it,
you get a sense of the enthusiasm
and dedication the dynamic founder
of Abacus Planning Group has when
it comes to guiding the financial futures
of her clients.
“We don’t feel like we have to be
a certain way or say a certain thing
to be successful. It’s all about doing
a great job in the simplest and most
effective manner, being technically
talented but, above all, being a good
human being – it counts for a lot in
this industry,” expressed the certified
financial planner, who launched
her business some fifteen years ago.
Headquartered in Columbia,
South Carolina, Abacus began with a
handful of clients. Early in her career,
Holland learned that with financial
planning and investment advice, she
could “create more wealth when you
marry the two.” Gradually the firm
took shape via referrals, her varied
volunteer work connections and
through her network of CPAs and
lawyers who were so pleased with her
work that they became clients as well.
While the economic climate appears
to be in a slow motion turnaround,
Holland believes a healthy dose of
skepticism still exists. “People want
to put together a customized holistic
portfolio using as many tools as possible.
My job as an adviser is to understand
my client’s risk tolerance, risk
capacity, how much risk can they really
afford to take and then mitigate that
risk perception,” she stated.
Today, Holland says that she and
her team welcome clients who may
have some complexity in their financial
situation. Via their expertise, she
feels they can add significant value.
Listening and guiding aren’t just two
of the category sections on the home
page of the company website. These
words exemplify the corporate culture
by which they choose to define themselves.
By helping their clients envision
financial planning as a transformational
process that can help them
live their lives more fully, Holland
and her team enable clients to move
forward and become more connected
with the world around them.
“If you are proactive and plan (your
financial portfolio) well, then when
life’s inevitable roller-coaster comes
along, whether they are exogenous
or endogenous to your system, you
can weather anything. Our job is to
be there, be present, be authentic and
listen,” Holland explained.
Being transparent and keeping the
lines of communication open among
clients and advisers is critical. Holland
and her team provide clients
with a two-page summary which includes
performance metrics, benchmarks
and more. “It’s very visual,
very easy to understand and this is
one of the ways where I think the
simpler you can keep it, the easier
it is for people to stay on track. The
more you can automate their savings,
withdrawals – all those things make a
difference, because simplicity matters
in our business.
2500 Devine Street
Columbia, SC 29205-2400
www.abacusplanninggroup.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.23

Consumers Drive Credit Card Needs
By The Suit Staff
John Gagne’ looks forward to the day when he might find
himself walking down the street, weighing his options
for that day’s lunch after having passed by a sandwich
shop that he checked out on his mobile phone. Within a minute
or so, the sandwich shop texts him an enticing message
offering a free smoothie should he opt to retrace his steps
and purchase lunch at that establishment.
It is software technology that Gagne’ said is envisioned
by First Data and Ignite Payments as part of a continuing
move toward more consumer-driven commerce. Facilitated
by mobile phones, consumers will have the option of registering
their credit card information online and then storing
that data in a virtual wallet on their mobile phones so they
can spend money without carrying cash or plastic.
“Consumers want it all,” Gagne’ said of this trend which is
quickly gaining its share in the marketplace.
It is part of a broader trend bringing fast-paced changes to
the credit card processing industry. Gagne’ has been a significant
player in that industry for the past 22 years, operating
under the name First Data Independent Sales Atlantic.
That name will be switched to Ignite Payments Atlantic in
January 2014.
Gagne’ had an unusual start. He owned an exotic pet store
but sold it after just a couple of years. In 1985, the man who
set up the pet store’s credit card processing then offered
Gagne’ a job in that industry. After working with a couple
of different companies, in 1992 he connected with Cardservice
International,
which was purchased
by First Data 11 years
later.
Since then, Gagne’
has watched the industry
change from simply processing
a credit card held by the consumer,
to the use of digital coupons
where the credit card numbers are tied
to the
online offer, and redemption of the coupon is done at the
point of sale. This capability and many like it that help drive
and reward customers at the point of sale is facilitated thru
a First Data program called Offerwise and is one of many
programs Gagne’s company offers to merchants to help
grow their business.
“Since the consumer drives the market, the merchant who
offers online discounts to bring in new customers and rewards
to keep them coming back will accomplish two important
goals in running a business; Retention and Growth.”
Gagne’ sums it up by stating, “Anyone can offer a low rate
on a merchant account. If we can help a business increase
sales and retention, it will have the same effect on my business.”
www.fdisatlantic.com
Women view
money differently
than men
We view money as a necessary means to an end – a way
to provide for our life-long needs.
We don’t approach investing as a competition. Instead,
we recognize its role in helping us reach our long-term
goals – like caring for our aging parents and improving
the lives of those we love. For us, planning our financial
future is about feeling stable and secure, today and long
into the future.
At Adams Hall Wealth Advisors, we understand. In fact, our depth of
experience in the customized management of investment portfolios
and attentiveness to our clients’ individual needs has resulted in a
98% client retention rate.
Put simply, our experienced wealth professionals focus on ensuring
your financial peace of mind. So you can sleep better at night.
Suzanne Wheeler, CFP ® , AIF ® , Senior Vice President,
Co-Founder, Specializes in helping women transition
to financial independence
Jana Shoulders, Co-founder and Chief Executive
Officer, Named a 2013 Top 10 Women RIA Owner by
WealthManagement.com
4200 E. Skelly Drive, Suite 950, Tulsa, OK 74135 | 918-665-2446 www.adamshall.com

y a. marie velthuizen
DIVORCE DOES NOT HAVE TO MEAN
Financial Disaster
Making financial
decisions
in the
midst of distress is a
move that financial
advisers tend to discourage.
Yet, when
the divorce process
takes over your life,
your days are full of distress even
when there are still plenty of financial
decisions to be made. The two don’t
make good bedfellows, yet somehow
each has to be satisfied for the divorce
process to end.
Enter Deb Johnson, a trained mediator
and certified divorce financial
analyst, who is part of a burgeoning
new career field assisting potential divorcees
in ways most attorneys cannot.
She owns the Divorce Resource Center
of Colorado, located in Littleton.
“At the time of divorce, clients are
often filled with fear of the unknown,
yet required to make major financial
decisions that will impact them and
their families for the rest of their lives,”
Johnson said. She knows this is true
from personal experience gained when
going through her own divorce. “I
don’t give legal advice; that is for each
client’s attorney to handle. What I do
is analyze their finances to determine
what the short and long term financial
impacts of various divorce settlement
options will be.”
Instead of the process being an overwhelmingly
draining experience, in
Johnson’s mind, divorce can include
personal empowerment and preparation
for what lies beyond that final decree.
“I offer a process that leads clients
through the financial complexities of
the divorce step-by-step, so they feel
educated,” Johnson said. This includes
analyzing the marital estate for assets
and liabilities, determining the value
of any retirement plans, stocks, bonds,
pension plans, and stock options. Johnson
forecasts the long-term impacts of
these decisions to give her clients an estimate
of future income in order to set
up a spending plan. It includes giving
her clients financial recommendations
that prove useful for their attorneys in
the legal process.
She launched the firm in 2008, after
20 years as a wealth adviser. At that
time, her clients came – divorce settlements
in hand – asking her to make
investments to provide them with a secure
financial future. What she found
in those settlements, however, was unsettling.
“In some cases, it was clear they did
not understand what they had agreed
to. What appeared to be equitable at
the time of divorce was in fact not at all
equitable as time marched on,” Johnson
said. “It occurred to me that there
was such a huge need.”
Yet, despite the clear need, Johnson
struggled in getting those first “divorce”
clients. She tried contacting attorneys
– offering her financial analysis
services – but most considered her a
competitor rather than a support. She
hit pay dirt by making a presentation
at a mental health conference. Last
year, she worked on 66 divorces in addition
to her other financial planning
and wealth management.
In 2014, Johnson wants to offer mediation
services for family disputes – especially
in the area of elder care.
“When it is time to move Mom and
Dad to an assisted living facility, this is
tough,” Johnson said. “I would like to
help family members communicate in
a positive way, where the older people
are feeling empowered as well in this
decision and not feeling as if it was just
made on their behalf.”
For now, she continues working
with those seeking financial assistance
during divorce. The clients Johnson can
help the most are the ones that come to
her before official divorce proceedings
have begun.
“I can spend time educating them
on the various ways to get divorced in
Colorado and also looking at how this
will financially impact them,” she said.
“They are often much better prepared.”
www.DRCofColorado.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.25

y diane e. alter
An “Anti-Wall Street” Approach to Investing
Unbiased Financial Recommendations and Customized Strategies
As Integrated Financial Group
approaches its 10th anniversary,
this thriving Atlanta,
GA-headquartered firm continues to
be passionate about – and highly focused
on – client service. “We take our
role as trusted advisers very seriously.
nancial planning groups. Integrated
Financial Group’s practice is based
on the premise that many minds are
greater than one. When it’s in a client’s
best interest, the firm consults
its diverse team of highly experienced
professionals within its association for
their expertise, perspective and unbiased
input.
“We make objective, conflict free
recommendations for products that
match a client’s unique financial needs.
From there we construct a blueprint
for a sustainable income for life. A long
term vision and plan helps clients overcome
day-to-day market gyrations and
jitters that plague an uncertain economy.
We remain focused on a client’s
financial vision, not on Wall Street’s.
We can’t predict the future, but we are
very adept at planning for it,” Patrick
shared.
To be sure, this is not the time to
be passive about investing. The dot.
We understand that performance is the
key measure of our success. In that regard,
we are highly selective when it
comes to our employees. You see, we
are trusted leaders for our clients and
their hard-earned money,” managing
director Donald Patrick told “The
Suit.”
The aim at Integrated Financial is to
take the mystery out of growing and
protecting each client’s assets. The
approach taken is a customized, comprehensive
financial plan focused on
lifetime goals and visions. Explanations
and strategy choices are clear and
concise. Guidance is geared around pioneering
thinking and tactics. “We use
an academic approach to investing,”
Patrick explained. “It’s a free factor
model (a financial model employing
multiple factors in its computations)
and it’s kind of an anti-Wall Street
methodology. It has served us and our
vast client base very well.”
The firm, along with its consortium
of over 40 committed independently-owned
investment financial firms
peppered across seven states, is one
of the nation’s largest independent fi-
www.integrated-financial-group.com
com boom and bust, the housing bubble
and the Great Recession have all
taught us to recognize both risks and
rewards. In order to achieve the best
outcomes and better risk controls, investors
must have a financial plan.
“Studies show the majority of Americans
don’t have a financial plan,” Patrick
said. “That’s just crazy. You have
to have a disciplined and sound plan
in place. Working with an experienced
financial planner is key. That’s the best
professional advice you’ll ever get.”
In sum, Patrick borrows a line from
the immortal Yogi Berra, “If you don’t
know where you’re going, you’ll end
up somewhere else.”
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

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y amy armstrong
keeping it all
in the family
He’s well aware that only ten percent of all
family-owned businesses survive through
to the third generation. Changing that trend
– upping that statistic – is a big part of what motivates
Francois de Visscher in his work as the president
of de Visscher and Company, LLC, a financial
consulting and advisory firm specializing in the
needs of family-owned businesses.
Although de Visscher’s firm is based in Greenwich,
Connecticut, its services reach not only across
the continental United States, but also around the
world. He has advised members of more than 300
different family-owned businesses in Europe, Asia,
the Middle East, Latin America and just recently,
Australia. A man on a mission, de Visscher’s
work assists the owners of family businesses in doing
what is often rather challenging – keeping the
bottom line profitable while honoring the family’s
unique dynamics – and holding the inevitable conflicts
arising from such close-knit business relationships
to a minimum.
That takes funding sources and training, and de
Visscher is the man who can provide it.
“The core of our activities is being able to bring
them the right sources of capital to help them do
whatever they want to do with their business,” de
Visscher said. His next order of business most certainly
runs a very close second to the first. He knows
that family-owned businesses are ripe ground for
those familial conflicts that can destroy a business
and its credibility as well as profitability.
And de Visscher knows exactly what he is
talking about. More importantly, he has
learned how to avoid many of these pitfalls,
especially as a director and shareholder
of the fourth generation of his
family’s business, based in Belgium. In
1880, his great-grandfather established
N.V. Bekaert S.A. – a firm today that has
annual sales totaling more than $6 billion
and has a presence in more than 100 countries
through its manufacturing of steel
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

“
We understand the many challenges facing family
companies and their owners because we deal with those
issues everyday as advisors and as owners.”
- François de Visscher
wire and related products.
His passion for the family-owned business
grew during his tenure as an investment banker
working for Smith Barney in the mid-1980s.
Working with household names such as Smuckers
and Marriott – both family-owned businesses – de
Visscher gleaned significant knowledge from monitoring
and guiding their success. After four years, he
wanted to get out of Wall Street, where the pressurized
sale of products dominated the advising of any business,
let alone family-run businesses and de Visscher
hung out his own family business shingle. He wanted
to be independent and wanted the financial advice he
gave to families to be provided on a totally unbiased
basis as to its outcome.
Since then, de Visscher has watched family-owned
businesses grow through fostering an increased professionalism
via a variety of training institutes, including
the Business Growth Alliance and the Family Business
Network. Positive changes he has seen include a trend
toward an earlier identification of the heir apparent or
successor to the top leadership within the family business
structure.
“Everybody knows there will be a successor,” he
notes. “Identifying that individual earlier on creates
more stability for the family business.”
Now that people are living longer, de Visscher noted
that it’s not uncommon to have three or four generations
directly involved in the running of a family business
at the same time. The older generations tend to be
more protective of assets and want to shelter wealth,
while the younger generations tend to be more aggressive
and willing to take risks.
“It can create conflict,” de Visscher said.
That is where an adviser such as himself comes into
play. He works with all of the family members, educating
them on how their decisions can have long-term
effects on the continued sustainability of the company.
Sometimes that means advising younger family members
to ease up and sometimes that means suggesting
older members evaluate exactly how much risk is tolerable
for maintaining their retirement needs while
making ample provision for the company to grow. He
asks all parties involved to take an honest look at what
the goals of any family business should be, asking them
the hard questions about their business, such as: how to
grow the business; how to make a return to shareholders;
and how to do both of these while developing the
professionalism of the family within the business and
enhancing the family’s cohesion as a social structure.
Yet even de Visscher believes that his advice alone
won’t always solve everything. That’s why in 2012 he
created a program in which family-owned businesses
seeking investment opportunities can invest directly in
other family-owned businesses. His program not only
provides needed infusions of cash but also know-how
and advice that can pass between the two entities.
“It really is a partnership between two families, aimed
at supporting each other for the long haul,” he said.
This concern fits right into de Visscher’s business
plan: helping as many family businesses as he can pass
operations on to the third, fourth and – dare he dream
– on to the fifth and sixth generations.
“I think my greatest success has been to help so many
family businesses to survive and then thrive to be successful,”
de Visscher said retrospectively. “It is gratifying
to look at the history of a family business that we
have helped over the years and its generations – and to
see it succeed.”
Two Greenwich Office Park
(For GPS directions: 51 Weaver Street)
Greenwich, CT 06831
www.devisscher.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.29

