How Wealth Science® Began

In the early 2000s—through a serendipitous chain of large corporate events—I found myself in a conference room in Seattle, Washington—a really nice conference room I might add—overlooking the Puget Sound. I was being trained on the systematic foundations of investing—asset allocation, dollar cost averaging and rebalancing. It’s one thing to do all these things for yourself, it’s quite another to do it for hundreds of families you know and love. Being a highly conscientious person—some might say obsessive compulsive—I figured I could use all the training I could get! In this presentation, a genius CFA outlined how to build portfolios to maximize return and minimize how much they went down during the inevitable bad times. We were staring at an overhead screen and a handout that had 5 portfolio options. On the left of the page was the portfolio that had gotten the best results over 40 years, but the presenter was explaining how the portfolio second to the left was optimal, because it had less ups and downs. I happened to be sitting by one of the presenting company’s lead analysts—another literal genius. A genius I respect tremendously and still have a relationship with today. I leaned over and gently whispered “shouldn’t clients have the portfolio with the highest return?” He whispered back, “of course, you just can’t hold them in it” referring to the seemingly hardwired preference for humans to do the exact opposite of what they should do during downturns—SELL! For whatever reason in a “hold my beer” kind of moment I quipped, “I think I can help them.”

Fast forward to the early 2010’s and this same group of respected colleagues was in our first new office in Alpharetta, GA asking how many of our clients had sold their precious stocks in the great panic of 2009. We happily reported “NONE!” They politely called “BS” and we showed them the system we had used to guide our clients through the storm. They listened attentively and seemed to be calling less BS as we talked. Keep in mind this institution at the time had 23 PhD economists working in their investment department and they reminded us of it—quite often. Some time passed and this same group asked if they could stop by again and bring one of their colleagues. They asked the same questions and our team happily answered everything they asked. I think we were just thrilled that “the smart people” were interested in what the “country folks” had to say. As the meeting went on, we noticed they were taking notes. After they left and we were recapping, something hit me and I said, “I’m not sure why what we are doing works, but we need to figure it out and stop talking about it until we do.” We locked the door that day and didn’t explain our process to anyone but our clients and the psychologists I’m about to introduce to you until the conference we held for another financial advisor in the fall of 2023.

Fast forward a few years and a trusted friend quipped “with all this crazy psych stuff you read, you ought to go get a PhD.” His comment planted the idea, and he seemed to have some belief I could do it. Plus, several people I admired most in life had earned PhDs. I did some research and made a cold call to the head of UGA’s Psych department. A few of our longest tenured clients may have been on the receiving end of such a call. Why psychology and not economics you might ask? Good question. The economists wrote on how we humans mostly made rational decisions with money; the psychologist wrote about how we humans mostly made irrational decisions but in repeatable patterns. I had seen enough over my 10,000 meetings to throw my lot in with the psychologists. Plus, I already had a business degree rooted in economics which didn’t seem to have all the answers. Maybe it was time to head south from UGA’s north campus, carefully cross over Baldwin Street as not to get hit by a UGA bus and see what the psychos had to say. In March 2016, I had my first meeting with Dr. W. Keith Campbell at his office in Athens. We hit it off immediately, the gloves were off quickly, and Mr. Toad’s wild ride began. I told him I thought I was seeing repeating patterns in client money behavior that seemed to be rooted in memory. I also explained that I thought the risk tolerance profiles given by the financial industrial complex were “crap” and mostly served the institution’s interests! He said they weren’t all crap as he in fact serendipitously had just written one that worked quite well. I asked him, “Who paid you to write it?” He replied, “A financial institution.” I replied, “Exactly my point!” Who is representing the regular people?

Fast forward another eight years, and the WSA team continues to hold clients in their custom portfolios. In addition, my new friends and I have written two Professor OCEAN fable books: to explain our findings. Though my curiosity has led to 1000’s of hours of research, a PhD seminar class titled “Wealth Science” (hence our name) multiple peer reviewed published research papers —and most importantly, two new aforementioned lifetime friends in Dr. W. Keith Campbell and Dr. Patrick Doyle — that research sits behind academia’s pay walls and is mostly unreadable. The Professor OCEAN series is designed to help us understand ourselves and each other a little bit better. Hopefully this understanding helps us all have better outcomes—including financial outcomes—and leads to genuinely happier lives. Professor OCEAN’s latest adventure involves money, as he teaches the systems we have been using to help grow your wealth for the last 20 plus years. Just don’t tell the company with the 23 economist PhD’s our secrets, as they are still asking. . . Plus, it makes more time for their brains to accept that the psychos figured it out. . .

With all that said, we feel Wealth Science Advisors—and its sister company Wealth Science Research Labs which continues to produce groundbreaking research— is well positioned to continue delivering Money Happiness ™ to you and your family for generations to come.

- Jim Exley, Ph.D., CFP®, CLU®

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE INFORMATION

Please remember that past performance may not be indicative of future results.  Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any specific investment, investment strategy, or product (including the investments and/or investment strategies recommended or undertaken by Wealth Science Advisors, LLC [“WSA”]), or any non-investment related content, made reference to directly or indirectly in this blog will be profitable, equal any corresponding indicated historical performance level(s), be suitable for your portfolio or individual situation, or prove successful.  Due to various factors, including changing market conditions and/or applicable laws, the content may no longer be reflective of current opinions or positions.  Moreover, you should not assume that any discussion or information contained in this blog serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from WSA. To the extent that a reader has any questions regarding the applicability of any specific issue discussed above to his/her individual situation, he/she is encouraged to consult with the professional advisor of his/her choosing. WSA is neither a law firm nor a certified public accounting firm and no portion of the blog content should be construed as legal or accounting advice. A copy of the WSA’s current written disclosure Brochure discussing our advisory services and fees is available for review upon request or at www.wealthscienceadvisors.net. Please Note: WSA does not make any representations or warranties as to the accuracy, timeliness, suitability, completeness, or relevance of any information prepared by any unaffiliated third party, whether linked to WSA’s web site or blog or incorporated herein, and takes no responsibility for any such content. All such information is provided solely for convenience purposes only and all users thereof should be guided accordingly. Please Remember: If you are a WSA client, please contact WSA, in writing, if there are any changes in your personal/financial situation or investment objectives for the purpose of reviewing/evaluating/revising our previous recommendations and/or services, or if you would like to impose, add, or to modify any reasonable restrictions to our investment advisory services.  Unless, and until, you notify us, in writing, to the contrary, we shall continue to provide services as we do currently. Please Also Remember to advise us if you have not been receiving account statements (at least quarterly) from the account custodian.

*Please Note: Does not equate to better investment performance. To the contrary, it should not be assumed that future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy, including those undertaken or recommended by Wealth Science for its clients, will be profitable.