Wealth & Finance International - March 2017

43 March 2017 A Seamless Client Experience he firm was founded in 2006, by the end of that year they had about 8 employees and were helping client in managing around $170 million in assets. A little more than 10 years have gone by, a period that included one of the worst market declines in history and they are currently managing around $1.2 billion in assets with 24 employees. Every day, they help clients achieve their financial objectives, so in the view of Kenneth R. Smith the firm has had 10 years of resounding success, a point he goes on to elaborate. “In recent times, we added a full-service tax offering to our services, enhancing the opportunity to add value to our clients by providing tax planning and preparation services and a deeper level of estate and charitable planning. I am proud to say that our growth has been accom- plished by bringing in one client at a time. We have never purchased another firm to accelerate growth.” Smith’s own role in the firm is a key one, indeed he is the founding partner and has been the CEO of Empirical since 2007. In addition to his responsibilities as CEO, he is currently acting as the firm’s business devel- opment director for 2017 and expands on his day-to-day responsibilities. “As a small company the other partners (there are 4 owners at this time) and I have hands in many areas on a day to day basis. I meet with existing clients, prospective clients and centres of influence to share the Empirical story. I manage the overall direction of Empirical and spend a lot of time interacting with, coordinating and training our team. I have also developed presentation and a retirement planning software. I’m rolling out a program based around the idea of connecting the appropri- ate portfolio to a retirement withdrawal strategy.” “Staff play a crucial role in the success of our firm because in every- thing, we are a team and the client experience is designed to relate across the team from areas of account servicing, financial planning, tax planning, insurance planning, investment management and so on. Everyone on the team has their area of expertise and contributes to the client experience.” The most common feedback Smith receives is that clients appreciate the team they are working with. In addition, clients believe that Empir- ical Wealth Management’s team has their best interests in mind. “It is very satisfying to receive that type of feedback, we take our role in their lives very seriously” Smith adds. Looking to the future, there are certain- ly many opportunities and challenges on the horizon as Smith reveals. “Technology and the dissemination of market information has never been greater. It is challenging for the average investor to determine what is relevant, meaningful information and what is noise. There is a lot of attention by the financial media and certain market players about low cost automated solutions. While great access to information and lower costs are not negative things in themselves, the reality is that the sig- nificant financial issues investors face are not being addressed through these evolutions.” “The opportunities lie in the fact that people have great opportunity to acquire wealth in current times more than ever before despite the many challenges we face. I believe that responsible people will continue to seek help navigating the web of financial decisions to make smart choices. The challenges lie in the vast difference among offerings. The large number of choices and ease of access into the financial guidance market can confuse investors.” Company: Empirical Wealth Management Name: Kenneth R. Smith Email: [email protected] Web Address: www.empirical.net Address: 1420 Fifth Ave, Suite 3150, Seattle, WA 98101 Telephone: +1 206.923.3474 Empirical Wealth Management is an integrated wealth management firm based in Northwest America. They offer a comprehensive wealth management solution to high net worth individuals as Kenneth R. Smith reveals in an interview about the firm’s combined expertise in the areas of investment, retirement, financial planning as well as tax planning and preparation into one seamless client experience. T 1702WF33 Empirical Wealth Management ® Advice you can trust