With Your Goals in Mind
By Rich Monetti
The Bernie Madoff scandal
might not have been so
devastating had there been
fiduciary laws in place calling
for third party custodians to act
as verification. So says Suzanne
Wheeler, co-founder of Adams
Hall Wealth Advisors (AHWA),
based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. But
while future legislation of this
nature might leave many firms
scrambling, AHWA would seamlessly
welcome this kind of shift
– watching the playing field level
around them.
“We think everyone should be held to the same fiduciary
standard that we currently use,” Wheeler emphasized.
Employing a high standard leaves AHWA in a position to
act more independently. “This allows us to access unlimited
solutions without compromising our allegiance to you.”
The firm ties all of the advice it gives together, creating a
financial synergy unique to each client. Whether retirement
planning, investments, managing the family business, paying
for college or estate planning, the nitty gritty of portfolio
management serves as background to what’s initiated at
the outset. Finely attuned to achieving the goals of clients,
Wheeler said, “We need to demonstrate that we are adding
value and that the client sees that value.”
This means maintaining consistent communication with
clients – especially if results go awry. Regarding getting
spending in line, modifying goals or upping the risk tolerance
of conservative investors, Wheeler notes, “We hit that
situation head on.”
Of course, all the talk in the world can’t keep changing tax
laws from throwing a monkey wrench into those results. As
the Baby Boomers hit retirement, AHWA understands that
dividend investments can’t be discounted – even if Congress
continually erodes the returns. “I think we have to be more
strategic, because people are still going to have to live off
these,” says Wheeler.
The same flexibility applies to staying abreast of new or alternative
approaches – and that matters beyond the success
of their client base. Always room for improvement, she believes
the industry must continually provide better offerings
for investors or America will fall back.
Wheeler obviously welcomes this challenge.
www.adamshall.com
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A Hawk’s Eye on Investment Strategies
and Retirement Solutions
A Conservative Approach to Asset Management and Long-Term Planning
by diane e. alter
Wealth Management
www.assetsgrow.com
The wealth management industry in the United States is in
the midst of a number of dramatic changes resulting from
the 2008 financial calamity, as well as from a number of
long-term trends in the industry. Full-service firms have been
steadily losing advisers and assets as they move toward more
independent and self-directed channels. This shift followed the
Great Recession of 2008 and has picked up steam as big brokerage
firms – under constant scrutiny for a number of misdeeds – lose
their clout, along with investors’ confidence.
“Today’s financial world is experiencing a state of revolution,”
Peyton R. Hawkes, president of Hawkes Wealth Management,
told “The Suit.” “We have perhaps never seen the tenets of economic
policy more precariously poised for change. In fact, we are
watching credit, once the primary tool for growth, being tossed
away. The financial crisis bought numerous challenges. Client satisfaction
sits at historic lows and there is a greater emphasis on
transparency.”
Boasting more than three decades of financial experience,
Hawkes Wealth Management has been serving the Binghamton,
NY area since 1981. The firm’s approach is one of transparent and
conservative asset management, with a focus on long-term planning.
“We use strategic diversification, spread among appropriate
asset classes,” Peyton explained. “This lessens the kind of extreme
volatility that has scared scores of investors from the market. We
don’t chase hot stocks or Alpha (a term used for investors aiming
to outperform a benchmark such as the Dow or the S&P 500 Index).
We employ a risk-targeted method of investing which we
carefully monitor and tweak as economic conditions or a client’s
lifestyle warrants.”
Clients run the gamut from those in need of a detailed and sustainable
retirement plan, to those who want the firm to have full
management of their assets, to individuals who prefer the self-directed
approach and favor a cursory plan. “Our ideal client shares
our investment philosophy, is realistic, doesn’t expect miracles
and is open to change as needed,” Hawkes detailed.
Change is good – but plenty of today’s investors are opposed to
any adjustments. Still fixated on the dot.com boom and bust, painful
financial meltdown and flood of scandals that blemished Wall
Street, investor preferences are now switching direction toward
simpler, less risky and easily understandable products. There is a
heightened sensitivity to price swings and an increased appetite
for yield amid five-plus years of a near-zero interest rate environment.
These are not obstacles for Hawkes – they are opportunities.
That mindset is what he uses to approach what he considers to
be “the fatalistic investing approach” of today’s youth. “They live
for today and aren’t focused on their future. What I’d like to see is
for young people to develop a savings habit. Saving even a little
bit now can reap big rewards later.”
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.31

y travis taylor
Lending an Ear to Investors
ESTABLISHING A GOOD RELATIONSHIP IS KEY
James Gazis, CEO
Balanced Asset Strategies, Ltd.
120 S. LaSalle Street
Suite 1940
Chicago , IL 60603
www.balancedassetstrategies.com
Chicago-based James Gazis and investment
advisers Balanced Asset Strategies,
Ltd., believe in putting the interests
of small business clients first. With this
in mind, great care is taken with investments
– and the role of fiduciary is welcomed
with open arms.
Before starting the company, president
and CEO Gazis managed institutional
accounts for a proprietary trading firm,
eventually moving up to vice president
of derivative markets at Citigroup, a position
he held until 2006. Shortly thereafter,
Gazis began working with individuals
and small businesses, and his
successes in that field led to the founding
of Balanced Asset
Strategies, Ltd. in
2008.Specializing in
small businesses, typically
ones with fewer
than 20 employees,
Gazis focuses on
transition planning,
insurance, buying
and selling strategies
and planning. Clients
tend to be middle level
employees, executives and retirees, almost
evenly split at one third each.
While open to considering all potential
clients, not everyone is a fit – nor is
the company the right fit for every client.
“Communication is definitely the key,”
said Gazis. “Every client requires something
a little bit different.”
Gazis focuses on establishing trust and
confidence when working with clients.
He realizes that personal aspects play a
part in any client decisions and having a
solid relationship with that client is the
key to success.
Once a client is brought on board, that
client can choose from among the wide
array of services offered by Gazis and
Balanced Asset, including investment
and retirement planning, 401ks, income
tax planning, estate planning and divorce
mediation. Additionally, education
planning and protection for large
stock investments are offered.
This range of choice gives clients the
means to set up goals, deciding what resources
are needed and fully developing
financial strategies for achieving those
goals.
Regarding the current economy, Gazis
says, “[The] low interest rate environment
has hurt both the saver and the
retiree.” Clients need to save more and
spend less – and his company recognizes
this.
Low interest rates help people who
are borrowing money
for home or auto loans
but for those saving
money, such a low interest
rate reduces the
amount of return put
into savings. According
to the Employee
Benefit Research Institute,
44 percent of
retirees will run out of
money for basic needs.
With the Federal Reserve looking to
keep rates low until 2014, this number
could rise.
One of the most difficult things for
clients to do is to get a good rate of return
without taking big risks. Gazis and
Balanced Asset helps them navigate this
challenge and survive whatever financial
twists life might throw their way.
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

y amy m. armstrong
ANALYTICAL NERDINESS
GETS THE JOB DONE
Gavin Hupp is capitalizing
on a trend that sees business
owners relying heavily on
outside help to analyze their financials,
give them the market outlook
and run day-to-day operations.
Hupp is the owner of Business
Nerds, based in Phoenix, Arizona,
which was officially established in
June 2013. Unofficially, he’s been
conducting business under that
identity since August 2010, as a full
service business consultant specializing
in the analysis of accounting,
logistics, marketing and product
feasibility.
He calls it his passion – and that
passion is reflected in his title of
“Chief Business Nerd.”
“I became obsessed,” he said,
in reference to helping family and
friends with business analysis while
completing his college education. “I
became obsessed with making their
side businesses extraordinary deliverers
of value to the marketplace. I
had already developed the reputation
of being a business nerd – because
that is all I really want to do
and all I really ever wanted to talk
about. That is where my passions
are.”
Hupp earned his MBA in both
finance and project management
from Western International University.
Along the way, he gained
plenty of hands-on experience managing
retail stores, conducting audit
sales and field marketing, along
with helping friends and family
members start their own side businesses.
He had one goal in mind
and that was adding value to the
marketplace.
After a short stint as a management
analyst for a business development
firm, Hupp decided to pursue
his true calling. “I realized that
what I really wanted to do was to
just delve into my client’s businesses,
develop value and help them become
better business owners.”
He is confident that the business
owners he works with already
know their trades. He also knows
how they, being entrepreneurs, are
risk-takers who can at times become
overwhelmed by all the nuances of
running a business.
“What we bring is the focus, insight
and processes to help entrepreneurs
succeed,” Hupp said. “We
give them a plan. It is easy to get
off course if you don’t have specific
plans. That is what we do. We give
them peace of mind and the specifics
of a road map that shows the
how, why, what and when regarding
the things a business owner
needs to do.”
Hupp remarked that market
analysis is his favorite
part of the job. “Economics
is about human
action,” he said. “If we
know of a product that
solves a problem for a
particular segment of
the population with
certain behaviors, then
what we need to know
is – what solutions are
already in place that
our new solution will
replace to see who the
competitors are. It is a
rigorous process, but
the best model begins
with the consumer on
the micro level and
then builds the model
up from there.”
Hupp has done a bit
of his own analysis to
see what his customers
want. They like to see
him as the geek who
can take care of all the
“nerdy” aspects of their business so
they can get down to doing what
they do best. It isn’t necessarily
an official company uniform, but
Hupp does sport a bow tie on a regular
basis. Even his LinkedIn profile
features a photo of him wearing a
brightly-colored bow tie, effectively
presenting a geeky image.
That might just be the point.
“Everything is done with intention,”
Hupp stated, chuckling
knowingly after being asked if the
bow tie is an intentional way of
cultivating that image. He jokes:
“It takes confidence, individualism
and even technical skill just to apply
the thing.”
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.33

y diane e. alter
a road map to success
Why Companies Need a Strategic Consultant
In order for a business to thrive, there needs to be a road map to success – a strategic plan
helping to provide direction and focus for a company and its employees. Such a plan points
to specific results that aim to be achieved, establishes a course of action for achieving them
and helps various units within an organization work together to support common goals.
But a strategic plan without successful execution is
meaningless. Guiding myriad companies – from manufacturing
to aerospace to software – in the development
and fulfillment of carefully curated plans is the Upland,
CA-based consultancy known as Group 50. “We work
with companies who are making major strategic changes
and help them align their organization with those changes,
integrate them throughout the company and optimize the
end result,” CEO James Gitney told “The Suit.”
After working for some three decades at a number of Fortune
500 companies such as General Electric, Black & Decker
and Sunbeam, Gitney launched Group 50 in 2003. Behind
the firm’s success are Gitney’s strengths, such as working
with global boards, business owners and executives to develop
effective business plans and then implementing strategies
resulting in cost reductions, improved productivity
and ultimately – growth.
“We are comprised of a highly qualified group of individuals
who have spent numerous years working in corporate
America. Yet all can also successfully work as consultants,”
Gitney explained. “That’s sets us apart from other consultancy
firms.”
Group 50’s focus is on successful execution involving a
company’s entire crew. “CEOs don’t make a company successful.
It’s the team working under the CEO that’s responsible
for most successes,” Gitney shared. “Our approach is
to help them move away from what feels comfortable and
to rely on objectives as a basis for deciding subsequent and
future moves. As we work on projects, we insist on engagement
and continuous feedback from clients.”
To be sure, one leading cause of business failure is not
having a well-implemented strategic plan in place. With little
idea of where it’s headed, a business will flounder, priorities
can wander and employees may become confused
about the purpose of their jobs. And the real key is seeing
strategic plans through.
If you don’t know for a fact that you are maximizing the
potential of your business, that you are getting the most value
out of your employees and that you are staying one step
ahead of the competition, then you need Group 50.
Group50® Consulting
2576 Euclid Crescent East
Upland, CA 91784
www.group50.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

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electronic records, plus the fact it is
also requiring new coding procedures
means that a lot of medical facilities
and hospitals potentially have a major
problem on their hands,” Schacter
explained. Even before Obamacare,
Schacter said that medical coding was
a challenge.
“Medical professionals already were
not very good with the old system,” he
said. “It is going to take a lot more organization
by medical professionals in
order to get their reimbursements.”
Schacter also anticipates that consumers
– medical patients – will experience
inaccurate billing due to
Obamacare mix-ups. Although he recognizes
that his industry may not be
perceived as consumer friendly by the
general public, he begs to differ on that
aspect. Schacter is very active in consumer
protection efforts and has taken
proactive steps, including offering a
sizable library of information aimed at
consumer financial education – including
several do-it-yourself calculators –
on his firm’s website.
“We view ourselves as a consumer-friendly
firm,” Schacter said, noting
that he’s adding even more consumer-oriented
information, such as links
to consumer protection agencies. He
is also keeping a watchful eye on the
activities of the Federal Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau created in
2010 by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street
Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
The agency, which had its first director
in 2012, is still ramping up its involveby
a. marie velthuizen
A Receivables Expert Interested
An Obamacare requirement prohibiting
hospitals from “engaging
in extraordinary collection
practices” may end up being a hard pill
for professionals in the medical receivables
industry to swallow. So asserts
Stacey Schacter, chief executive officer
of Vion Receivables Investments,
headquartered in Atlanta, GA. Medical
receivables are one of his firm’s current
specialties. Vion purchases all types of
assets and debts – good, bad, performing
or non-performing – for either collection
or reinvestment.
“It is a defined term. What that
means is hospitals can no longer report
certain medical debt to credit bureaus,”
Schacter explained. This leaves
a fairly effective tool sitting unused in
the bottom drawer of the collection industry
tool box.
Under the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act, better known as
Obamacare, hospitals and other medical
facilities are required to “qualify”
patients for medical assistance plans.
If the patient qualifies but still has an
outstanding balance he or she is unable
to pay, the hospital cannot turn
that amount over for collection. This
potential inability represents a significant
change in standard collection procedures.
This may also be the catalyst for
other relatively natural reactions to
changes brought on by Obamacare –
the development of new career fields.
Even though many hospitals and
other medical care facilities already
have social workers to guide patients
through the financial maze associated
with health care, the implementation
of additional Obamacare requirements
is likely to bring on increased specialization
for professionals currently in
the field. This, along with potentially
larger workloads equals the need for
more personnel.
Schacter also sees Obamacare as being
the spark for a massive upswing in
medical coding jobs, as different and
more specific coding requirements become
standard operating procedure.
The federal law – still struggling toward
implementation – marches forward
with new coding requirements,
by 2015 adding to that the establishment
and maintenance of mandatory
electronic medical records.
“I certainly am no expert on
Obamacare, but the requirement of
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

in Consumer Protection
ment at the intersection of the financial
industry and the protection of consumer
rights.
According to Schacter, so, far the
agency’s message has not been cohesive.
“The CFPB requires financial institutions
to be transparent – but the CFPB
itself is not transparent,” he said. “We
are really looking for it to be our partner
and help us understand what they
are looking for when they come for
an examination and what they expect
from a compliance perspective, but the
guidance they have given to date is
vague and relatively opaque.”
What is clear for Schacter is that he
found himself in the right spot at what
turned out to be the right time for him,
even though it was a relatively bad time
for most other financial specialists.
In 1999, one of his large clients made
him an offer Schacter couldn’t refuse:
to become General Counsel for the
company. He jokes that he went over
to the “dark side” after being promoted
again, this time from the lead attorney
position to CEO. Eight years later,
the big crash in 2007 happened and it
prepared him for what he does now in
ways he never expected.
After the Wall Street crash, Schacter
said that he was fortunate to hook up
immediately with a private equity
group and begin doing something he
always dreamed about: to design and
build a company the way he wanted to
do it.
“I used what I had learned as an attorney
and as an executive to build
something unique and beneficial at a
particularly opportune time for that
sector of the market,” Schacter explained.
“And that was the start of
Vion.” Despite the market collapse, the
timing couldn’t have been better. “We
had capital while everybody else was
sitting on the sidelines,” he said. “That
really allowed us to jumpstart the business
at a time when liquidity was desperately
needed.”
Today Schacter works with businesses
to free up capital that could be put to
a better use if it were not tied up. They
don’t necessarily have to be distressed
– although many are. Often, it isn’t the
business itself that is challenged, but
the type of receivables. The business itself
may simply be ill-equipped to handle
those accounts.
“Our business is one of acquisition
of financial assets,” Schacter explained.
“We are looking for clients for whom
we can provide a higher and better use
of their capital,” he said. “Many times,
assets or liabilities are no longer a strategic
fit for a business. We can help.”
400 Interstate North Parkway
Suite 800 Atlanta, GA 30339
877.845.5242
www.vioninv.com
For more information regarding Vion, visit:
www.vioninv.com
For information regarding the CFPB, visit:
www.consumerfinance.gov
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.37

