Q&A: Avitas Wealth Management

Avitas Wealth Management is a local RIA (Registered Investment Advisor) specializing in wealth organization, financial planning and asset management. Two of the Principals, Greg Satz and Russell Evans, have been local Palisadians for over 20 years. 

Post: Avitas is an interesting name. What does it mean?

Avitas: It is Latin for “lifetime” or “generational,” and it really represents our purpose: to listen to our clients and provide financial peace of mind to multi-generational families.

Post: How long has Avitas been around?

Avitas: We have been working together for over 20 years. The four founding principals—Russell Evans, Catherine Gerst, Greg Satz and Eric Taslitz—formed the group in 1998 at Merrill Lynch to provide a boutique wealth management group to provide an improved experience for wealthy families and have been together ever since.

Post: Who is your “typical” client?

Avitas: While we do work with many successful entrepreneurs and attorneys at large law firms, our “typical” client does not fall into a specific profession or asset size. What’s most important is to determine if a prospective client is a good fit for our practice, which is why we call our initial meeting a “fit meeting.”

We want to hear about your situation, your needs and expectations and determine if you are a good fit for the services we provide. We are exceptionally successful in catering to the needs of parents, their children and the grandchildren.

Post: How do you earn the trust of clients?

Avitas: It is all about listening to our clients and always acting in their best interest as a fiduciary. Add a little time to the equation, and the result is the deep, personal and trusted relationships we have with the 100-plus families with whom we currently work.

Growing the relationship is a key to growing wealth. We get really close to our clients by removing everything that comes between us and then adding in one thing: their wealth, totally organized.

Post: Your website talks about your Total Wealth Organization. Can you tell us about that?

Avitas: TWO—Total Wealth Organization—is our custom-tailored service allowing you to see your entire financial picture at a single sign on, providing a secure, integrated view of all financial, real estate, insurance and related assets. TWO also allows us to develop strategies based on our client’s total wealth.

Want to lead a work optional lifestyle? How can I balance risk and return? What are the best ways to transfer assets to my heirs?

Our Certified Financial Planner provides clear answers to big questions, producing an actionable document so decisions can be made with confidence. And this service is included in our Wealth Management fee, unlike many who charge an additional fee for financial planning.

Post: I know you manage your own portfolios. Why do you think that is an advantage for clients? 

Avitas: This is one of the primary benefits of working with Avitas. We decided to provide a platform like an institution, managing stock and bond portfolios in unique and well-defined strategies.

We are both the advisor and the money manager, making all stock and bond investment decisions. We do not farm out asset management to mutual funds or third parties, like many advisors. Our clients interact directly with their portfolio managers and removing the middleman has many advantages.

We avoid “fee layering.” Many investors pay two fees: one for the actual asset management and one for their advisors. We have reviewed statements for clients only to discover the total fees are far higher than they thought.

We are accountable for our investment decisions and our interests are further aligned with our clients, as the founding partners have investments in the very same portfolio strategies as our clients.

Post: What advice would you offer an individual looking for an advisor?

Avitas: There must be full transparency—of fees, performance, investment returns, everything. There should be no hidden third party manager fees or undisclosed commissions. A client should know how much they pay, what is the performance, and how much money they made or lost.

Look for a disciplined approach to investing and rebalancing, and an advisor willing to stand behind their investments by investing their own money the same way.

Above all else, work with someone you can trust.

For more information, visit avitaswealth.com.