How do you define success? What kind of life do you want to lead? What do you want your legacy to look like? These are the questions people need to ask when choosing their investment path. That is the philosophy at Mosaic Family Wealth, a new independent wealth management and investment advisory firm. Instead of focusing solely on growing client portfolios, Mosaic’s holistic approach helps them cultivate the lives they want. “We help clients integrate their financial success with their relationships, values and legacy,” says company president Scott Highmark. “A lot of people in our industry talk about Mutual Fund A versus Mutual Fund B, but at the end of the day, what are you trying to accomplish? How do you build a life of significance?”
At the helm is a team of seasoned professionals, including Highmark and Larry Shikles, both former Morgan Stanley Wealth Management executives. “Some of the most progressive advisers and clients have left the big banks and brokerage firms, and many of them are going toward independent firms and multi-family offices,” Highmark says.
A key motivation for founding an independent firm, he says, was the desire to operate under a fiduciary standard, which ensures the highest level of objectivity and transparency in the adviser/client relationship. “This means we must disclose any conflicts, be fully transparent and always do what’s in the best interest of the client,” he explains.
But clients don’t have to give up the cutting-edge technology and services of big financial networks, since Mosaic has a relationship with New York-based Dynasty Financial Partners. “With Dynasty Financial Partners, we can deliver Wall Street resources and Main Street values, because they piece together all the intellectual capital, products and resources across the industry and deliver them to us,” Highmark says. “So instead of sourcing intellectual products and services from one institution, this means we have access to the entire industry. There’s some incredible resources out there that many of the large firms don’t have access to. We wanted to be able to grab those opportunities.” These resources include everything from mobile applications and electronic vaults to family office services and performance reporting.
Helping people identify and achieve their dreams is no small task, but Mosaic Family Wealth has a step-by-step process to get clients to where they want to be. First, information about relationships, legacy, experience and goals is integrated into a ‘Mind Map,’ which then is fed into a ‘Significance Spectrum.’ “That spectrum becomes the blueprint or road map for defining success and creating a plan to it that using our resources, technology and intellectual capital,” Highmark explains. “We work backward to create a tactical plan. We’re helping people clarify what their goals are, and then we create strategies and hold them accountable.”
The entire process is based on the notion that, at the end of the day, money is just a tool. “It’s the engine that allows you to have the freedom and flexibility to live a life you can be proud of.”
Pictured: Scott Highmark, Jim Steiner, Missy Brown and Larry Shikles of Mosaic Family Wealth
Photo: Bill Barrett
[Mosaic Family Wealth is a St. Louis-based independent wealth management and investment advisory firm. For more information, call 314.627.5220 or visit mosaicwealth.com.]
