Chuck Bowes & Ed Runyon

Childhood friends Ed Runyon and Chuck Bowes have created a $90 million wealth management firm. Combining wealth management and asset-class investing is a best practice from Bowes and Runyon's point of view.

Ed Runyon and Chuck Bowes grew up together in Silicon Valley, where their childhood was spent in compe­tition with each other in everything from water polo to baseball. These days, however, the two have paired up to form Newport Beach, California-based Runyon & Bowes Financial Advisors—a wealth management practice that over the past two and a half years has grown to $90 million in assets and 75 clients.

Before founding their own firm, Runyon and Bowes remained friendly rivals with their professional accomplishments—each working at separate high-powered corporate jobs. Over time, Runyon convinced Bowes that they ought to create a financial advisory business. The firm started as a part-time venture in 2005. "It was a mutual interest in creating a business plus the challenge inherent in building a business that attracted us," Bowes explains. "We both enjoy working with people and solving complex problems. Being a provider of comprehensive wealth management services to successful individuals and families allows us to do both everyday."

Helping people ensure that their wealth and success have a positive effect on their lives and families is a core value for Bowes and Runyon, and it is one reason they are especially comfortable working with individuals who have children and grandchildren to whom they want to transfer not only their wealth but also their values.

This value system has extended to their choice of financial strategy— wealth management—and a dedication to offering advanced asset-class investing strategies to their growing clientele. Wealth management is all about aligning wealth and resources with values in order to better enhance achievement of those values, and Bowes and Runyon—who have achieved that sort of success for themselves—have an acute understanding of how to do the same for others. Meanwhile, a capital markets-based investment solution is a methodology of determining clients' tolerance for risk and then providing customized, highly diversified, low-cost and tax-efficient blended portfolios of various asset classes that best correlate to clients' risk and reward characteristics.

Combining wealth management and asset-class investing is a best practice from Bowes and Runyon's point of view and reinforces their belief that the tools and resources they offer are on the cutting edge of the financial industry. "With a wealth management focus and a disciplined, scientific investment perspective supporting us, it was relatively easy to make the decision to go into this full time," Bowes explains. "We took the plunge two and a half years ago, and we've been fortunate that the business has exceeded even our most optimistic projections."

One of the areas in which the firm has seen much success is family legacy providers and the issue of providing support not just to the lead individuals but to the entire family. The nature of the challenge is to communicate the values of the group to the individuals, young and old, and make sure everyone accepts those values and understands his or her role. It is not an easy task, and sometimes the mediation of a third party can make the wealth management effort more efficient and effective.

According to Bowes, "We are very comfortable with individuals involved with wealthy families, because the challenges inherent in properly utilizing such assets demand a rigorous focus and ongoing attention. We apply the same sort of approach to our own business efforts. We've had plenty of hands-on experience, and our clients have seen the results. We're at a point now where we are anxious to spread the word and present our results to other successful individuals who have met the challenges of their professions and family legacies."

Since its inception, the firm has developed a comprehensive and well­thought-out lineup of services to offer its clients. The entire process begins with a series of meetings that establish a common understanding of a client's values. "Good advisors always have an understanding of clients' goals and objectives, and we endeavor to understand the values that drive those goals," explains Bowes. Some of the strategies then provided on an ongoing basis include:

• Investment consulting. Using the services of a select group of firms, including Dimensional Fund Advisors, finances are captured in a sophisticated model to identify an investment plan consistent with risk tolerance, values and goals.
  
  
• Advanced planning. Runyon & Bowes offers to supplement and coordinate the implementation of client plans with a broad team of experts. The resulting cross-disciplinary review yields powerful insights, clear priorities and specific next steps.
  
  
• Advisor-in-chief. The firm offers to act as the client's advisor-in-chief, providing a single point of trusted contact that reduces or eliminates a good deal of complexity and inefficiency.
  

Bowes adds that the firm's approach to wealth management has been positively influenced by advisor coaching firm CEG Worldwide, a leader in the wealth management arena. "Their organizational skill and ability to verbalize cutting-edge concepts make your effort a good deal easier and more effective," Bowes says. "You see that they have stepped up and met the challenge of wealth management on their terms, and it inspires you to do the same. It's a challenge to work with such a demanding and professional group, and it's one we gladly accept."

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