Kevin Shea

The markets are volatile these days, and communication between financial advisors and their clients has become more important than ever. But when it comes to a credible and comprehen¬sive approach to wealth management, not just any kind of communication will suffice. According to Kevin Shea, a wealth manager for Virginia-based CB&H Wealth Management Services, conversations centered on clients' values are key. "A values-based conversation is extremely helpful in the midst of troubled markets because it provides a natural sense of priorities," Shea explains. "If you have good communication with your client, then both of you have enough history to keep your eye on what is important—the values themselves— not the volatility of the market, even if it is extreme."

For Shea, the emphasis on values and the ability to act as a conductor of various wealth management disciplines rather than simply as an investment advisor have indeed proven to be vitally important during the current bear market. "Our clients understand our focus on their values and how we expect to align their needs with their lifestyle demands," he explains. "Most clients also realize that they need to stick with the program over the long term."
Shea is part of a founding group of advisors that created CB&H Wealth Management in 2004 as a subsidiary of the accounting firm Cherry, Bekaert & Holland. The group works exclusively with a limited number of successful entrepreneurs, businesspeople and families to whom they can bring significant value. The overarching mission: to help those with significant wealth clearly define their goals and design a long-range plan that maximizes the probability of achieving all that is important to them—thus the emphasis on ensuring that his clients' wealth and resources are in alignment with their values.

To accomplish its mission, the firm employs wealth management—a structured and thoughtful process that provides customized investment solutions, advanced planning and relationship management. The focus therefore is not limited to investments, but also commonly includes assistance with wealth enhancement, wealth transfer, wealth protection and charitable planning.

Investors with significant assets can receive important benefits from this type of planning process, which integrates multiple solutions via a highly focused process provided by a seasoned wealth management team. That's especially true during stressful periods for the markets. The wealth manager is in the ideal position to provide necessary support and counseling because of the role that he or she plays as the client's chief financial officer, says Shea. He remains confident about client retention because his approach to communication is both credible and disciplined. He understands that world-class wealth managers inevitably take a comprehensive approach to meeting a full spectrum of financial needs. Such advisors focus first on cooperation and ensuring that the advisor-client relationship is a collaborative one.

Shea's focus is on entrepreneurs, and specifically government contract business owners in and around Hampton Roads, Virginia. He sees parallels between wealth management and politics. "You make progress by putting ideas in a proper context," he explains. "Washington is all about gaining the broadest possible perspective. If you are correct about your positioning and disciplined about your ideas, you can make significant progress."

Shea has more than seventeen years of experience assessing and analyzing client objectives and developing solutions using wealth transfer strategies. His background also includes assessing individual investment risk tolerance and designing diversified investment allocation strategies consistent with overall financial objectives. Prior to joining CB&H, Shea was the office leader at the largest independent financial consulting firm in Virginia, where he provided financial advisory and planning services for business owners and families. Additionally, he helped clients with tax planning and business accounting solutions. He's completed continuing education courses in estate planning, life insurance planning and investment planning.

During Shea's tenure at CB&H, he began working with asset-class fund provider Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA). With more than $100 billion in assets under management, DFA is a leading provider of investment services to a mostly institutional clientele. Asset-class investing utilizes funds that have been put together to capture the returns of various asset classes—a group of investments with similar risk factors and expected returns over time. By blending various asset-class funds together, Shea can offer clients highly customized portfolios designed to reflect and track their stated risk-and-reward preferences.

It was DFA that introduced Shea to the advisor coaching and training firm CEG Worldwide. "A lot of the planning and implementation of our current business model was developed with CEG Worldwide's help," he explains. "They base their advice on real-life testing and back up their suggestions with data from professionals and the public. Wealth management is a significant service, and CEG Worldwide is at the forefront of helping us provide it properly."

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