Renting Your Way to Home Ownership
In the wake of the recession and mortgage
foreclosure crisis, those with a
credit score in the 600s have found
it difficult to get a home loan. As credit
scores drop, so do the chances of getting
financial help. With the US average credit
rating at 687 – and many states scoring
lower – the American dream of owning a home has become
unattainable for many.
Jaspreet Singh, principal owner and founder of Michigan-based
MetroWay Properties LLC, recognized that this
dream was being lost and took action. At the time, he was
investing in distressed properties, and realized that he did
enjoy his work as well. Singh started MetroWay Properties,
in the process discovering an entirely different way to help
people get into homes.
This popular program he calls Rent-to-Own – and it benefits
both the buyer and seller.
The buyer is offered a locked price, with a term up to 24
months. The traditional security deposit instead becomes a
down payment on the property, set at 3-7 percent of the full
purchase price. This payment ensures that the renter will be
the only potential buyer of the property. “We also work with
credit repair companies to insure purchasers get the right
BY TRAVIS TAYLOR
loans,” Singh explained.
But even with the Rent-to-Own program, Singh noted that
potential clients must still be able to qualify for a loan.
“What that means is each of our clients needs to have a
good job,” Singh said. “They need to have stable jobs, making
enough income to support a mortgage for purchasing
the home. They need to have good backgrounds.”
Singh also uses his experience with distressed properties
to make acquisitions that he can match up with his clients.
“Being able to find distressed properties at the right time
[has been our greatest success],” said Singh and this strategy
has worked well for him. Singh said he has been lucky
enough to find great deals, getting to them before real estate
investors.
With eyes facing forward, Singh plans to take on a larger
role in redeveloping Detroit – to help make the city great
once again.
MAXELE ADVISORS PROMISE UNDIVIDED
LOYALTY TO THEIR CLIENTS
In the wake of a slow economic recovery,
continuing congressional
gridlock and unprecedented Federal
Reserve stimulus, principal and
founder of Maxele Advisors, Registered
Investment Advisor Steve
Erken, has certainly been privy to
the mumblings of those panicky investors
who say “sell everything.”
“The economy continues to improve,”
says Erken, adding that the
market shows no immediate signs
that this uptrend will end anytime soon. But, he still estimates
there’s enough uncertainty left to proceed cautiously.
Evidence whether this economy can stand on its own and
if its recovery is real, he says, “That data- sustainable economic
growth with manageable inflation - is going to be a
huge deal but it’s not the focus of today – it’s coming later.”
Nonetheless, Maxele stays the course in the way they
do things, especially in earning a client’s trust by providing
a fiduciary standard of care to clients. “Everything we do is
customized, so we get a clear understanding of the client’s
short and long term goals, investment capital and emotional
attitude towards risk,” Erken remarked.
According to Maxele’s strategy, if a good financial plan is
put together initially, its framework should stand up, fitting
in well with the always-changing economic landscape. By
BY RICH MONETTI
reviewing with the client Erken says, “We try not to have
any surprises. We provide a lot of communication about
where they stand in terms of assets versus the consumption
rate, and we are of the philosophy that our job is to give options
and feedback. The client is the one who decides if they
want to make changes in their lifestyle.”
Predominantly serving those 60 and over, Erken’s advice
is projected realistically against the perception that a number
of clients may likely live into their 90s. Although, not
having had anyone unexpectedly run out of money across
his long career, Erken can report many clients are relenting
to the fact of living longer. However, “We’re finding people
wanting to take more longevity risk versus principal risk in
their portfolios,” he said.
Either way, Erken’s counsel is never biased by outside
sources such as broker-dealers or insurance companies.
“Undivided loyalty to our clients – fee for advice and service,”
is Maxele’s maxim.
www.maxeleadvisors.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

y judy magness
Cybercriminals Shake
Up Insurance Industry
“Data breach coverage
– or cyber-liability
coverage – is
the Wild West of
insurance coverage
these days,” said
Phil Galbraith, president
of Capitol Risk
Solutions. “Policies
vary greatly among
insurance companies
due to a lack of standardization.”
Protecting your Capital
with Capitol Solutions...
www.capitolrisksolutions.com
The medical community is a
prime target for cybercriminals
who want the valuable
information that is commonly
collected within the healthcare
industry – including names, addresses,
social security numbers, credit card numbers
– and other private data. “Someone
who breaches a medical organization
can get a lot of information in one spot,”
Galbraith said, suggesting that outside of
professional liability, this is probably a
medical firm’s single largest liability.
Compounding the problem for medical
providers is that currently, data breach
laws are set at the state level. If a company
gets breached, depending on where it
is located, it could be subject to different
statutes in every state where patients live.
“Practices in the D.C, Maryland and Virginia
areas that have patients coming in
from all those regions could be subject to
the laws of all those jurisdictions,” said
Galbraith, adding that law firms also face
this same liability. “Data breach is absolutely
the single fastest growing area of
risk and probably the most overlooked
area in insurance these days.”
While the Internet has increased opportunities
for the bad guys, it is also helping
the good guys fight the good fight – and
win. Social media is having a positive
impact on combating workers’ compensation
abuse, for instance. According to
Galbraith, “Research suggests workers’
compensation fraud increases during recessionary
times or troubled economic
times.” With the impact of the economic
downturn over the last five years, insurance
companies have been on high alert
and are proactively fending off crime.
“Now insurance companies are becoming
more sophisticated by using social
media and other means to ascertain
whether a claimant who has been off the
job for a while is truly still injured,” said
Galbraith, suggesting that photos posted
on a Facebook page may provide very
useful evidence to combat fraudulent
claims. “Social media is a less expensive
way for insurance companies to determine
that status as opposed to sending
out investigators. The benefit to society is
that the less money companies pay out in
fraudulent claims, the more control they
can have to keep costs down.”
With over 25 years of experience in
the business insurance field as a company
underwriter, a salesperson, a national
award-winning marketing manager and
now as agency owner of Capitol Risk
Solutions, Galbraith is well-suited to provide
a very wide range of risk management
advice to his clients. “Insurance is a
commoditized product in so many ways
– the difference is the agent,” said Galbraith.
He appreciates those clients who
respect and value the different type of service
he delivers. “I learn my clients’ businesses,
and build trust and confidence so
they are secure in the fact that I will craft
their coverage in the best way to fit their
particular circumstances and needs.”
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.39

y a. marie velthuizen
VALUING PROFES
With an increase in the number of older Americans either
remaining in or returning to the workplace, financial
advisers such as Herb White of Life Certain Wealth
Strategies are actively seeking solutions for balancing
the implications that working will have on each client’s
Social Security and Medicare benefits.
According to the
National Council
on Aging, 27.1
million Americans
ages 55 and over were
employed, with another
1.9 million actively seeking
work. In 2009, this was
19 percent of the American
workforce – a 7 percent
jump from 1999, when older
workers accounted for only
12 percent. Older workers
represent a significant shift
that must be accounted for
in retirement planning.
“One of the biggest issues
we look at for our older clients
is the role Medicare
plays in their financial situations,”
White said. “Lots of
people rely on it for health
care in retirement.”
Yet, if they’ve gone back
to or remain at work during
Medicare-eligible years, the
program’s rate policies can
complicate what might already
be a tight financial
situation for those living
on fixed incomes. Medicare
uses the income from the
previous two years to determine
the rate structure
for those eligible. If older
Americans work for a year
or so, the additional income
could alter their ability to
secure less expensive health
coverage.
According to White, it’s
just one among many financial
pitfalls that retirement-age
Americans need
to avoid to ensure adequate
resources for their golden
years. Unfortunately, one
of the most common trouble
spots comes from within
his own industry. There
are over-simplified financial
products on the market
touted as “be all/end all”
tools for securing future income.
“Some of the information
out there leads people to believe
their problems can be
solved by some product,”
White cautions. “They oversimplify
retirement planning
and cause a person to
believe they do not need to
come in to see an adviser.
They end up believing they
can just purchase this product
… and it will address all
of their needs.”
White's caution is not
without merit. He knows
how difficult it can be to
assess opportunities in a
quickly-changing market
overloaded with choices.
That’s why he himself opts
to outsource the task of evaluating
the investment opportunities
he puts in front
of his clients.
“It is a full-time job to
do proper due diligence on
the funds and investments
that are out there – and
we would be kidding ourselves
if thought there was
enough time during the day
for those of us who interact
with clients all throughout
the day to then, in our spare
time, be able to do all that
is necessary to perform due
diligence,” White said.
That doesn’t mean White
isn’t thorough. He carefully
vets the firms he chooses for
outsourcing.
“We have to make the
right decisions – including
the decision as to outsourcing.
Even though we delegate
this due diligence to
them, at the end of the day,
it still falls upon us,” he explained.
White noted that this
sense of confidence in the
investment opportunities
he presents to clients is a
crucial element for Life Certain
clients – most of whom
come to White and his firm
within five years of retirement.
“We find smart ways for
them to continue the lifestyle
they have become accustomed
to. We are doing
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

SIONAL ADVICE
that by helping them make
smart decisions regarding
the assets they have invested
in and how they can
draw income from those
investments,” White said.
This includes learning to
negotiate risk. He talks to
clients at a basic level to understand
what the client is
trying to accomplish. “Once
we understand that, then we
can talk about a way to get
where (the client) is trying
to go,” directs White.
During that initial client
meeting, White or one of his
associates can explain the
comprehensive approach
Life Certain takes in managing
all aspects of financial
needs.
“Our greatest challenge is
trying to articulate what exactly
it is that we do, to people
who think they can go
it alone,” White said. “Our
greatest success is the fact
that we have been able to
attract more and more people
each year who see the
importance of how we work
and the value proposition
we offer. More and more
people are embracing the
idea that they need to engage
a professional.” Since
White founded the firm in
2002, this has been the primary
guiding principle
of Life Certain
Wealth Strategies.
Said White of his
transition from a
transactional-based
career to an advisory-focused
approach,
“I was looking more
toward offering advice and
solutions rather than selling
a product.”
www.lifecertain.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.41

y diane e. alter
HELPING THE UNDERDOG OVERACHIEVE
Middle market companies
across the country have come
to rely on Axiom’s expertise,
partnership, and integrity.
The good news coming out
of the investment banking
world is that there is no
shortage of funds for financing.
The not-so-good news is that
there is a substantial lack of deals.
“Banks are well capitalized and I
can always get funding,” Axiom
Capital Group founder and partner
Zack Farahmand, told “The
Suit.” “What I can’t always find
are the deals.”
You could blame the snail’s
pace of the current economic
recovery, Obamacare, new tax
laws or even fears of a Fed tapering
for the current lack of M&A
deal flow, but at the end of the
day investors are still left with
available capital and nowhere to
invest it. However, it has been
in these types of economic environments
that Farahmand has
historically found success.
“We find opportunities where
others do not. When other
firms are selling, we’re buying;
when others are panicking we’re calmly strategizing. More
often than not, we take a ‘contrarian’ viewpoint, we’re not
afraid to roll up our sleeves when others won’t, or back the
underdog in a fight: that is where we have found success,”
he shared.
Indeed, Farahmand has found success doing things
his own way. A former investment banker at one of Wall
Street’s elite institutions, Farahmand went off on his own
and founded Boston-based Axiom Capital Group in 1995,
amid an apparent need in the middle marketplace for
high-quality, professional banking services. The company
has grown since its inception in both breadth and reach.
Services now also include direct investments as well as investment
banking services in three primary areas: mergers
and acquisitions, capital sourcing and turnaround services.
In certain circumstances – depending on the size of an investment
or transaction – Axiom may partner with a larger
private equity partner.
“We lend money, raise capital, help manage risk and extend
liquidity,” Farahmand explained. “My perfect client is
someone who wants to buy a company but lacks the funds
(as is often the case with a company’s management team) or
someone trying to keep a struggling company afloat. You
see, I love helping the underdog win.”
Axiom offers a winning combination of expert advice, innovative
solutions, outstanding
execution and comprehensive
access to the world’s capital markets.
The firm has invested in or
represented companies across a
wide spectrum of industries including
retail, restaurants, waste
management, manufacturing, healthcare, distribution and
real estate. “We have to understand an organization before
investing in them or representing them, and they have to
have a viable product and committed management team. I
am investing my fund’s money, so I need to believe in the
company and do my due diligence,” Farahmand detailed.
Sensitive to the goals and requirements of the seller –
while also ensuring that the buyer walks away knowing he
got a great deal – Axiom has garnered a stellar reputation in
the industry. Farahmand insisted, “I have built and maintained
the firm around trust and integrity. That is, and has
always been, our mission. We have a great track record and
we treat people well.”
An axiom is defined as a starting point of reasoning. In
other words it’s a premise so evident that it is accepted as
true without controversy. Farahmand exemplifies the axiom
attributed to Winston Churchill “A pessimist sees the
difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity
in every difficulty.”
www.axiomcapitalgroup.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

