Navigating Your Financial Future 1
Our Mission To help clients and their families navigate their financial future, charting the course to achieve their financial goals today, tomorrow and for years to come.
CHART YOUR COURSE Your story is exactly that your story. It s comprised of defining moments, life stages and financial goals. Navigating through life and meeting your wealth goals takes a partner who is as committed to reaching your financial destination as you are. There is nothing more important than your vision. Mariner Wealth Advisors will help make your goals a reality. 4
It s not enough to hoist a sail, you ve got to map your journey, too. YOUR HISTORY The Fact-Finding Expedition Family Successes Lessons learned Goals attained View of money Experiences TRANSITION YOUR VALUES What are the most pressing issues in your financial life? Big changes on the horizon? What might impact your financial situation? Priorities Core principles Your beliefs about family, wealth, debt and important causes Meaning of money YOUR GOALS What must you accomplish? How do you envision your retirement? How will you protect your family s legacy? What have you always wanted to do? Where have you always wanted to go? 7
Every journey has its obstacles, we ve dealt with all of them. 8
Tax Planning and Preparation Family Office Services Wealth Transfer Planning Risk Management Holistic wealth planning = taking all aspects into consideration. Strategizing and implementing ideas to help marry tax and investment strategies, including preparation of returns. Act as a family CFO by coordinating your family s financial aspects and facilitating meetings with multiple generations of family members. Ensuring your wishes and desires for leaving assets or a legacy are in place before you need it. Protecting you against contingencies that could derail your financial goals. Customized Services and Strategies We collaborate with you to incorporate all aspects of your personal wealth plan. Holistic wealth advice is more than investment advice. It means surrounding you with a team of experts focused on the big picture and not just one aspect of your financial goals. Business Succession and Valuation Planning Help entrepreneurs grow and transition their businesses and provide valuation reports (that closely reflect current market conditions). Investment Management Developing a portfolio with proper diversification by leveraging leading investment managers. Cash Flow Management Help you track personal and business income and expenses while looking for planning opportunities. Unique Investment Opportunities Access to investments traditionally reserved for institutions. 10 11
Our holistic financial planning process accounts for all of your needs to create the map that guides your journey. Financial Advice Investment Management Risk Management Trust Services Tax Planning & Preparation 12 Our financial planning process is designed to incorporate an objective perspective on your current financial situation and create a plan of action to help you achieve your goals and objectives. What worries or concerns do you have? What are you trying to accomplish financially for you and your family now, and in the future? What are your financial goals? At what age do you think you will retire? How much income will you need to maintain your lifestyle during retirement? What activities do you see yourself doing after retirement (traveling, etc.)? Your wealth plan benefits from our unique investment management offerings that are designed to help you achieve your goals. What kind of investor are you? If you could increase your chances of achieving all your goals by taking more risk, would you? What types of investments are you comfortable owning? What is your risk tolerance? Focused on common sense design, review and implementation of insured solutions for businesses and families with specific wealth protection, transfer or accumulation goals. What are the terms of your life insurance policy? Have you considered income consequences if you become disabled? Do you plan on transferring your wealth to other generations? Are you aware there are insured tax advantaged investment strategies? What is your strategy to address risk? Whether you wish to leave a legacy to heirs or a favored organization, we help you develop a strategy to ensure your wishes are met while maximizing your potential wealth transfer. Do you currently have a will or trust? How do you protect assets from potential creditors? Do you want your assets to remain in your bloodlines? Do you have a medical directive and/or power of attorney? Do you wish to leave a legacy to heirs? Do you wish to leave a financial donation to a charity? Do you know how you want to transfer your wealth from one generation to another? Savvy financial decision-making and investing are incomplete without full consideration of the tax implications. Do you know the tax implications of your investments? Are tax strategies a part of your comprehensive wealth plan? Are you aware that tax planning and preparation services are key for trusts and foundations as well as companies and individuals? How can you minimize your tax consequences? 13
Providing the attention our clients deserve is beyond the capacity of any one individual: We get to know you and your goals then surround you with a team of professionals. We believe in helping people pursue something beyond wealth. We believe in helping people pursue a purpose... a larger calling...a passion. We limit the number of clients per advisor. We are privately owned. Your story and experience 14 Cutting edge technology that enhances the client experience Backed by a team of experienced Wealth Advisors, CFAs, CPAs, CFPs, ChFCs, Masters Degrees Seasoned investment committee and top industry thought leaders 15
