(pictured l to r: Stuart Impey, Frank Stone, Chris Aitken, & Ken Tonning)
Describe your practice.
We provide financial consulting services to high net-worth families and institutions. Some of those services include financial planning strategies, portfolio management, customized asset allocation and banking services. We put the strength of our team and Bank of America Merrill Lynch to work in our clients’ best interest, with proactive and objective advice, specialized expertise and robust investment solutions. This type of client-advisor relationship, which is normally limited to investment boutiques, results in a very collaborative, consultative relationship with tailored solutions that deliver on our clients’ goals and objectives.
What is your investment philosophy?
Our short and a long-term perspective toward the financial markets is designed to create a framework to meet our client’s investment goals and objectives while carefully balancing the risk and return characteristics of the capital markets. We add value through investment policy development, strategic asset allocation, manager search and selection and performance measurement. We implement strategic allocation by spreading assets to best-in-class professional investment managers. We advocate using multiple asset managers, up to 20 to 25 in some cases, to diversify “alpha” sources and remove manager risk. We apply a quantitative approach and a rigorous qualitative approach to evaluating managers. By vetting, analyzing and selecting independent professional asset managers, we achieve portfolio diversification and implement the targeted asset allocation for each client. We work diligently to monitor and manage client portfolios. Rebalancing portfolios over time is critical so that client investments remain tailored to their needs.
Christopher Aitken, CIMA • Managing Director–Investments,Wealth Management Advisor/Institutional Consultant
Chris started his career at Price Waterhouse in 1983 and for the last 25 years, he has been working with ultra
high-net worth families, corporations, healthcare entities, endowment/foundations, DB/401k Plans. He coordinates manager research, asset allocation, and investment policy statements. Chris has spoken at conferences around the country on asset allocation modeling, investment policy oversight, alternative investments and portfolio attribution analysis. Chris has been on the Barron’s Top Advisor List
four times (including 2011). Chris graduated from the University of Maryland and obtained the Certified
Investment Management Analyst designation from Wharton School of Business. Chris and his wife, Letitia, reside in Ponte Vedra Beach with their five children Tracy, Shelby, Ciara, Christopher and Colin.
Frank Stone • First Vice President–Investment, Financial Advisor, Wealth Management Advisor/Institutional Consultant
Frank began his career 25 years ago and specializes in consulting to high net-worth families, corporations and not-for-profit entities. Frank has been active in industry trade associations including the Association of Professional Investment Consultants (APIC) and the Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA). Frank is responsible for institutional/high net-worth meetings and manager research support. Frank and his wife have two children, Kathryn Claire and Nicholas Fitzhugh.
Ken Tonning • Financial Advisor
Prior to joining Merrill Lynch in 2009, Ken worked with high net-worth individuals and institutions for a multi-strategy hedge fund in New York City. Ken specializes in family wealth planning, business and individual retirement plans, manager research, and client development. Ken graduated from the Cumberland School of Law where he received his J.D. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Sewanee: The University of the South and his high school studies at Episcopal High School in Jacksonville. Ken and his wife, Kimberly, reside in Ponte Vedra Beach with their children Alex and Sydney. *Ken does not provide legal advice in his role as a Financial Advisor.
Stuart Impey, CRPC • Financial Advisor
Prior to Joining Merrill Lynch in 2009, Stuart worked for six years as a financial advisor and investment management specialist. Stuart specializes in retirement planning, estate planning strategies, portfolio management, and business development. Stuart has earned the designation of Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor. Stuart is originally from Buckingham, England. He attended Kennesaw State University and graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing. Stuart and his wife, Krissy, live in Ponte Vedra Beach and have four children, Jack, Eli, Lucy and Tess.
Merrill Lynch Wealth Management 510 A1A North, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082 • Tel. 904.273.3834
www.fa.ml.com/aitkenandassociates
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