Friendship for Successful Investment Advice
The work of advising
clients regarding
their financial
decisions is more than
just business as usual
for Tom Mantling. As
the owner of Synthesis
Advisors in East Greenwich,
RI; Manning said
he views his clients as
good friends. He believes the level of service he should
provide goes well beyond quarterly calls and newsletters.
Instead, he wants to develop the kind of relationship that
makes him a partner with his clients in formulating their
future financial plans.
“I want to know everything that is going on with them,”
Manning emphasized.
“When you have that kind of relationship
with your clients, you can talk
honestly with them about living for today
and planning for tomorrow,”
there is always something
else going on.
But when you have a
serious enough client
and a strong friendship,
you have the ability to
make a significant difference.”
Manning has worked in the financial sector for the bulk
of his career, starting out as an accountant and then working
in the banking industry doing mortgages, construction
loans and workouts for small and medium businesses. The
clientele for his investment advising firm came from contacts
made in banking, during his tenure as the director of
a credit union and from his work in the non-profit sector.
“I love business people,” Manning said. “I have been
around them all my life and I do tend to gravitate toward
people who own their own businesses and need solid, objective
financial advice especially during the era of deleveraging
and quantitative easing.”
www.synthesisadvising.com
Manning said. “That is the philosophy you want to have.
Planning is the hardest thing in the world to do because
LOOKING OUT FOR THE GREEN INDUSTRY
There is something to be said for growing a business
organically. Just ask the Golden Oak family of companies
who have sprouted new businesses over the
last 25 years. Family members now include the Golden Oak
Co-op Corporation, Birch Financial, Inc., Landscape Contractors
Insurance Services, Inc. (LCIS) and Oak Creek Insurance
Agency, a division of LCIS. Nurturing their growth
has been Nelson Colvin, who serves as president and CEO
of both LCIS and Birch Financial, Inc. “We serve the green
industry – which includes landscaping, tree companies and
the sub-contractors for those companies – by providing a
well-rounded group of services, including our insurance
program through LCIS, which has over 2,000 members,”
said Colvin.
LCIS is the largest independent insurance
broker in the western part of the country
for landscapers, tree trimmers and nurseries.
Currently licensed in 22 states,
plans for expanding nationwide
are underway. Birch Financial
offers premium financing to
landscape contractors who are
insured by LCIS, and also has
an equipment Ffinanceing division
providing business financing for both new and used vehicles
and equipment like mowers, tractors, and trenchers.
Rounding out the suite of services is Oak Creek Insurance,
offering personal insurance from nationwide carriers to
commercial customers of LCIS and others, including auto,
home, group health and life insurance benefits. Golden Oak
also partners with State Compensation Insurance Fund to
provide a group Workers’ Compensation program.
Under Colvin’s watch, this family of companies has been
thriving. LCIS has returned over $40 million in rebates to its
customers since 1990. Birch Financial Equipment Financing
has made over $5 million in loans for new and used equipment
since 2000, and Golden Oak Cooperative Corporation
has distributed over $450,000 in equity shares to retired
members.
As a licensed landscape contractor and past President of
the California Landscape Contractors Association, Colvin is
the recipient of several industry awards and in 2010, was
inducted into the Green Industry Hall of Fame.
www.oakcreek-ins.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.43

y diane e. alter
Offering Financial Advice – Not Products
Real Financial Advice for Serious People
Few investors understand
how their financial
adviser gets
paid – a conundrum that
could ultimately cost them
plenty. When an investor
doesn’t understand how
much they’re actually paying
in fees and expenses,
when their adviser keeps
skirting the issue, or when
an adviser constantly pushes
products, it’s high time to
consider switching to another
adviser.
“I started The Fieldstone
Financial Management
Group when I saw the need
in the investment management
environment to offer
clients objective advice – not
products,” founder and
President Kristofor Behn
told “The Suit.”
With roots dating back
to 1965, Fieldstone is truly
a pioneer in the fee-only
business. The firm is one
of the oldest, continuously
operating fee-only financial
planning and investment
advisory firms in the United
States and has received
quite a number of accolades.
Fieldstone has appeared in
“Forbes Magazine” for being
named one of the Top
10 Most Dependable Advisers
in the Northeast and
Mid-Atlantic. And, the firm
has been recognized by
“Bloomberg Wealth Magazine”
as one of the Top 150
Wealth Managers in the US
every year since the magazine
began ranking advisers.
“We’ve been growing the
practice organically,” Behn
explained. Indeed, since
2000, Fieldstone has completed
six acquisitions and
the firm has client service
locations nationwide. “Unlike
many advisory firms,
we don’t look solely at an
individual’s net worth. We
look for those we can have a
good impact on. We look for
clients who have great potential
and that are willing
to be coached and guided
in a process that will yield
rewards and profits,” Behn
detailed.
After reviewing a prioritized
list of goals, Fieldstone
builds service offerings
around reaching them and
then puts a plan of action in
place to help each client ultimately
achieve those goals.
“Ours is a relationship-oriented
business, so
we start by truly
getting to know
clients,”
- Behn shared.
Services include comprehensive
financial planning,
investment advisory services
and tax return preparation.
The team is a highly
qualified mix of professionals
with decades of financial
industry experience. Behn
emphasized, “The key to
building a successful firm
is to surround yourself with
good people. Retention is
also important. Loyalty and
experience provides invaluable
stability.”
Behn describes the firm
as conservative, seeking
risk-adjusted returns wherever
they might be. “You
have to be prepared for
opportunities when they
present themselves. That
has always been our strong
suit. For example, you have
to embrace environments
where there is growth. We
presently see that in emerging
markets. We approach
risk with open eyes and
monitor it very closely. ‘Realistic’
is actually the better
word to describe Fieldstone.”
To be sure, today’s seemingly
unstoppable equity
markets call for serious reality
checks.
www.fieldstonefinancial.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

VION Receivable Investments, headquartered in
Atlanta, Georgia, is an international provider of
receivable investment services to businesses
managing consumer and commercial receivables.
VION provides a single, comprehensive source of
expertise in commercial receivable factoring and
consumer receivable purchasing, valuations, and
process consulting.
VION Receivable Investments
400 Interstate North Parkway
Suite 800
Atlanta, GA 30339
877.845.5242 phone
678.815.1557 fax
Mesquite Corporate Center
14646 N. Kierland Blvd.
Suite 122
Scottsdale, AZ 85254
480.729.6419 phone
866.260.1826 fax
123 North College Avenue
Suite 210B
Fort Collins, CO 80524
877.845.5242 phone
970.672.8714 fax
11921 Freedom Drive
Suite 550
Reston, VA 20190
703.736.8336 phone
VION Advisory Services
18017 Chatsworth Street
Suite 28
Granada Hills, CA 91344
818.216.9882 phone
818.891.8738 fax
VION Europa
Paseo de la Castellana 95-15
(Torre Europa)
Madrid 28046
Espanha
+34 91 418 50 88 phone
www.vioneuropa.es
RECEIV ABLE INVESTMENTS
Atlanta • Phoenix • Fort Collins • Reston • Los Angeles • Madrid

y a marie zelthuizen
No Loose Standards Keeps Lending Tidy
He didn’t allow the use of the kind of loose credit
standards that led to the 2007 through 2009 housing
debacle. That’s why Rick Arvielo, chief executive
officer of New American Funding in Tustin, California,
hasn’t felt the immense stress other
financiers have experienced in the
rough-and-tumble corporate world.
But that doesn’t mean Arvielo isn’t
empathetic. He is – especially to the
home owners who lost homes during
the crisis and were left with badly
marred credit reports to boot.
He’s concerned regarding the impact new lending requirements
will have on already stressed buyers. On October
15, 2013, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development which oversees the Federal Housing Authority
– a major guarantor of housing loans for those with limited
down payments – announced a major change to its credit
standards. Collection accounts and judgments are now
going to be added to an applicant’s debt-to-income ratio.
Furthermore, beginning Jan. 1, 2014, reforms set forth by
the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, created by the
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection
Act of 2010, mandate that applicants with a debt-to-income
ratio of 43 percent or higher are not eligible for loans under
the Ability-to-Repay rule and that the cost of
loan origination and other associated fees can
no longer exceed three percent of the property
being purchased.
“This will have a grave impact on a lot of the
Rick & Patty Arvielo
Named on MPA’s Hot 100 List
people who were disproportionately hurt before,” Arvielo
said.
He describes the housing debacle as being the case of a
pendulum swinging too far in each direction. “Clearly the
standards that created the crisis needed correction,” he
said. Unfortunately, in making the necessary adjustments,
Arvielo fears the pendulum isn’t finished swinging too far
to the other end. In its path are potential homeowners who
were knocked off track once five years ago and most likely
will be pushed aside again as regulators continue to tighten
standards.
Yet, Arvielo remains optimistic regarding the 2014 housing
finance market.
The presence of all-cash buyers is dwindling. When
housing prices plummeted five years ago, it didn’t take too
much savvy to know that cash-rich investors would gobble
up as many distressed, low-priced homes as they could. It
locked loan-dependent buyers out of much of the market.
Yet since 2011, when housing prices rebounded marginally,
Arvielo said that the bulk of all-cash buyers left the market.
This trend continues today.
He also sees some hope in recent moves by the Federal
Housing Authority. In August 2013,
it began granting displaced former
home owners the ability to prove
that their home loss was due to extenuating
adverse personal financial
conditions – such as job loss – that
are no longer problems. The required
waiting time has also been reduced
from three years to just one.
For now, Arvielo believes his firm is in line to take advantage
of what is bound to be somewhat of an exodus from
the traditional housing lenders. He notes that major banks
have already reduced at least 10,000 positions in their mortgage
origination divisions.
“We are holding our own and actually gaining some market
share,” he said. “Compliance with all the new regulations
will be our biggest challenge for the next year.”
14511 Myford Road, Suite 100
Tustin, CA 92780
(800) 450-2010
www.newamericanfunding.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

y travis taylor
Experience Pulls
Ahead of Competition
Arthur Solomon
knows real estate
investment.
As president, chairman
and CEO of DSF Group,
Solomon has spent the
past 14 years developing or acquiring
an impressive $3 billion in real estate
assets.
“The last 14 years, we have kept
growing the business successfully,”
said Solomon, who founded the
company with his son and two other
partners. “We are now in our fourth
real-estate fund. Each one has been
larger than the preceding one.”
Focused on the Washington D.C.,
New York and Boston metro areas, the
DSF Group – founded in 2000 – has established
itself as a leader in real estate
investment. In 2011, the National Association
of Home Builders voted the
company the best multi-family developer
in the United States.
It should come as no surprise that the
DSF Group excels. Solomon himself
has the kind of experience that most
investors can only dream about. Before
founding the company, he spent time
as a senior partner at the investment
house Lazard Frere. He was also the
CFO of Fannie Mae and president and
CEO of the Berkshire Group.
In addition to experience, another
key ingredient of DSF Group’s success
is their ability to stay on track, to focus
and to keep things simple. As a private
real estate investment firm, their focus
has been trained on commercial investment,
specifically on urban, multi-rental
properties.
“We either develop them from the
ground up or we buy existing ones
and add value,” Solomon said. “We’re
a value-added investor.”
Every aspect of the investment is
overseen by DSF Group – from site selection
and design, to engineering and
obtaining permits. A single construction
company handles all of the building
needs for DSF.
The company focus remains on acquisition,
finance and marketing. “We
do the asset management,” said Solomon.
“We oversee the property managers.
And we are very involved in the
marketing, both traditional marketing
sources as a well as the use of very active
and creative social media.” With
the business planted in multi-family
and apartments, the recession and its
aftermath left Solomon and company
relatively unscathed, despite other
sections of the real estate world being
trounced.
During the worst of the recession,
multi-family units had access to better
financing through the government in
the form of Fannie Mae. Multi-family
units were not as affected by the economy
as much, since they depended
more on household formation.
In contrast, the office sector needed
white-collar job growth, retail needed
consumer buying and hotels needed
travel.
The future continues to look bright
for DSF Group. “We’re already seeing
a slow recovery in real estate,” Solomon
said. “It is already taking place.”
With one of the best track records in
the country, DSF Group will continue
to focus on what they do best.
With the business planted in
multi-family and apartments, the recession
and its aftermath left Solomon
and company relatively unscathed,
despite other sections of the real estate
world being trounced.
Awarded Multifamily
Development Firm of
the Year by National
Association of Home
Builders.
www.thedsfgroup.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.47

the suit staff
Invest Only After a
Thorough Examination
There is one thing Cary Cowan does in his business that has
gone a long way toward settling the nerves of jittery investors.
His clients never write their investment checks to his
firm, Cowan Financial Group, Inc., based in St. Augustine, Florida.
He has been in business for 43 years, and has been using that
policy all along.
“People are still leery,” Cowan said
in reference to the financial meltdown
that began in 2007 and continued
through 2009. “The awareness is still
out there. Yet in my situation, where
their checks are not being made out
to me and my company but instead to
larger companies that are the custodians
– it takes away a degree of uncertainty.
When you meet with someone
face-to-face and the check isn’t being
written to you, it helps to allay some
of the fears.”
According to Cowan, addressing
those fears is a good thing. Despite
the challenges, there remain plenty
of opportunities out there in a market
featuring a much greater variety of investment
tools for investors who are
willing to use them and who are also
willing to work through some strategic
planning.
In 2000, Cowan developed a six-step
process indigenous to his firm called
the Lifetime Financial Strategies Program.
He later turned this process
into a book, “The Lifetime Financial
Strategies, a 21st Century Financial
Planning Process,” featuring several
case studies highlighting different investment
approaches, including successes
and failures, for new clients to
review before he begins working with
them.
“I do an extensive interview with
them to see if they fit the category we
look for,” Cowan explained. “I let the
client know up front what they are
getting involved with before entering
into any commitment with me.
That involvement includes Cowan
advising clients regarding equity sales
and financial planning, which is the
bulk of his daily work. He has insurance
professionals – each specializing
in various areas such as property, casualty,
life, home, health and auto – to
provide the firm’s clients with advice
tailored for their specific situation.
“We have everything at our client’s
disposal in one spot,” Cowan said.
With 37 financial services representatives
working for his firm, Cowan
already has a fairly extensive staff. Yet,
for 2014, he’d like to add a few more
employees to his firm. Hiring, Cowan
admits, has actually been his greatest
professional challenge. Coming up
with financial solutions for his clients
based on their current situations, the
market and their future goals is much
easier for him than finding the right
person for each job within his firm.
“It has been a trial and error situation,”
he concedes. “It was tough until
the 1990s, when I finally decided
to hire talent specifically for each job
rather than just have somebody fill a
slot. I don’t believe that there really is
a bad employee. I believe that often,
I have put the wrong person in the
wrong job.”
He has corrected that issue via a
profiling test during the employment
process, identifying a candidate’s
strengths and weaknesses not often
found on a resume.
“If we have a job that needs to be
filled we try to find somebody who
fits the criteria of that job rather than
just hire somebody who looks good
on paper,” he said. “We look deep
down into their characteristics to see
if this is the job they really want to do
and are capable of doing.”
*Securities and Investment Advisory Services
offered through NEXT Financial Group, Inc.,
Member FINRA/SIPC. Cowan Financial Group
is not an affiliate of NEXT Financial Group, Inc.
136 Malaga St
St Augustine, FL 32084-3521
Phone: 904-824-8147
www.cowanfg.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