MEET OUR FOUNDER AND CEO Marty C. Bicknell Industry Recognition by: We believe in the Sleep At Night Rule For us, the Sleep At Night Rule is confidence and clarity in the client s mind that their wealth advisor understands the client s personal financial goals and objectives. Wealth goals should be planned over a life span. Some advisors make the mistake of taking a short-term focus, possibly on investment returns or on certain products that can best be distributed among a group of clients. We approach every situation, no matter how difficult it is, from the perspective of what s best for the client. I truly believe if you do that, everything else works out. Clients first, employees second, shareholders last always. While the national accolades are nice, the only true recognition we strive for is that which comes from our clients. If they are successfully on the right track to meeting their financial goals, then we ve done our job. See disclaimers for additional information about the listed recognitions above. 16 17
Disclosures Mariner Wealth Advisors ( MWA ) does not provide all services listed in this piece. Some services are provided by affiliates and are subject to additional fees. Mariner Wealth Advisors ( MWA ) is an SEC registered investment adviser with its principal place of business in the State of Kansas. Registration of an investment adviser does not imply any level of skill or training. MWA and its representatives are in compliance with the current registration and notice filing requirements imposed upon registered investment advisers by those states in which MWA maintains clients. MWA may only transact business in those states in which it is notice filed, or qualifies for an exemption or exclusion from notice filing requirements. Any subsequent, direct communication by MWA with a prospective client shall be conducted by a representative that is either registered or qualifies for an exemption or exclusion from registration in the state where the prospective client resides. For additional information about MWA, including fees and services, please contact MWA or refer to the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website (www.adviserinfo.sec.gov). Please read the disclosure statement carefully before you invest or send money. A conflict of interest exists to the extent that we may recommend that clients utilize the separately managed account services of and invest in products, including mutual funds or private funds, managed by, affiliates. These managers and products charge fees in addition to the fees charged by the Firm. Please see below for additional information regarding the recognitions included within this presentation as well as the methodology used in determining each ranking, as applicable. Please note, these rankings and recognitions are not indicative of the firm s future performance and may not be representative of a client s experience with the firm. Firms did not pay a fee to participate in the surveys included below. Barron s Rankings Barron s 2016 Top 20 Independent Advisory Firm Mariner Holdings #1 Barron s 2016 Top 100 Independent Wealth Advisors Valerie Newell #20 Barron s 2016 Top Advisor: Ohio Valerie Newell #1 Barron s 2016 Top Women Financial Advisors Valerie Newell #4 Barron s 2015 Top 100 Independent Wealth Advisors Valerie Newell #29 Barron s 2014 Top 100 Independent Wealth Advisors Martin Bicknell #2 The 2016 and 2014 Barron s ranking for Mariner Holdings and Martin Bicknell, respectively, are based upon information compiled using data for Mariner Holdings registered investment adviser subsidiaries. The 2015 and 2016 Barron s rankings for Valerie Newell are based upon information compiled using data for RiverPointCapital Management. Barron s published its Inaugural Top 20 Independent Advisory Firms in 2016 based upon a number of criteria and the firms filings with the SEC were used to cross-check the data provided to Barron s. The listing includes the firms number of clients, employees, advisors, offices and state locations. Barron s also publishes four financial advisor rankings each year: The Top 100, The Top 100 Women, The Top 100 Independents and The Top 1,000, in which advisors are ranked on a state-by-state basis. The rankings are based on data provided by individual advisors and their firms. Advisor data is confirmed via regulatory databases, cross-checks with securities firms and conversations with individual advisors. The formula Barron s uses to rank advisors is proprietary. It has three major components: assets managed, revenue produced and quality of practice. Investment returns are not a component of the rankings because an advisor s returns are dictated largely by the risk tolerance of clients. The qualityof-practice component includes an evaluation of each advisor s regulatory record. For additional information visit www.barrons.com CNBC Ranking CNBC Top-Rated Wealth Management Firms Top 100 Fee-only Wealth Management Firms of 2014 Adams Hall Wealth Advisors ranked #6 (currently Mariner Wealth Advisors-Oklahoma) The CNBC Digital editorial team, along with Meridian-IQ, created the following ranking methodology for its Top 100 Fee-Only Wealth Management Firms rankings. Scores for each measure listed below were weighted according to a proprietary formula to arrive at a final total rank: Assets under management Having staff with professional designations such as a CFP or CFA Working with third-party professionals such as attorneys or CPAs Average account size Client segmentation Growth of assets Years in business Number of advisory clients Providing advice on insurance solutions Firms with