As a sole practitioner, I felt it was important to build some operational backup and contingency plans into my business. As a result, in July of 2010 I formed an exclusive affiliation agreement with another sole practitioner independent registered investment advisor, Lakeview Investment Advisors, LLC, operated by Bill Westhoff, CFA. Bill and I have similar philosophies about investing, but with slightly different approaches and strengths--and one of our objectives is to learn from each other in such a way that the whole of our affiliation is greater than the sum of its parts.

I've known Bill for more than 25 years and consider him a savvy investor, consummate professional, trusted friend and mentor. Bill had more than 30 years of investment experience before establishing Lakeview Investment Advisors in 2002; immediately before he was the Chief Investment Officer of Minnesota Life Insurance Company (MLIC) and President of Advantus Capital Management, the investment subsidiary of MLIC. Prior to MLIC, Bill was with IDS/American Express for 26 years; his last position there was senior vice president of global investments.

 

• Under normal circumstances, Bill and I manage and service our separate client portfolios

• We collaborate with each other and offer to serve as back-ups for each other when needed--planned or unplanned--with client consent as incorporated into our respective client agreements

• We share the same custodian, Charles Schwab, and the same portfolio management systems, which makes backing-up for each other very easy