y travis taylor
FINANCIAL PLANNING WITH HONESTY
For Carina S. Diamond and SS&G Wealth Management,
the goal has always been offering clients a holistic approach.
With 11 years at the company, Diamond knows
how to make things work.
As Managing Director of SS&G Wealth Management,
Diamond has seen business grow since she arrived.
The reason is the honest service the company offers.
“We look for people who want a more comprehensive approach,”
said Diamond. “What that means is servicing clients
proactively and reaching out
to clients when we see a planning
opportunity.”
Diamond likes to see the company
focus on risk management
and client goals. Investments are
important, but equally important
is setting guidelines and limits
for each client. She acknowledges
that they don’t want clients to
make investments without having
backup money and plans. Financial
planning and staying focused on long-term objectives
are important to Diamond. This something that SS&G does
for its clients.
“I would be remiss if I didn’t find out about the client’s estate
plan and insurance and needs for the family and health
situations,” said Diamond. “If I didn’t ask these questions
and just looked at investments, I could be missing some
very important information.”
The straightforward, all-in approach by Diamond and
SS&G Wealth Management also means keeping the client
well informed, with a clear understanding about
what is happening. “My philosophy has always
been that if something’s really complicated and I
can’t understand it, I’m not going to try and sell it
to one of my clients,” said Diamond.
Another focus for Diamond has been the creation
five years ago of “Flourish: Women and Wealth
Management”, an initiative focusing on the financial
needs of women. She created Flourish to help
successful and intelligent women who are unsure
about how to handle their finances.
“What Flourish does is…provide seminars and
events where women can gather in a comfortable
environment and learn more about managing their
finances,” Diamond said. These events are held in
a social manner that is relaxed and inviting, with
the goal of giving the women attending more financial
confidence and literacy. Over the span of
about five years, an estimated 700 women have
been attended Flourish events.
Diamond noted that SS&G’s greatest success has
been building a strong team and a business that
has continuity. Every employee is salaried, which
places everyone on the same team. Multiple employees
are versed on the same client so, should any unforeseen
circumstances arise, there is more than one person
who can step in immediately to help.
By working together as a team for long term financial and
health benefits for each
“What Flourish does is…provide
seminars and events where women
can gather in a comfortable
environment and learn more about
managing their finances,”
- said Diamond
275 Springside Drive, Ste 250
Akron, OH 44333 United States
www.ssandgwealth.com
client, both Diamond
and SS&G have clearly
stepped ahead of the
rest of the pack.
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.49

the suit staff
TAX SAVINGS
REALIZED
by Capturing Benefits of
Detailed Engineering Analysis
Building owners have a new
opportunity to take advantage
of tax savings in 2014 based
on repairs under new guidelines
recently issued by the Internal Revenue
Service. It’s a move that Greg
Bryant says his firm, Beford Cost
Segregation based in Bedford, New
Hampshire, is prepared to make on
behalf of its clients. The new IRS
regulations cover the deduction and
capitalization of expenses due to acquisition,
renovation, improvement
or disposition of real estate.
“It provides a significant opportunity
to address the needs of those
repairs that restore a building to its
regular efficient operating condition,”
explained Bryant, managing
partner of Bedford.
While the new regulations regarding
repair tax savings become permanent
in 2014, building owners can
reach back to the 2012 and 2013 tax
years for benefits based on repairs
completed in those years. Repairs
can include the testing, inspection
and routine maintenance necessary
to keep a property in operating condition.
It takes a fair portion of expertise
combining tax benefits with construction
engineering analysis to
meet the complicated requirements
laid out by the IRS. That’s where
Bedford enters the picture with its
proprietary ReCap study aimed at
identifying capitalized items and
possibly reclassifying them as repairs.
This can result in a significant
tax deduction in the taxpayer’s favor.
Cost segregation is another tool
Bedford uses to find tax savings for
its clients in the early years of owning
a property. IRS rules mandate
that commercial properties be depreciated
over a period of 39 years
and residential rental properties
over a period of 27.5 years. This recovery
period can be shortened with
the support of a detailed engineering
analysis called a cost segregation
study, Bryant explained. It basically
is a front-loading of depreciation
giving building owners greater tax
deductions in the early years of
building ownership.
On the surface, it sounds simple.
Yet, as Bryant states, it simply isn’t.
“It is always a challenge to look at
a 100-page document submitted by
the IRS and boil it down to plain English,”
Bryant said. “Then to be able
to explain the concept to a client and
incorporate a strategy that is going
to make sense for our clients. We are
always vigilant to try to stay ahead
of the curve and to try to interpret
how these rulings coming down
from the Service can be used to impact
our clients in a positive way.”
Bryant said his firm continues to
accomplish this task for clients because
he has surrounded himself
with a team of highly-skilled experts.
“I am probably the least educated
person in our entire company,” he
said with a bit of a chuckle. “I would
say the identification of extremely
talented people has been my greatest
success in the industry.”
www.bedfordteam.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

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y amy m. armstrong
Singles and Doubles for Rounding
the Financial Diamond
One need look no further than
popular investment advice
columns published this fall
in Forbes, Investopedia,
U.S. News and World Report and the
Wall Street Journal to recognize that
today’s trend focuses on caution. Wall
Street gurus continue to emphasize the
benefits of “conservative” investing
and that theme isn’t lost on investors
working outside New York’s financial
district.
That’s why it’s always baseball season
for Luis Raposo and his team of
wealth advisers at ShorePoint Capital
Partners, just outside of Boston in
Stoughton, Mass. He likens the conservative
nature of his firm’s approach
regarding investing and financial management
to that of a carefully-played
baseball game. It might not feature
many exciting home runs or thrilling
sliding dives into home plate but his
goal is to get his clients around the financial
diamond, one base at a time.
“We are trying to hit singles and
doubles versus trying to hit home runs,
which we think can lead to strikeouts
much easier and more quickly than
taking a conservative approach to
investing,” Raposo explained. “We
think the key is customized investment
solutions that accomplish client
financial goals, striving to take
the least amount of risk necessary to
meet their goals.”
After the financial meltdown of
2008 and 2009, Raposo sees the client’s
need to minimize risk as one
still lingering even five years later.
The losses incurred then still sting.
“We think that 2008 and 2009 – that
great recession – had a profoundly
negative impact on investor mood
and sentiment. It is long lasting,”
Raposo said. “Even now, as the investment
market is hitting fresh new
highs, investors are still more conservative
than they probably have ever
been and the fear of losing money is
much more prevalent than is the reward
of making money.”
He doesn’t see this attitude changing
soon, either. Too many unknowns
remain, such as the overall dysfunction
in Washington, D.C., and the
anticipated higher taxes caused by
Obamacare.
The good news is that this general
level of mistrust and questioning
produces a field ripe for harvest by
investment professionals who are
willing to satisfy the emotional needs
of jilted investors. It includes jumping
on the bandwagon of investment
professionals turning to third party
custodians as a way to safeguard
client accounts, a move made long
ago by Raposo’s firm when he selected
Charles Schwab – a leader in the
custodial industry – as SharePoint’s
partner.
With the custodian sending separate
statements, Raposo believes this
gives the client a level of accountability
necessary in today’s recovering
market. The use of online account access
gives clients an additional level
of comfort.
“They can see their accounts and
we really believe this gives them the
value of transparency of information
and also lends itself to making them
feel safer,” he said.
Raposo and his team must be doing
something right. Since opening
its doors in 2010, ShorePoint has
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

grown more than 400 percent, aiming
for another 25 percent in growth for
2014. His firm is certainly grabbing the
attention of Boston-area media. Last
year, Boston Magazine named Shore-
Point as a “2013 Five Star Wealth Manager”
– an honor given only to the top
four percent of wealth management
professionals in the greater Boston
metropolitan area. One of the award
criteria includes high client retention
rates at the one- and five-year marks.
Building that kind of long-term relationship
is exactly what Raposo seeks.
“Our clients are looking for a conservative,
common sense investment
Shorepoint Capital Partners, LLC was
named one of the 2013 Five Star Wealth
Managers by Boston magazine and Five
Star Professional. The Five Star award
honors wealth managers of long-standing
quality and professionalism.
approach and want a long-term relationship.
They are looking to replace
cash flow in their retirement years or
supplement income in the meantime,”
Raposo explains. “We can make that
happen.” He does so via a mixed bag
of investments consisting of securities
– including the increasingly popular
exchange-traded funds or ETFs –
bonds and dividend investing.Raposo
recognizes that Congress continues
to chip away at dividends by slowly
but surely increasing applicable tax
rates, but he still views them as a tremendous
asset to any investor. In fact,
he labels dividends as critical for providing
income to baby boomers in an era
when pensions are rapidly decreasing.
“I do not think that dividend investing
will lose its appeal,” Raposo said. He
thinks the payouts will continue to supersede
any additional taxation. “Dividend
investing and dividend growth is here to
stay and will continue to be an important
component of client accounts – especially
as they head into retirement.”
He also sees a role for ETFs – even if it
isn’t a leading role in a conservative portfolio.
“There are some advantages to them.
They are very low cost. There is transparency.
You know exactly what is in each
of those ETFs. Their liquidity rate in the
market is unbeatable. You can trade them
at any second,” he said. “The downside
is that not all ETFs are created equal.
There can be tracking errors. And they
are not appropriate for all segments of
the market.”
Yet they represent another opportunity
to be evaluated based on what is in the
client’s best interest. That is also his approach
to the ongoing debate about creating
a uniform fiduciary standard governing
all the various types of financial
professionals under one national law.
As a Registered Investment Adviser
(RIA), Raposo registers with the Securities
and Exchange Commission. His
work is regulated by SEC guidelines,
backed up by legal ramifications, so his
professional standard is of a fiduciary
nature already. Raposo pointed out that
the brokerage industry does not have
that same standard. It is self-monitored
and regulated by the Financial Industry
Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
“I think the real question is what would
this uniform standard look like and who
would be the regulator,” Raposo indicated.
“Our standard is more stringent.
Anything moving away from that, we
think will be negative for investors. Right
now, the two different groups do not see
eye-to-eye on this subject. There is a lot
of work ahead of us to get to the point
where there could be a uniform fiduciary
standard.”
Whatever happens, you can be sure
that Raposo will continue to score for his
clients.
www.shorepointpartners.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.53

y diane alter
Identifying and Managing
Financial Risk
When You Think You've Thought of Everything
Risk is an unavoidable part of everyday
life. Without question, travel is
risky. But so is staying at home, where
25% of all fatal accidents occur. Eating
involves risk. Indeed, the foods we
ingest play a big part in our chances of
getting cancer, diabetes and a plethora
of other ailments. According to the International
Labor Organization, more
than 2.3 million deaths per year are
work-related, with the number of onthe-job
accidents amounting to some
316 million annually. Every day,
some 6,300 people die as a result of
occupational accidents or work-related
diseases. And, even falling in love
involves the risk of heartbreak.
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR
INDIVIDUALIZED INVESTMENT
ADVICE?
As the 2008 financial crisis so
cruelly reminded investors,
risk abounds in the investment
world. “But that doesn’t mean
people shouldn’t invest, nor does it
mean they shouldn’t do something
to try to reduce investment risk,”
Guy-Robert Porter, Chief Portfolio
Manager at Engineered Risk Advisory,
told “The Suit.” “By using
several strategies for risk management,
we manage both market and
liquidity risk.”
Engineered Risk Advisory uses
a little known source of returns
called the “Volatility Premium” in
order to add growth or protection.
“Most retail investors and retail
brokers can’t access the benefits of
option transactions. The additional
growth and protection available
with options is tricky to capture,
but there is a good deal of it out
there,” Porter said.
Engineered Risk Advisory uses
a number of financial instruments
to determine the risk existing in an
investment and then handles those
risks in a manner best suited to a
client’s investment objective. “Our
clients’ best interests are always
at the forefront of everything we
do. One of our goals is to educate
them about dangerous but obscure
market risks. For example, many
people don’t realize they are taking
more risk by being conservative
than if they invested in stocks. You
see, inflation risk (the purchasing
power of money invested in bonds,
treasuries, CDs) creates uncertainty
of the future real value and spending
power of their 'conservative' investments,”
Porter explained.
The financial market turmoil of
the last few years and recent record-breaking
benchmark rallies
has catapulted risk management
into the spotlight. While 2013’s
stellar stock gains are welcome,
they have many investors hell-bent
on holding on to them. “Navigating
the current investment environment
requires a clear definition
of an investor’s appetite for risk,
along with a solid risk management
methodology that involves
extensive thought, planning and
research. We try to think of everything,”
Porter shared.
As the old Wall Street adage
goes, “Risk is what’s left over when
you think you’ve thought of everything.”
www.engineeredrisk.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

Without a Financial Plan it’s Just Luck
It’s Not What You Make; It’s What You Keep
by diane e. alter
Government studies reveal that
roughly 90 percent of Americans
will run out of money in retirement.
Not because they’re living longer,
because they’re saving less. Indeed, according
to a recent survey by Bankrate,
more than three-fourths of Americans
don’t have enough money to pay their
bills for six months. Moreover, half of
survey respondents admitted they had
less than three months’ worth of expenses.
And, more than one-quarter have no reserves to tap in
the event of emergencies.
“To be sure, it’ not what you make; it’s what you save,”
Michael J.P. Fitzgerald, president of Fitzgerald Partners told
The Suit. “While you can build wealth relatively quickly
by say going to the bank for a loan, that kind of wealth is
temporary. Growing wealth takes time. That’s the reason I
created a specialized approach to retirement called Wealth
by Design.”
A fee-only investment and wealth management services
firm, Fitzgerald Partners specializes in helping pre-retirees
transition into a 5-10 year retirement plan. Additional areas
of expertise include real estate investment planning, educational
planning, tax planning, asset allocation and retirement
accumulation planning. Based in Houston, the firm
services clients across the nation.
“We believe a financial plan must be created to determine
a client’s needs and goals. Then, we work on the best means
of helping clients achieve them,” Fitzgerald explained.
A Certified Public Accountant, an accredited Personal Financial
Specialist, a Certified Financial Planner, and boasting
an impressive resume that not many in the financial
world can rival, Fitzgerald is frequently called upon for his
expert insight from myriad media outlets such as Fox Business
News, Forbes, MSN and Bankrate.com. He is one of the
country’s premier tax experts.
His love of country lead him to an eight year stint in the
military and to establish a number of programs to benefit
veterans.
By looking beyond traditional financial advisory services,
Fitzgerald has benefited many.
2500 City West Boulevard
Suite 300
Houston, Texas 77042
www.fitzfp-llc.com
COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE:
LEAVING FAMILIES IN CONTROL
In a litigated divorce, most of the communication between
parties takes place through legal motions and
correspondence between counsel, making it adversarial
by nature. “Those cases certainly out there,” says Louise
McGlynn. “And while there are cases that are litigated, our
goal is to encourage clients towards a negotiated approach.”
In the more traditional adversarial form of divorce, “winner
takes all” means that everyone ultimately loses.
The firm of Freshman & McGlynn listens very carefully
to the wishes of its clients. In most cases the clients want
to avoid the courtroom, but if a litigated divorce is on the
agenda, they have years of litigation experience and are aggressive
in the courtroom. Their goal whenever possible, is
to make the divorce process less painful, less contentious
and easier on the entire family, through negotiated settlement
processes.
The firm sees collaborative divorce as one of the preferred
options. As part of the collaborative process, both
parties consent not only to the divorce but also to a mutual
desire not to waste all of their assets in seeing it through. In
turn, both parties retain more control over what happens
to their children, assets and even their future relationship.
Opposing lawyers and clients sit together at a table, with
both sides pledging to hammer out an agreement. “I say to
clients that if you want to dance at your children’s wedding
by rich monetti
with your former spouse, this is
the process you use,” says Mc-
Glynn. Another form of divorce
that fits with McGlynn's philosophy
is the mediated divorce. A
lawyer – mutually agreed upon
as a neutral third party – advises
the divorcing parties on the confines
of the law, defining the parameters
and helping them arrive at a consensus. In other
words, McGlynn says, “I facilitate the conversation.”
But it all does take some doing. Given the many factors
involved, it takes boundless creativity to superimpose the
strictures of the law onto the emotional human component.
McGlynn says, “These are people’s lives. You can’t regulate
emotion and so the challenge is to keep the emotion in
check.”
Once these hurdles are cleared, “cashing out” the shared
household means that the worst has passed. Leaving everyone
with a sense of enthusiasm means the collaboration
worked and that is what matters most – especially when an
effective parenting plan puts the children first. As McGlynn
says, “It’s very satisfying to help a family move forward.”
www.freshmanmcglynn.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.55