greater AUM totals were given a higher ranking in the case of numerical ties of the above formula. The Meridian/AdviceIQ team then applied the formula to the Meridian-IQ database of all RIAs to create the list. The final step to create the Top 100 Fee-Only Wealth Management Firms list for CNBC. com was to apply the AdviceIQ Regulatory Compliance Review (RCR) process to the master list and eliminate any firm that failed the RCR process. The RCR process is a due-diligence process whereby each advisory firm was compared to the RCR database of all regulatory actions from all four primary regulators: SEC, FINRA, state regulators and state insurance commissioners. In order to pass the RCR process, an advisory firm cannot have any complaints, actions or disclosures from any of the above regulators. For additional information visit www.cnbc.com WealthManagement.com The Top 10 Women-Owned RIAs of 2015 Jana Shoulders ranked #5 REP. s Top 25 Women-Owned RIAs list was assembled using data from SEC filings and Meridian-IQ (in which Penton Media has a stake). Advisors are ranked by their firm s total assets under management. To land on the list, female advisors were required to directly own at least 25 percent of the firm. Additionally, these women have at least some individual clients for whom they do financial planning, and have no more than 50 percent institutional clients. Finally, none of the RIAs on the list operates a broker/dealer or a bank, or is affiliated with an investment company. For additional information visit www.wealthmanagement.com FA Magazine 2015 RIA Ranking, Asset Category: $1 Billion and Over Mariner Wealth Advisors #14 2014 RIA Ranking, Asset Category: $1 Billion and Over Mariner Wealth Advisors #15 The 2014 and 2015 FA Magazine rankings are based upon information compiled using data for Mariner Wealth Advisors, LLC and its majority owned subsidiary registered investment advisory firms. For additional information visit www.fa-mag.com Financial Times 300 Top Registered Investment Advisers 2016 RiverPoint Capital Management and Mariner Wealth Advisors-Oklahoma. To ensure a list of established companies with deep, institutional expertise, Financial Times examined the database of RIAs registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission and selected those that reported to the SEC that they had $300m or more in assets under management (AUM). The Financial Times methodology is quantifiable and objective. The RIAs had no subjective input. The FT invited qualifying RIA companies more than 1,500 to complete a lengthy application that provided more information. This was added to their own research into firm practices, including data from regulatory filings. Some 520 RIA companies applied and 300 made the final list. The formula the FT uses to grade advisers is based on six broad factors and calculates a numeric score for each adviser. Areas of consideration include adviser AUM, asset growth, the company s age, industry certifications of key employees, SEC compliance record, and online accessibility. Assets under management and asset growth, combined, comprised roughly 80 to 85 per cent of each adviser s score. Additionally, the FT caps the number of companies from any one state. The cap is roughly based on the distribution of millionaires across the US. The research was conducted on behalf of the Financial Times by Ignites Distribution Research, a Financial Times sister publication. For additional information visit www.ft.com Forbes 2015 - Mariner Wealth Advisors, LLC ranked 12th among Top 100 Wealth Managers with $10 billion under management. The 2015 Forbes ranking is based upon information compiled using data for Mariner Wealth Advisors, LLC and its majority owned subsidiary registered investment advisory firms. Data for the Top Wealth Managers list is compiled by RIA Database. Candidate firms qualify based on both quantitative and qualitative criteria. In 2015 the list was expanded to 100 firms, ranked by assets under management for year-end 2014, reported as of March 31, 2015. Members of the list must have managed at least 50% of their assets on behalf of retail clients, cannot run a broker-dealer (they can be affiliated with one), cannot be a bank (trust companies are permitted), and must be performing wealth management services. Firms cannot have had any regulatory, civil or criminal disclosures. The list looks beyond exclusively fee-only advisors. For additional information visit www.forbes.com ThinkAdvisor 2016 Marty Bicknell, CEO of Mariner Wealth Advisors, named an Innovator Entrepreneur The 2016 IA 25 Financial Planning Magazine Adams Hall Wealth Advisors (currently Mariner Wealth Advisors-Oklahoma) and RiverPoint Capital Management were ranked among the 100 Top Fee-Only Firms in 2014. Discovery Data compiled the rankings based on discretionary and nondiscretionary assets under management listed on SEC Form ADV. To capture independent fee-only planning firms, every effort is made to exclude firms with broker-dealer and insurance company affiliations and those with substantial outside ownership stakes held by private equity firms and some outside investors. The list also does not include roll-ups, aggregators or turnkey asset management programs. To capture firms that provide true holistic financial advice to individuals, only firms with 50% or more individual clients, as can be determined through the Form ADV, are included. Subjective review of unusual cases may result in inclusion or exclusion based on factors unique to those firms. As the RIA industry evolves, so does the criteria. For additional information visit www.financial-planning.com 18 19
Navigating Your Financial Future www.marinerwealthadvisors.com