Your Interests Always Come First

“Plan First, Invest Second”

These four words mark the fundamental approach we take in advising clients. Understanding the financial concerns and priorities that each client brings to the table is paramount and, in our view, must be addressed before we can begin a discussion about investments and risk. Applying these principles to a defined process, we start from the very beginning.

• • Initial Conversation:
    If the decision to partner with an advisory team isn’t big enough, selecting the right advisors can seem even larger. In most cases we schedule a 30 minute phone conversation or in-person meeting with prospective clients to give us each the chance to ask questions and learn about each other. By the end of the discussion, you will have a good idea as to how well your needs align with our services.

• • Discovery Meeting:
    After the initial conversation, we like to schedule an in-person meeting. We prefer to spend most of our time asking you questions, discussing a variety of topics related to your personal financial situation such as your values, goals, interests, family members and concerns.We will answer any questions you have and introduce you to PrairieView Partners in more detail, explaining our core philosophies and values. We’ll also describe the backgrounds and expertise of those partners and employees who would serve on your wealth management team.

• Financial Analysis:
  Every new client goes through a Financial Planning & Investment Analysis. This is a 3-step Planning Process that begins with a detailed Personal Financial Statement. We then transition to detailed cash flow projections built around your goals. In these discussions we’ll answer many questions like the following:

1. 1. 1. Do I have enough saved to retire and sustain my lifestyle to the end of my/our plan?
      2. Will we be able to afford college for our children?
      3. Do I have adequate life insurance in the event of premature death?
      4. If my spouse or I required Long-term Care services, will we be okay financially?

The final component of the Analysis focuses on Investments from a variety of perspectives. We’ll address risk in your portfolio as well as the expenses associated with your investments. At this stage we’ll also develop your Risk Profile, which will link back to your cash flow/goal needs. Concluding the review, you’ll have a clear idea of the philosophical approach we incorporate in our work as investment managers and how the level of risk taken is integrated with your overall Plan. If applicable, we will also provide a comprehensive analysis of Executive Compensation Plans (employee stock options, Restricted Stock Awards, etc.)

• • Implementation:
    Once your Plan is in place, we will be very hands-on to put it into action. We will map out future planning items, such as facilitating an Estate Plan review meeting to which we devote a separate meeting. We’ll determine a timeline for tax planning and explain our process if we are to prepare your income tax returns. As appropriate, accounts will be transferred or electronically linked to our portfolio management system which is the backbone for a dynamic Client Portal, providing comprehensive, daily monitoring of all accounts within your portfolio.

Our clients come from diverse backgrounds and are at various stages of career and retirement life. We can be particularly valuable if you are going through a life transition, such as retirement, loss of a spouse, or sale of a business, because we are effective in translating new financial circumstances into sustainable, long-term financial plans and investment strategies.

While many of our clients are retired or approaching retirement with a net worth from $2 million to $20 million, we are also committed to working with younger clients who may be in the earlier stages of building their investment portfolios. Our clients want to work with a team of trusted experts so they can spend time on other priorities in their lives. We approach situations on a case-by-case basis to determine how our services can best be aligned with your needs.

• Executives, managers and scientists at local Fortune 500 companies represent a significant portion of PrairieView’s clients. The complexities involved in their executive compensation, senior-level benefits and concentration in company stock, demand a high level of integration between financial planning, income tax planning and investment management.  We have developed a deep understanding of corporate benefit packages and can provide valuable advice as you make important financial life decisions.

True personal wealth management, as we define it, is frequently offered but rarely executed in a meaningful way. As wealth managers we take a collaborative approach to developing your financial plan. Many in our industry will make the same claim, but are they actually equipped to deliver on this promise? Every client of PrairieView is connected to a team of partners. At a comprehensive review meeting you are seated with your investment manager, your CPA, a tax and estate attorney, and a Certified Financial Planner®. These functions are not outsourced to third parties and our clients are not “assigned” to less-experienced para-planners. Because we know our clients so well, we are in an excellent position to integrate every aspect of their planning needs.

"Rising Professionals” are typically early-career professionals or career-changers who are experiencing rapid growth in their career, financial reward, wealth accumulation, and complexity. They often face many changes or decisions in both their professional and family lives that have financial implications. In this phase, good financial decisions can pay dividends for you and your family for many years. Our multi-disciplinary team is well suited to help if these situations describe you.

We build global portfolios designed to diversify a client’s assets broadly across major investment markets worldwide. We look for attractive investment returns wherever they can be found, provided we can invest in those markets at low cost and with controlled risk. We fundamentally believe long-term investment performance is determined primarily by the investment markets in which one participates, and to a lesser extent by the specific investment security itself. We combine these market investments in a way to reduce risk while not sacrificing the returns. To stabilize portfolios, we employ a conservative fixed income strategy utilizing bonds and cash, avoiding long-term maturities, and including only investments of very high credit quality. We primarily use “asset class” and institutional investment vehicles to represent these markets. We design a customized portfolio for each client based on her or his specific investment objectives. Each portfolio is therefore uniquely tailored to the individual’s particular circumstances.

Although PrairieView is headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, we have clients throughout Minnesota and in many other states across the country as well as overseas.

Thanks to technology, we’re able to make sure the experience of our out-of-the-area clients is as positive as that of our local clients. To do that, we use…

• Zoom (a video conferencing service) for virtual meetings and presentations.
• A highly secure online client vault to store and exchange sensitive financial documents.
• User-friendly online planning software, so clients can examine their financial plans, and see how changes to different variables effects the outcome.

We frequently meet people who make financial decisions in a backwards fashion. They implement their investment portfolio before doing any real planning. Our process at PrairieView is to do the planning first and the investing second. For example, we won’t invest $1 of your money until we thoroughly understand your specific goals, (i.e. what’s the money for?) and the values and priorities you have put in place. We then set out to understand all the moving parts.

We feel we can add tremendous value to the financial planning of most individuals, families and small businesses. Situations presenting complexities are where we truly thrive. We are experts in managing the income tax implications that are often a part of major life transitions. Once a client, we will encourage you to contact us anytime you are faced with an important financial decision.

Major Planning Areas:

• Retirement and Cash Flow projections to determine if you are on track to meet your goals.
• College savings strategies.
• Employee compensation and Stock Option analysis as well as evaluation of concentrated positions.
• Identifying and designing optimal retirement plans to fit with both company-employed and self-employed individuals.
• Consulting on debt management choices including home mortgage, refinancing and home equity loans/lines of credit.
• Tax return preparation and income tax planning (Through an affiliated CPA firm, or a firm with which we have a strong association).
• Estate tax planning and estate plan design and implementation using both in house and independent lawyers.
• Life Insurance—we will review all life insurance holdings for their efficiency relative to your financial plan as well as for cost-effectiveness.

We are particularly familiar with the compensation and benefits packages offered to professionals and executives of 3M, Target, and Medtronic, but also those offered by other local Fortune 500 companies including UnitedHealthcare, Ecolab, XEL Energy among others. If you are a team member at one of these companies, its likely we’ve helped others with questions you have.