y travis taylor
Investment Planning
for All Walks of Life
Helping People Successfully Plan for the Future
For Todd Moll and
Provenance Wealth
Advisors, helping
clients was never about
choosing the ones with
the most money. It was
– and still is – about helping those clients who came
to Provenance to not only reach their goals but also
to have a unique learning experience along the way.
“We don’t prefer one to the other, rich or poor,”
said Moll, director and chief investment officer for
Provenance Wealth Advisors. “We have a positive
impact on clients by helping with their decision-making.”
Moll and the other advisers at Provenance don’t
differentiate – the company is happy to work with
anyone who will gain from their services. “I don’t
think planning is exclusive to high net worth families,”
said Moll. “There is more personal benefit for
families with less worth, and we have the infrastructure
to help them
Before someone can become a client, however,
Moll said that Provenance considers these three basic
questions. Does the potential client care deeply
about preserving or protecting something, such as
business, family or employees? Does the client have
the resources necessary to tackle these concerns and
afford the services offered? And is the client committed
to the process? Said Moll, “We can’t care more
about the clients financial goals than they do.”
This down-to-earth approach toward helping people
extends beyond just clients. Provenance also supports
several organizations that assist children and
underserved communities. Helping others is a core
value at the heart of Provenance.
From the start, Moll's goal was to offer the best,
most coordinated planning experience for all clients,
while also presenting a unique one as well. Hiring
planners with different areas of expertise achieved
this end.
“The goal really was for us to bring in multiple experts
to provide a team on behalf of the client – so
that we’re looking at all components and all aspects
of the financial planning process,” said Moll.
Part of that planning process includes investment
management. But investment management is only a
component of a well-developed plan. Moll said that
the company has done a poor job if it outperforms
some relevant benchmark each year, but does not
achieve the client’s main objectives.
Also included is a comprehensive approach to
planning for each client, including estate, financial,
business and investment planning. Each client is
helped on a case-by-case basis, taking into account
the wide variety of individual reasons each client has
for seeking out Provenance.
For Moll, this has been a labor of love. He sees one
of the company’s greatest successes as the development
of the investment management process at the
firm. When the company started in 2000, despite the
wealth of planning knowledge held by the founders,
initially there was no real processes in place in the
investment management arena. Moll and his team
developed Provenance’s due diligence processes and
back office procedures from the ground up. Those
procedures still serve as the cornerstone of Provenance’s
investement management services. One that
has grown to well over $1 billion in client investment
assets.
But the shared passion for client experience has
driven Moll and the company forward, toward the
success Provenance is enjoying today. And, according
to Moll, every day is a new day – and a new challenge.
www.provwealth.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

y diane e alter
CONSCIOUS OF
RISK
OPEN TO OPPORTUNITY
Hiring the right financial planner can be a daunting
task indeed. Amid a sea of titles and acronyms in front
of and following a long list of advisers’ names, comes
some clever marketing and compounded confusion.
To be sure, financial advice is
unquestionably among the
most crucial advice you’ll
ever receive. Central to the
planning of your future, it’s not a
stretch to say that you need a financial
partner, not simply a financial
planner.
“That’s the mission behind our
firm,” James E. Pearman, Jr., founder
of fee-only Partners in Financial
Planning, told “The Suit.” “Our
firm offers advice that’s free from
conflict. We don’t sell insurance or
financial products. We are 100 percent
client goal oriented. What that
means is we’re committed to helping
clients achieve their goals. Investment
management is merely a
part – albeit a big part – of the service
we provide.”
Recognizing the need for unbiased
investment advice and guidance
in the wake of the 2008 financial
meltdown, Pearman created the
Salem, VA-based firm in 2009. With
some four decades of experience
in the industry, Pearman has been
providing comprehensive financial
planning since 1990. Areas of expertise
include income tax preparation,
along with estate and retirement
planning. Among his accomplishments,
Pearman has been cited in
“Medical Economics” magazines as
one of the top financial advisers for
doctors in the U.S. every other year
from 1998 through 2012. While the
firm counts a number of doctors as
clients, its customer base is vast and
varied, unlike its investment style.
“We use a passive approach to
investing. We don’t try to time or
beat markets. We’re conscious of
risks, yet open to opportunities.
This has served our clients and our
firm exceptionally well,” Pearman
explained. “Communication is also
extremely important to us and our
clients. We make sure clients understand
every move we make, every
recommendation and every change.
Our website serves as a valuable
portable in this area. We continually
post updates and also feature a
monthly newsletter.”
The initial financial plan is merely
a starting point. Financial planning
is a continuous process requiring a
commitment of time and energy by
both the planner and the client. So,
it’s imperative to build a trusting relationship
that will go the distance,
and to have an impartial voice of
reason during good times and bad.
“We believe that financial planning
should be an enjoyable, rewarding
and invigorating process,” Pearman
shared.
In a refreshing change of pace
from the buy/sell mantra of many
advisers, Partners in Planning holds
the term “partner” in the highest regard.
“We truly believe in the value
of our partnership with our clients,”
Pearman said.
www.pifp.ipower.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.57

y amy armstrong
Capturing Past
Security Losses
with Attention
to Detail
Over the last 10 years more than
$60 billion has been distributed to
shareholders as payouts from class
action settlements in securities litigation.
That is certainly a number big enough
to get one’s attention, but what is more surprising
is that most experts estimate that 50%
or more of all eligible claimants in these settlements
do not file and collect what is rightfully
theirs. Instead, the money gets reallocated to
those investors who do file.
Making matters worse is that most of those
who file are big institutional investors who
have service providers like custodial banks
and others who look out for them in this area.
Retail investors, who by most estimates make
up 30% of the market, have no one trying to
help them, and as a result it is estimated that
more than 80% of retail investors are left out
in the cold, with there money instead going to
the big institutions.
One company is making it a mission to
change that paradigm and bring service to
this previously under-served set of customers.
Financial Recovery Technologies, one of
the leading service providers to major institutions,
is exploring how they can adapt their
services to monitor, file and recover funds –
currently tailored for institutional clients with
large pools of capital – for the needs of clients
with smaller dollar amounts to claim.
According to company president Rob Adler,
his firm Financial Recovery Technologies
(FRT), founded in Medford, MA in 2008, is
taking a long look at how to serve the 30 percent
of the class action litigation market that
is viewed as “retail” or individually managed
accounts versus those of large institutions.
“Almost all of the service providers, such as
FRT, have historically only been able to provide
a service in a cost effective manner to the
institutional client,” Adler said. “One of the
goals for the future is whether anybody can
help the smaller client recapture securities
losses.”
Adler explained that there are many claims
going unfiled each year. This trend, he suggests,
is more concentrated in the sphere of
the smaller investor and is due to the nature
of the securities trade business.
“Investors tend to live very much in the
present. They are worried about performance
now,” Adler said. “When a claim settles, it is
usually for a case stemming from trading that
took place five to seven years ago. It is not
even on their radar screen.” This is particularly
true for smaller claims – ones that are only
a few hundred million dollars or even less
spread across an entire class of litigants.
“These tend to fly under the radar. If you
are not actively and intentionally monitoring
or paying attention, they can slip by,” Adler
explained.
Attention to these claims represents Adler’s
greatest successes and greatest challenges
in this business. In a typical year, about two
hundred cases involving securities claims
are filed. Admittedly, it’s an opaque process
heavy on details that go back in time, tending
to be a gray, murky area requiring a lot of attention
to detail in order to produce a successful
outcome.
Recouping past losses is only one small
part of a client’s much larger total investment
package. Recouping is something a busy client
does not always wish to undertake, especially
because of the investment in time it
takes to garner the many details necessary to
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

Top Ten Securities Class Action Settlements
Enron Corp.
WorldCom, Inc.
Tyco International
Cendant Corp.
Nortel Networks
Salomon Smith Barney
AOL Time Warner
Bank of America
McKesson HBOC, INC.
American International Group
$7.2 B
$6.1 B
$3.2 B
$3.2 B
$2.9 B
$2.7 B
$2.5 B
$2.4 B
$1.0 B
$992 M
obtain maximum benefit from such litigation.
“Much of what we do is education. We try to
explain and make transparent to the investor
what class action filing is all about and what
their opportunity is in as efficient a manner as
possible, with a maximum shareholder benefit
in terms of maximizing those collections,” Adler
explained.
Despite advances in information technology,
the process remains quite cumbersome – and
keeps the postal service busy. The Internet,
even with all of its instantaneous notification
possibilities, still does not play a major role in
securities litigation.
But the problem is often less an investor’s
awareness of a claim opportunity that is the
problem, Adler explains, as the firms who administer
the claims process do a thorough job
in making sure potential investors receive their
claim notification. Rather it is the complexity
of completing the forms accurately, often based
on trade data and history that is 5-8 years old,
which makes it so daunting for shareholders to
rightfully claim what they might be entitled to.
One additional area where all investors, including
large scale institutions, are struggling
to recover their cash is for legal settlements
outside of the US. Why? In 2010, the U.S. Supreme
Court ruled that international securities
claims must be filed in the courts of the country
where the trading originated. “This decision in
‘Morrison versus National Australia Bank’ has
complicated the process of international claims
recovery,” Adler said. It is also bringing new
business for his firm.
“The Morrison ruling has dramatically
changed the global landscape for claims recovery,”
Adler wrote. “Specialized guidance
on international filings within each country,
along with expertise in each country’s distinctly
different legal requirements and processes,
is critical to the successful claims settlement.”
While that sounds complicated, it isn’t Adler’s
greatest challenge. Instead, the most difficult
part of his day is possibly getting his two
teenagers out of bed and off to school. In comparison,
his job seems a cake walk.
“I’ve spent quite a good amount of time in
the financial services industry and have always
enjoyed it,” Adler said. “In building FRT, I am
excited to get involved and make a major impact
on insuring that all investors are treated
fairly in the claims recovery arena.”
www.frtservices.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.59

Investing for Those Under 50
by judy magness
Clarendon – a vibrant Arlington,
Virginia neighborhood
– filled with shops, bars, and
restaurants typifies the convenient,
family friendly atmosphere desired
by Washington D.C.’s young professionals.
CNN Money ranked Arlington
in the top ten “Best Places for the
Rich and Single” listing. Clarendon
Capital Management, LLC (CCM),
founded by Carlos Sava, is on target
for catering to exactly that younger, under-50 Clarendon
crowd. For them, Sava’s strategy focuses on income instead
of existing wealth, differentiating his firm from other investment
advisory firms.
Sava noted, “We see young lawyers, IT and consulting
professionals, and entrepreneurs as an under-served market,
without sufficient wealth to meet the minimums of those
firms. Confident they will get there over time, CCM is happy
to get involved early, because they have a long investment
horizon.” Speaking to his long-term strategy, Sava said,
“Our investment approach is a very patient one, with longer
holding periods than most firms.”
Sava discussed CCM’s unique approach, including advantages
of separately managed accounts over mutual funds
and their commitment to total transparency.
“Unlike mutual funds, our clients can see their investments.
People had accounts with Bernie Madoff, but nobody
knew what was in them,” said Sava. “And just as important
is transparency about fees, commission charges and expenses.
These are sometimes still buried and clients don’t see all
the charges associated with their investment account,” he
said. “We’re not in favor of that at all. It’s very damaging
and certainly not transparent.” The firm’s clients don’t pay
any sales or load fees, nor are there any penalties for withdrawing
funds within a certain time period.
CCM develops a strategic asset mix of stocks along with
fixed income, cash equivalents and alternative investments
to fit each client’s goals.
“Those under 50 must balance spending to handle life
changes such as buying a home and starting a family, while
also saving for retirement,” reasoned Sava. “There’s a lot of
financial pressure on this age group – and we are here to
help them.”
www.clarendoncapitalmanagement.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - AUG / SEPT 2013

y diane alter
A Lone Wolf Among Sheepish Money Managers
Intrepid Capital Management: Contrarian and Courageous
Investment styles abound on both Wall
Street and Main Street. Day traders vie for
mere penny gains. Momentum investors
buy what’s going up, believing that
rising stocks will continue to rise. Growth
investors place wagers on equities they
hope will be behind the “next big thing.”
Meanwhile, contrarian investors emphasize
out-of-favor securities with low price-to-earnings
ratios. The contrary camp tends to sell when
most people are buying, and will buy
when most are selling, following the
old Wall Street adage, “what appears
obvious is obviously wrong.” It’s that
kind of divergent thinking that has
placed Intrepid Capital Management
prominently and prestigiously on the
investment world’s highly competitive
map.
Since its founding in 1994, Intrepid
has grown in both presence and
prowess. President Mark F. Travis,
who boasts three decades of financial
experience, is highly respected in the
industry. As a frequent guest on CNBC
and Fox Business News, Travis has also
been featured in “Barron’s,” “Financial
Advisor Magazine” and “Smart
Money.”
“We pride ourselves on
independent thinking,” Travis
told “The Suit.” “We don’t
follow the Wall Street herd.
We’re discerning, deliberate,
disciplined and opportunistic.
All our funds are filled with our
best ideas to provide the best potential value to
our shareholders.”
Indeed, Intrepid’s Small Cap Fund won the
Lipper Award as Best Fund in its category (out
of 266 qualified small cap funds) for three-year
risk adjusted performance in both 2009 and
2010. Providing further evidence of the firm’s
outstanding performance, Travis explained, “We
emerged from 2008 (the Great Recession) virtually
unscathed. Our small cap fund sported a modest
7 percent decline compared to the sector’s average
We differentiate ourselves by managing
concentrated portfolios with low
turnover, seeking absolute returns,
and co-investing with our clients.
40-50 percent fall.”
Travis credits the firm’s disciplined investment
approach, which concentrates on return, risk,
liquidity and relative value. “We place a heavy
focus on free cash flow – a representation that a
company is able to generate cash after shelling
out money to maintain or expand its asset base
– when considering an investment. We seek to
buy only good businesses at good prices, using
detailed fundamental analysis. We don’t chase
performance or buy ‘hot’ stocks. We
remain flexible at all times and don’t
have cash limits. We’ll sit on cash if we
can’t find suitable investments,” Travis
explained.
Intrepid represents a refreshing
change from a large and growing
herd on Wall Street that deems cash
undesirable. It remains at the top of
its game by staying cost competitive,
tax efficient, maintaining open client
communication, employing the best
in the business and always upholding
its integrity. “I tell all my employees it
takes years to earn a stellar reputation
and just seconds to lose it. I lead by
example,” Travis said.
To be sure, sheep are herded.
The road to financial greatness is
led.
www.intrepidcapital.net
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.61

y amy armstrong
Emphasis on Emerging Markets
Provides Long-Term Opportunities
Your interests and
goals always come first.
In a nod to the adage stating, “That the only constant is change,” Robert
Lutts uses his position as the chief investment officer of the company
he started in 1983, Cabot Money Management, Inc., to transform
the age-old proverb into economic windfalls for his clients.
“I spend almost all of my time in the investment world,” Lutts said.
“At any given time, I have five or six sectors I’m really excited about to explore,
develop ideas, then communicate what I find and
give my team my recommendations.”
Some of his current picks for further review and
possible investment include solar energy, clean
technology, the hybrid vehicle market and big
data. He’s also extremely interested in DNA
genomic companies currently formulating
personalized medicine applications.
“It is ripe with opportunity in the next
10 to 15 years. I think more wealth will
be created in that sector of medicine
alone than has thus been created in the
entire pharmaceutical industry thus
far,” Lutts predicts. “The reason I say
this is the demand by the individual
to extend their life is without
limit. I am 57 and perhaps I will
live to 75 or 80. But what would I
pay or do for another ten years?
A lot.”
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - AUG / SEPT 2013

