01. About Us

We provide comprehensive financial planning services designed to meet all of your investment management and retirement planning needs. What can you expect from Academy Wealth Advisers? You can expect expert, professional investment and financial advice from advisors that truly care about you.

02. Our Philosophy

We see our role as more than just your advisor, but as a partner in achieving your retirement and wealth planning objectives. We will work closely together so that you will understand the nature of our work, the rationale for our recommendations and the various options they may consider.

03. Our Process

We make becoming our client an easy process. Right from the start we make the focus of our work YOU and your needs, objectives, risk tolerance and investing time horizon. The better we know you, the better we will be able to anticipate your needs going forward. Our early conversations will cover our investing style and approach, how we make investment decisions, what type of research we use and how we react to sudden changes  in the financial markets.

Our Services

 

Investment Management

As we design an investment portfolio we focus on sound investing principles, our belief in efficient investing, the importance of diversification and how asset allocation impacts expected return. Our wealth managers are experienced in creating investment plans that balance risk and expected return...
 

Retirement Planning

Planning for retirement requires you to make assumptions about your life and the world around you. Your path to retirement is a personal one with twists and turns along the way that are unique to you and your circumstances. Together we will examine your potential retirement income sources and...
 

401(K) Active Management

If you have a 401(K) or other type of qualified retirement plan, regardless of the company or provider of the plan, we can assist you in the management of your plan investments. In our 401(K) strategy, we will provide timely and detailed advice with step-by-step instructions on how to implement...
 

Social Security Strategies

How do we maximize our Social Security benefits? A simple, straight-forward question with many answers. We offer a customized social security optimization analysis which will help you make an informed decision about this important retirement asset. Our personalized report considers your relationship...

Our Team

Robert J. Welch

Member

Robert J. Welch (Bob) is a seasoned real estate investor with extensive corporate ownership experience. He was a...

Richard M. Welch, Jr.

President and Chief Investment Officer

Richard M. Welch, Jr. (Rick) specializes in providing investment advice, portfolio management, diversification and...

We serve many different types of clients, including soon-to-retire and retired, moderate to high net worth individuals, businesses, trusts, private business owners and corporate executives.

Dollars and $ense Blog

The ABCs of ETFs

Rick Welch |
The first Exchange Traded Fund or ETF traded on the American Stock Exchange in 1993. Launched by State Street Global Advisors, the first ETF or S&P Depository Receipt (SPDR) was benchmarked to the S&P 500 Index. This SPDR fund, commonly referred to as “spider”, trades today under the symbol SPY and with over $380 billion in assets is the largest ETF in the market and typically reports the highest daily trading volume of all ETFs...

GICS Changes

Rick Welch |
A sector is an industry classification or grouping of companies sharing common characteristics. The most common structure of industry sectors, the Global Industry Classification Standard or GICS, divides the equity universe into eleven sectors: Communication Services, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Energy, Financials, Health Care, Industrials, Information Technology, Materials, Real Estate and Utilities. Sectors provide many benefits, including their typically static composition, clear patterns of volatility and low correlation to each other. In addition to sector...

Spending Less as We Age

Rick Welch |
Planning for retirement requires you to make assumptions about your life and the world around you. Your path to retirement is a personal one with twists and turns that are unique to you and your circumstances. No other transition in life (off to college, first job, get married, purchase a home, start a family) is as welcome and feared as your retirement. Does it really have to be that way? Try not to focus just...

FAQ

Q

Is there a minimum amount required to invest?

Currently there is no minimum amount required to invest.

Q

Will my investments be safe?

Of course. Safekeeping of your investment account assets is provided by our custodian, Charles Schwab & Company. At no time will our firm have custody of any of your investments.

Q

What is the process to open an account?

We make becoming a client an easy process. We will prepare all paperwork necessary to open and transfer your account. We will monitor closely the transfer of all account assets. In most cases, existing positions will transfer  smoothly via an electronic account transfer system.

Q

How often will I get an account statement?

You will receive two (2) different monthly statements with your new account.  Each month, Charles Schwab will provide a full and complete monthly statement – most clients receive these statements electronically. In addition, you will also receive a monthly Performance Report from Academy Wealth Advisers. The format of our report has been custom designed to provide you with a clear and understandable view of your investment assets, how they relate to each other and relative performance across all asset classes and sectors.

Q

What is the difference between strategic planning and tactical asset allocation?

The foundation of investment planning is a strategic plan that delineates the percentage of assets earmarked for both equities (capital appreciation) and bonds (income generation and capital preservation). Working together we will create an asset class mix that will provide an appropriate balance between expected risk and return. Tactical asset allocation starts with portfolio design and never ends. As economic data changes we may choose to make tactical weighting adjustments to your portfolio. These adjustments will be rooted in extensive research and scientific evidence, not emotion or speculation.