Earlier this year, we began taking a closer look at what drives Bartlett’s culture and reputation of excellence in service to our clients. What started as an internal discussion has evolved into The Bartlett Way, a document containing 22 core values with examples that include things like: Make quality personal. Check your ego at the door. Be a great communicator.

One value in particular stands out as we approach the end of a year filled with unprecedented growth and change for Bartlett Wealth Management: Look ahead. Planning is at the heart of everything we do, and it has been ever since Bartlett was founded in 1898. Our early visionary leaders identified methods for proactively managing change that remain at the heart of our philosophy today.

Whether our clients are preparing for retirement or selling a business, our job is to walk them through every possible scenario and put safeguards in place so they feel prepared to tackle both anticipated and unforeseen changes to their financial big picture.

Similarly, our clients expect us to continually pursue advanced knowledge and certification so that we can act quickly and effectively in response to ever-changing markets. To that end in 2019, one Bartlett advisor completed intensive training to become a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA®), and two others earned the Registered Life Planner (RLP®) designation, expanding our ability to serve clients at diverse stages of life.

Bartlett also executed a strategic plan to grow our physical presence this year, opening a new office in Chicago and welcoming many fresh new faces to our team. Just as we promote the proactive planning for clients, we continually ensure a representative staff and put clear succession and progression tools in place for future generations of Bartlett wealth advisors.

Our philosophy is simple: Continue setting lofty short- and long-term goals and applying our team’s creativity, enthusiasm, and intelligence to reach the next level. That extends to the well-being of our clients, whose future needs are our sole focus. As always, we will do everything in our power to anticipate change and help clients plot a course to the best possible outcome.