His opportunity-seeking isn’t limited to the U.S. border.
He’s a big fan of investment opportunities abroad and frequently
travels to China, Brazil, India and soon – Africa.
He is attending a large mining conference in South Africa
at the end of January 2014 in an effort to evaluate opportunities
there.
Those parts of the world are where
great opportunities will exist for the
next decade,” Lutts explained. “You
have to be open to the idea that growth
opportunities are not limited by coun-
“try borders.”
He has the good fortune, “to be able to identify trends
early on that become long-term trends and achieve a significant
value creation.” That value creation begins right
in Cabot’s home offices. There, clients go through a comprehensive
review of their current financial situation, followed
by the development of a strategic plan.
“This is our firm’s number one value,” Lutts explains.
“Our clients see it the first time they come in. On that first
day, they work with four individuals whom are highly-skilled
in each of their respective sectors – taxation, investments,
estate planning and insurance. The thing that
really works for our clients is that these four individuals
talk to each about each client’s case and they develop a
custom approach to the unique aspects of each client’s
life. The client is not getting some off-the-shelf cookie cutter
approach.” His clients – most with a liquidity of funds
worth at least $1 million, value this high level of personalized
service.
“These are people who have resources that need to be
managed. Not only that, they have complex tax, estate
and financial planning needs as well as a strong need
for insurance planning,” Lutts explained. Being high-net
worth isn’t the only thing Lutts seeks in a client. He prefers
to work with people who allow his firm’s investing
methods to work for them over the long haul.
He emphasizes educating clients regarding the various
and ever-developing tools of the investment trade.
He knows some clients are
weary of the recently-popular
ETFs (exchange-traded
funds). Lutts is a big fan,
even though he does admit
they can be a double-edged
sword.
“They do offer benefits in
lowering costs, offering tax
efficiency and simplicity,”
Lutts said. “They allow me to
target an individual part of a
particular market of a particular
economy. Yet, challenges
are created. I may be taking on more risk because of this
flexibility. This more complex slicing and dicing of the
marketplace may make trading more complicated.”
Lutts also sees that ETFs increase investor trading activity.
He cautions that increased activity does not necessarily
equal increased profitability. Yet, in the overall
investing scheme, he believes in the fluidity of ETFs. “I
am thrilled to have them,” he said. “But they do raise risks
and those risks are something we have to be aware of.”
Risk is not something Lutts avoids. He recognizes it
comes with the territory, “There is no free lunch. You cannot
get high returns without taking risk,” he said when
addressing the recent appearance of advertising, allegedly
delivering market returns with no risk. “In the long
run, they are lying. If you take less risk, you simply are
going to get less return.”
Lutts understands where the notion is coming from.
The past ten years, marked with financial scandal after
scandal and two bear markets have made investors leery
of risk. He calms investor fears with a simple reminder:
“Investing is about the long-term.” According to Lutts,
“Over a long period of time, if you invest in a carefully
chosen group of companies, you will achieve a 9-10 percent
annual rate of return.”
For now, Lutts does not see a federal uniform fiduciary
standard being developed. “It’s not there aren’t issues to
be addressed. It’s just that most of those arise ‘after the
fact,’” he said.
“For investors, counselors and wealth advisers, it is
very challenging to come up with a uniform set of standards
effective at managing and monitoring markets.
Investor behavior dramatically changes from cycle to cycle
and what usually happens is that they (government
authorities) outlaw things that didn’t work – after they
didn’t work.”
Instead of looking in the rear view mirror, Lutts is always
looking forward. He’s working on being a bit less
bullish at market highs and less bearish at market lows
– which he acknowledges is challenging.
Lutts comes by this careful watching of trends and opportunities
naturally – his father was the founder and
original editor and publisher of the “Cabot Market Letter.”
In 1983, when launching his own firm, Lutts contacted
those subscribers because he knew they were also
looking for new opportunities. The next profitable opportunity
is what Lutts intends to keep on finding not only
for himself, but more importantly, for his clients.
216 Essex Street Salem, MA 01970 (978) 745-9233
www.ecabot.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.63

y amy m. armstrong
Keeping Clients From Unnecessary Risk
Jordan Schlick is keeping his clients
out of the bond market. That
is, at least until he sees what effect
the impending end Federal Reserve’s
current quantitative easing (QE) process
will have on interest rates in 2014.
Schlick anticipates a rise in interest
rates as the Fed reduces its bond purchases.
As he notes, in March 2013,
interest rates rose by three-quarters of
a percentage rate based merely on the
discussion of a potential end to quantitative
easing.
“It was a pretty big shock,” explains
Schlick, chief executive officer of the
Columbia, Maryland-based Compass
Capital Management, LLC – a firm he
first established a decade ago. “Our
perspective is that when the Feds get
the economy healed and once they
take off this stimulus (QE) that has
kept interest rates artificially low, then
interest rates will jump another 0.5% to
1.0% pretty quickly.”
This is not a good thing for purchasers
of long-term government bonds.
When interest rates rise relative to the
time of purchase, the price of the bond
drops. As Schlick points out, interest
rates on government bonds have remained
low due to the Fed’s QA program
– a tool pulled back out of the
government’s economic tool box to use
after the 2007-08 financial collapse. As
reported by “Time” and Forbes” magazines,
the Fed continues to purchase
$85 billion per month in Treasury
bonds and long-term mortgage-backed
securities. When this ends, financial
analysts, including those at the Congressional
Budget Office, expect bond
interest rates to more than double, hitting
5 percent by 2019.
“However, economically, we believe
we are in a pretty good position right
now,” Schlick said. He expects growth
of 3% or higher in 2014, which should
allow the stock market to see further
gains.
Regardless of the markets, he continues
to work with clients to determine
the correct level of risk tolerance
for their portfolios. Risk is different
for each client, which is something
Schlick says he and his partner, Tim
Dull – both chartered financial analysts
(the CFA is composed of 18
hours of exams on investments and
portfolio management) – understand
well. While they determine what and
where to invest, the client’s risk tolerance
level provides key guidance in
that decision-making process.
“We custom-fit the client’s portfolio
to meet that risk,” Schlick said. “We
give them the parameters so they can
understand what could happen in
terms of market decline or market depreciation
and to make sure they are
comfortable with the level of risk.”
Keeping clients assured of the safety
of their investments is also key,
Schlick noted. Advisers such as himself
currently get an assist from the
federal government which has increased
its regulatory oversight. It
means extra paperwork for firms that
are registered investment advisers
(RIAs), but Schlick believes ultimately
that the shift toward greater scrutiny
is beneficial to his business (and to all
investors). His firm utilizes an independent
custodian, TD Ameritrade,
and he likes the fact that his clients
receive statements from both his firm
and from the custodian.
Schlick observed, “Hopefully this
gives our clients a greater sense of security.”
www.compasscapmgt.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - AUG / SEPT 2013

y diane alter
Personalized Software Solutions Allowing for
Small Companies to Compete With the Big Wigs
Technology is evolving at such
a lightening quick speed that
companies today simply cannot
afford to waste time, energy and money
building or implementing software
that is likely to be antiquated in a few
months. With a good planning, however,
it is possible to avoid this scenario.
“You need to understand your business
process before you decide on a
particular software,” Natalie Noel,
CEO of Tech Advocate Group (TAG)
told “The Suit.” “Most companies attempt
to adapt to new software. The
optimal approach is to employ software
that adapts to you. User adaptation
starts at the planning stage.”
Noel formed her Baton Rouge, LAbased
company in 2012 after working
for a number of years at several prestigious
software consulting companies
around the country. Her exposure
to a wide variety of
business cultures and
vastly diverse software
systems paved
the way for a high
level of comfort in developing
mission-critical
applications for
many different kinds
of business. An established
entrepreneur as
well as an elite college
basketball player, Noel has the discipline,
drive and endurance of an accomplished
athlete coupled with the
skill of an industrialist.
“Unlike many of the big software
solution companies that specialize
in impersonal customer relationship
management (CRM), we are very personalized.
We start any affiliation by
fully understanding the client, their
business, their revenue goals and who
their users are. We gather all the pertinent
information and spend a great
deal of time in the planning stage. But
we don’t stop there. We stay on board
to make sure the software adoption
flows. By establishing
long-term relationships,
we also have a
foothold on securing
future business,” Noel
explained.
Without question,
the future of software
lies in cloud computing.
It opens up a great
many doors by making applications
and data more accessible than ever
before. A host of cloud applications
have already, and will continue to
greatly improve a company’s productivity
and profits. “Eventually – and
sooner rather than later – every piece
of equipment and every gadget will
be equipped with devices to transmit
data via the cloud. That relay of facts
and figures will improve customer service
and the user experience. By capturing
that invaluable information, an
organization can increase revenue and
growth. Cloud computing is in its early
stages, but it’s evolving every day.
As an industry expert, what I see as
one of cloud’s biggest benefits is that it
lets small companies compete with the
giants,” Noel detailed.
And that is exactly what TAG is doing.
Although it is a new player in the
technology sector, it is already successfully
competing with the industry’s
“big boys.”
Noel knows that success in basketball
or in life doesn’t come easy, and
the same is true when implementing
mission-critical software systems –
that’s why she created TAG, and that’s
why she is sorely needed.
www.techadvocategroup.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.65

y the suit staff
Effective Training Delivery and
Cloud Computing Drive IT Business
Capitalizing on the notion that computer users train
better on their own workstations, NEM Technology
of Oscoda, Michigan, is using video training delivered
directly to the end user as a mainstay in support programs
being offered to its technology clients. This training
delivery system seems in line with surveys favoring the
video approach, including one recent Forbes survey showing
that 60 percent of executives prefer watching a video
versus reading text at their personal workstations. Even the
U.S. Department of the Navy utilizes video training, personalized
for delivery to workstations. It promotes retentive
learning, largely because of the emotional involvement
a viewer experiences.
It’s a notion with which Larry Holland, CEO of NEM
Technology, heartily agrees.
“Video absolutely is one of the handiest tools for training,”
he said. “It keeps them (the user or trainee) in their environment
rather than disrupting them to have to come and
sit in a training session somewhere. To be able to deliver the
training to them while they are involved with their workload
is one of the best avenues for delivering training.”
Training the end user in any technology his firm brings to
its clients is an important component in Holland’s overall
plan of service. But it isn’t his only goal. He’s looking to
work with companies that want to be able to fully utilize
the best overall technology they can afford.
“It is important first of all to make sure that the companies
we are working with do not want to continue to
struggle underneath a best efforts basis,” he said. Knowing
how the recent economic downturn forced some companies
to hold on to “antiquated” equipment, Holland's
philosophy includes identifying ways to make existing
equipment and IT infrastructure work until budgets improve.
But ultimately, his firm seeks to provide its clients
with the most affordable of the most current technology
– including the support and security measures his team
of experts can provide – such as controlling the flow of
electronic mail, network access and DNS (Domain Name
System) resolution against malware attacks.
Holland is a fan of cloud computing for a couple of
reasons, including the simple fact that its existence has
helped grow his own business, even in a sluggish economy.
“Through our work with Microsoft or other providers,
we are able to bring cloud computing to businesses
that stand to gain in two areas: mobility and productivity,”
Holland said. He noted that some cloud customers
might not be in the market for any other IT services, but
can at least find a use for cloud services. “When we have
that mobility factor or the agility for a customer to use
services on up to five devices, so that they are not limited
to the workstations at their desks but can now work
from the cloud on the computer at the hotel, their laptops,
their tablets or in some cases, even on their cellular
phones – this increases productivity.”
www.nemtechnology.com.
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

y travis taylor
Renewable Energy, Sustainable Executives
Forging a successful path finding renewable energy executives
Renewable energy is a
multi-billion dollar
industry. Investment
in technologies such
as solar power, wind
power and hydroelectricity, reached
$257 billion in 2011 alone.
Rapid growth like that creates
a need among companies for
top-notch executives focused on
renewable energy. This is where
Carina Whitham and the Whitham
Group come into play. Whitham,
founder and CEO, brought the
company together in 2010 after
spending over 10 years in recruiting
and staffing. Whitham and her
associates found a niche in renewable
energy recruiting and brought both
their talent and passion to bear on
that industry.“The one thing we
noticed was that the people within
the renewable energy industry, they
take their talent and direct it toward
the bettering of the environment,”
Whitham said. “And they’re just
good people to work with.”
In less than two years, the
Whitham Group has already found
success. “In 2012 our revenues
skyrocketed. This year – 2013, we
are slated to double last year’s
revenues,” noted Whitham. “And
we are now expanding our offices
all over the nation.”
Already Whitham Group has
concentrations in solar power,
with expansion into the biofuel,
geothermal and wind industries.
Part of the reason for the scope
of this achievement is the way
Whitham and her associates go
about finding talent for companies,
saving them money in the process.
Before taking on any new client,
for instance, Whitham Group goes
through an assessment process.
First, they only consider
companies that are in the renewable
energy industry. Whitham concedes
that this means considering only
American-based companies.
Secondly, each potential client’s
revenue and capitalization is
taken into consideration and
thirdly, Whitham Group uses their
vast connections to feel out the
company, take a look into their
corporate culture and interview
people who work for that potential
client. “We don’t want to place a
candidate anywhere that’s not a
viable position in a viable company
with a good reputation,” Whitham
said.
Because Whitham Group can
offer a retained-level search and
do it on a contingent basis, they are
able to greatly reduce the amount
of money a company spends on
finding the right five-to-seven figure
talent. That savings can be up to
half of what is spent on larger, less
renewable energy-focused search
firms – and with better results.
With so much success already,
Whitham Group is poised to
continued their significant growth
and influence in the renewable
energy industry. “In 2014 our plan
is to align ourselves with some
of the top energy companies and
diversify by expanding our client
portfolio,” said Whitham.
This combination of passion,
talent and even a sense of fun has
driven Whitham Group to the top of
renewable energy executive search
firms. “We love what we do,” said
Whitham, “so it doesn’t really seem
like work.”
www.whithamgroup.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.67

