‘Head coach’ of the client’s team

Garry Dippel • Dallas, TX
Geneos Wealth Management

Sports have always been a big part of my life. I was a four-sport athlete in high school and went on to play Division I baseball. I actually still own the single-season batting average record at the University of Texas-Pan American. I then went on to play in the Chicago Cubs organization. I am currently an active umpire and official for high-school softball and football, and am deeply involved with a ministry called Coaches Outreach.

Athletics taught me a lot of great life lessons: the importance of preparation, how you must work consistently toward your goals over time, and why it is necessary to set long-term objectives that will move you toward achieving what is most important to you. Those attributes or lessons can be directly translated to the work I do with clients. In fact, my website goes under the name of “Make Plans to Win,” and I tend to use a lot of sports analogies in explaining planning and investment concepts to clients.

One analogy I use relates to how I form a working relationship with clients and, in turn, with my trusted outside resources. I tell the client they are like the owner of a professional sports team. It is their hard-earned money and, ultimately, they have the authority and the responsibility to make the decisions.

But they have hired me as their general manager and head coach. It is my job to do everything in my power to put together a sound plan of action and to assemble the highest-quality coordinators, assistant coaches, and players to help their team achieve consistent success. For example, I conduct an extensive evaluation and selection process of third-party money managers on behalf of my clients. I will recommend the use of those that fit the investment needs for a specific client. I think this simple analogy of assembling a great team makes a lot of sense to people.

Over the years I have met with dozens of money managers or have attended their conference calls or online presentations. I truly enjoy digging into what they have to offer, hearing about their performance, and understanding their philosophy. It is like that head coach interviewing an offensive or defensive coordinator—we have to be in sync and understand each other extremely well.

The key is to evaluate what managers are most appropriate for any given client and their specific portfolio objectives and risk profile. I think this approach is an important component of my helping clients to design a game plan with strong probabilities of success.

Disclosure: Securities offered through Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory Services offered through Geneos Wealth Management Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor.

Photography by Robert Hart