y diane alter
WALKING COUPLES THROUGH
DIVORCE-O-NOMICS
Avoiding a Divorce Hangover
Divorce, no matter how
amicable, is a profoundly life-changing
experience. It is painful, confusing and
can be very costly. Helping couples for
nearly three decades keep divorce from
devastating their finances – and as a result,
their lives – is Bob Bordett, owner
of Atlanta-based Collaborative Practice
and Mediation Services, Inc.
“I am the neutral party,” Bordett, a
Certified Financial Planner and Certified
Divorce Financial Analyst, told “The
Suit.” “I don’t have a dog in the fight.
Clients come here to discuss their issues
– not for a battle. I help couples, families
and businesses make sound financial decisions
through alternative dispute resolution
methods. These processes involve
trust and communication and all work
very well.”
The successful processes Bordett employs
are centered on an interactive approach.
solutions that are beneficial for all involved.
That’s an important part of my
methodology and it allows for greater
successes,” Bordett explained.
Also important are the myriad emotions
involved in divorce. One of the
greatest challenges a person will ever
go through, divorce affects every area
of life and stirs up a hornet’s nest of
emotions. “That’s why I include divorce
coaches and mental health experts
in my practice. You see, with
every asset there are emotional ties.
For example, a home is an extremely
emotional asset. Working with these
experts, clients are able to remove the
emotional part and determine if holding
on to or vying for an asset makes
financial sense,” Bordett added.
Clients working with Bordett will
agree that his methods have resulted
in better long-term relationships with
former spouses, largely because there
is no court fight. There are also a number
of benefits inherent in the methods
Bordett employs, including:
•Mediation and settlement is
easier on children, since these are
typically more peaceful than litigation.
“I USE THREE SETTLEMENT METHODS. THEY
INCLUDE INTEGRATED MEDIATION, ARBI-
TRATION, AND COLLABORATIVE DIVORCE.
since they make the decisions instead
of the court.
Bordett emphasized, “Once you are
in court, it’s a judge – who knows very
little about you and your family – that
will make final, life-altering decisions
about you, your family, your property,
your money and ultimately how you
will live your life. That’s a daunting
prospect.”
But whatever method is used, we discuss
assets, liabilities, taxes and cash
flow. I make it a point to educate clients.
This helps them in recognizing the decisions
and agreements are theirs not
mine. I encourage clients to think outside
the box and come up with creative
•Mediation allows for far more
discretion because it is private,
while divorce is public.
It expedites agreements and reduces
expenses.
•It helps clients stay in control
www.u2agree.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

Making Family Law About Families
Collaborative Divorce: A More Therapeutic Alternative
by travis taylor
Marriages are meant to
last forever. But sometimes
they don’t, and
then a once-committed
couple heads for divorce. With
roughly 40-50 percent of marriages in
the United States ending in divorce, a
failed marriage is almost more commonplace
than a successful one.
What can be lost in the pursuit of
these divorces is the emotional impact
they will have on other family members. This is where
Arthur Grossman and Florida-based firm of Grossman &
Grossman helps out. The husband and wife team of divorce
attorneys seek to make family law more about families, by
respecting relationships, diversity and values. As Grossman
noted, “We decided from day one to focus on divorce and
family law, because we believe the practice of family law
really presents us with the greatest opportunity to make a
significant, positive impact on the lives of our clients and
their families.”
Grossman was in IT Management for 12 years before following
his parents into law. He and wife, Kristin, met while
both attending Florida Coastal School of Law, where Grossman
graduated at the top of his class. After graduation,
both attended the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at
the Pepperdine University School of Laws and Grossman
earned a Master of Law in Dispute Resolution.
Since starting the firm, Grossman has looked for clients
interested in what he described as a “healthy divorce.”
A healthy divorce is one where the client recognizes the
amount of stress involved in the divorce process, understands
how it affects the entire family and takes steps to see
a mental health professional to prepare for the road ahead.
Part of what Grossman does to help make sure families
get the most positive impact from divorce is through a collaborative
divorce process. Collaborative divorce is where
both parties use joint techniques, working together instead
of looking to beat the other side. This can save money by
avoiding extensive litigation and the courtroom. It also
greatly reduces the amount of stress on the family.
“Family law would benefit more if kept out of the courtroom,”
said Grossman. While he believes the legal system
in the US works well, he wants to see a shift toward more
alternative dispute resolution. This means more mediation,
informal negotiation and arbitration before getting to a
courtroom.
Grossman is driven by his focus on family in family law,
viewing his greatest success in law as having provided his
clients with a voice. “Too many people in our society just
want to be heard,” said Grossman.
As for the future, Grossman wants to increase public
knowledge about collaborative divorce and increase the
number of clients – but not necessarily just for money. “Increasing
our clients means more people I can help,” Grossman
said. “More people I can provide with a healthy alternative,
a more therapeutic alternative for restructuring their
families.”
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y diane alter
“COMMUNICATE, DON’T LITIGATE”
Representing Community Associations
“Community” is the foundation behind Kaman & Cusimano, LLC Attorneys at Law – an
Ohio-based firm focusing on condominium and homeowner association law. “We don’t
represent developers, owners, contractors, management companies, banks or tenants,” Joseph
(Jay) Cusimano, partner, told “The Suit.” “We only represent community associations.”
Every case the firm takes on
begins with practical considerations
of potential outcome
and its effect on the community.
“We recognize that we don’t just
represent clients,” explained Cusimano,
who was included this year
in the 20th edition of “The Best
Lawyers in America” for real estate
attorneys.
“We represent entire communities.
Every association is first and foremost a community.
A primary goal and responsibility of ours is to keep our
community association clients out of legal trouble. So, we
are big on providing education for board members in order
to prevent problems. And, we also keep the lines of
communication open at all times,” Cusimano said.
Homeowners associations (HOAs) are formal legal entities
created to maintain common areas. Membership is
mandatory for all property owners within a development
and mandatory fees are the norm. HOAs are corporations
with formal bylaws, and there is typically a governing
board which hires a property management company to
handle maintenance and a variety of enforcement issues.
It’s a big industry which continues to get bigger.
Indeed, according to the Community Associations Institute,
about 50 million Americans live in association-governed
communities. Approximately 1.25 million people
serve on community association boards and another
300,000-plus serve as community members. Some 6,000-
8,000 new community associations are formed every year.
The estimated real estate value of the homes in all community
associations amounts to more than $2 trillion or
roughly 15 percent of the value of all U.S. residential real
estate. The estimated annual operating revenue for these
associations is $30-$35 billion.
Amid this rapidly growing industry, comes a growing
number of disputes, running the gamut from smoking on
the premises, to pet ownership, to laundry lines, to decorative
gnomes (or flamingos). “These disputes, no matter
how trivial they may seem to some on the outside, are
important to those impacted by the matter and for that
reason can be very costly. While we recognize that every
person has a say, we also know that not every case has
merit. We know every side of the issue; not just the law,
but the practical considerations as well. That’s invaluable
to all of our clients,” Cusimano detailed.
The firm’s aim is not just to help clients avoid litigation.
It’s to make sure neighborhoods are running smoothly
and amicably. “When people are happy where they live,
they come together and embrace their unity. Everyone
benefits and it promotes property values,” Cusimano said.
To be sure, the very name “community” sounds like the
words “come” and “unity.” And getting everyone to come
together in unity is Kaman & Cusimano’s goal.
www.ohiocondolaw.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

y diane e. alter
ATTORNEY, ADVOCATE
AND BIT OF A REBEL
“
In
Asset protection planning is all about
planning before a claim or compromising
situation arises. And, it’s
important for people to understand
that personal assets are for trusts,
and business assets are for business
entities.”
order to make sure your legal rights are properly represented,
it is imperative to hire a good, honest and skillful
lawyer – which implies that you have to know how to
find one. Unfortunately, a great many people don’t find
out that they have selected a bad or incompetent lawyer until
it’s far too late.
Additionally, since lawyers have a wide variety of areas of
expertise, it is also crucial to hire the right lawyer for the job.
For those in need of estate and trust planning, international
tax issues and disputes, asset planning, protection of assets
and U.S. taxation issues, Walter Weiss, A Law Corporation,
is the wise choice. Frequently consulted by colleagues and
CPAs, Weiss has been honored in the annual “Top 100 Los
Angeles Super Lawyers” publications every year since 2006.
“I work with clients that I know I can help,” Weiss told “The
Suit.” “They want good results and so do I. While my practice
runs the gamut from trust planning to estate tax preparation
to business succession planning to charitable giving to matrimonial
law, I enjoy and have had great success in cases that
involve the IRS. I like fighting the government. I guess you
could say I am a bit of a rebel in that regard,” Weiss said
with a chuckle.
Weiss’ highly regarded practice offers the most comprehensive
insight and service in assisting clients to make informed
and sensible decisions about the issues at hand. Providing
the same capabilities and sophistication as a large law
firm, the Weiss firm can also boast of providing the same
coveted level of personalized attention given by boutique
firms.
Protection of assets is among the busiest areas in Weiss’
practice. And contrary to popular belief, estate planning
trusts are not just reserved for the wealthy. To be sure,
the assets one has worked long and hard to accumulate
can be quickly lost if not properly protected. “Asset
protection planning is all about planning before a claim or
compromising situation arises. And, it’s important for people
to understand that personal assets are for trusts, and business
assets are for business entities,” Weiss explained. In short,
commercial operations are not personal piggybanks, and different
needs call for different kinds of trusts
As we move into 2014 – an unquestionably more taxing environment
– Weiss stresses that people need to start planning
for higher taxes and for tax changes now. You see, every situation
also has a tax advantage. And Weiss helps clients find
that benefit.
1901 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 390,
Los Angeles, CA 90067
(310) 553-7019 Phone
www.walterweiss.net
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.71

y a. marie velthuizen
PUTTING THE CHILDREN FIRST
Meeting the needs of children
whose parents are
divorcing is legal priority
number one for
Martha C. Hall, partner at Hall Law
Group, PC in Statesboro, GA, a firm
with a concentration in family law.
She knows it’s a tall order, but she
won’t represent litigants at all who
won’t put their children’s welfare at
the forefront of the divorce process.
Hall considers the children to be the
marital estate’s most precious and
valuable asset – and she intends to
protect them.
“I look for clients who are going
to put the children first and if I sense
they are not on that path, or if the
children are being used as pawns in
the litigation process, I simply choose
not to represent those folks,” Hall
said.
She offers a variety of coaching materials
for parents aimed at educating
her clients about what is appropriate
behavior and discussion topics in the
presence of their children. Perhaps it
is a fancy term for bad-mouthing the
other parent – but Hall spends a fair
amount of time teaching clients about
“parental alienation” and the deleterious
long-term effects it can have on
a child’s well-being.
“I’ve learned through years of practice
that some clients do not know
they are doing that,” Hall said. “If
you coach them, offer them literature
and walk them through the different
situations they may face, most of
them realize which word choices and
topics are not appropriate in the presence
of the children.”
This is not to say that Hall doesn’t
fight hard for her clients’ other best
interests – particularly the financial
ones. As far as she is concerned, it’s
not a challenge to separate the children’s
issues from other aspects of
the divorce.
“I treat it more like a business,” she
said. “It is two partners trying to divvy
up the assets in a fair and equitable
way. I separate that from the child
custody issues. It is possible to make
sure your client gets what is due on
the financial side but also to set them
up to become a good co-parent on
the child issues once the attorney and
the judge are no longer a part of their
lives.”
Martha C. Hall & J. Michael Hall
32 East Main Street, Statesboro
www.hlg-pc.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE - DEC / JAN 2014

y amy m. armstrong
Real Estate
Practiced with Conscience
When Barbara Brown
opened her law firm, Emery
Law & Mediation,
P.A. in Tampa, Florida
in 2006, as an attorney specializing in
real estate matters, she had no clue how
fortuitous the timing would be or what
a dramatic shift she would ultimately
undergo professionally.
It was one year before the 2007 start
of the housing debacle and a year before
the real estate industry saw high
foreclosure rates coupled with plenty
of legal action.
Brown, formerly Barbara Brown-Emery,
parlayed a strong track record representing
the plaintiff side in real estate
court into something she never expected
– a crossover to the defense side.
“When I opened my own firm, I had
a number of referrals from previous
clients,” Brown said. “Once the market
went down in 2007 and 2008, the
realtors we worked with began talking
about clients in distressed situations
such as foreclosure or pre-foreclosure
and these realtors said to me, ‘Hey,
can you help my clients out?’” Brown
thought about it and realized that she
could. “It was like the criminal prosecutor
flipping to the criminal defense
side,” she joked. “We started moving
into defending foreclosures and working
with clients on loss mitigation strategies.”
Brown makes this transition
sound easy, but in reality
it came with an enormous
change in mindset.
The clients she now works
with are in significant financial
distress, riding an
emotional rollercoaster as
they go through the various
not-so-pleasant and
not-so-quick legal processes
potentially resulting in homelessness.
“I try to keep in the back of mind that
these are not just financial, contractu-
al or legal issues for my clients. These
are emotional issues. They are staying
up late at night worrying about these
things. It takes a toll on their relationships,”
she said. “It sounds corny, but
the bottom line of our practice is helping
people. We review their financial
situation and try to provide solutions
that are specifically geared to their goal
– whether that means keeping their
property through restructure or getting
them in the best position possible for a
short sale.”
Brown’s firm offers expertise in the
various areas of foreclosure. When
she began the firm in 2006, it was just
Brown and an assistant. Today, Emery
Law supports its clients with a full time
staff, including a short sale negotiator,
a loan modification specialist, title processor
and legal assistant, along with
administrative staff to support all areas.
Her greatest success is aptly represented
by the case of a former bartender
who had to retire from bartending
for health reasons and fell behind on
his mortgage payments while starting
a new business. Brown helped him stay
in his home as he started a new career.
“We were able to keep him in his
home for four years as he built his new
business. We gave him the gift of time
to get what he needed as far as income
for the loan modification,” Brown said.
“The suc- cess is that we allowed
him to stay in his home while he
moved on with his life.”
This is a prime example of how to
practice real estate law with a conscience,
aptly highlighting the admirable
goal of Brown and her firm – “Fighting
for Justice, One Home at a Time.”
Emery Law serves Tampa Florida
12718 DuPont Circle
Tampa, FL 33626
813-289-8485
www.foreclosureattorney-tampa.com
THE SUIT MAGAZINE p.73

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At Northwestern Mutual, we’ve paid more
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Put our strength to work for you. Contact us to learn how.
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jimbufalo.com
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