Firm offers wealth management services
Joey Sager has decades of experience in financial advising and wealth management, and now he’s trying his hand at a new venture.
Sager is the managing director for the Oklahoma City office of Venturi Wealth Management. The firm is only the second Venturi location, with the original in Austin, Texas. It opened in September and is growing at a rapid pace.
“The year end and tax season are always a busy time for us,” Sager said. “What we weren’t prepared for was how quickly clients were willing to move.”
Sager and some of his colleagues previously worked with Wells Fargo in financial advising roles, but decided to pursue an independent operation after recognizing an increasing demand for smaller firms from clients.
“Younger folks seem to see big financial institutions as bad,” Sager said. “We weren’t motivated by moving away from something bad, but more toward something good.”
Venturi Senior Lead Advisor DeWayne Crunk likes the transition.
“I enjoy it,” Crunk said. “We have more opportunities, communication is easier and we have more time to spend with clients.”
Venturi helps manage more than $1 billion, which is not enough to make it a large firm relative to others, Sager said, but it is also no longer considered a small operation. The company's Oklahoma City office is at 11600 Broadway Extension and the firm’s average client is working with a nearly $1 million portfolio.
“Our industry is a relationship industry,” Sager said. “We work with people who are very successful and help them be good stewards. We want to be a long-term solution for our clients.”
While most Oklahomans aren’t working with million-dollar portfolios, Sager has a passion for community development and recognizes the impact a good steward of financial resources can have on those around him or her.
“By helping a fewer number of those, we can have a bigger impact on the larger community,” Sager said. “(Money) is a tool. It can be turned into something good.”
Serving clients and helping those clients reach financial goals is an accomplishment Venturi seeks to quantify. Benchmarks are set and the company tracks how often those marks are met, Sager said.
“We look at outcomes and measure success rates,” Sager said. “That’s objective and measurable, and our track record is at 93 or 94 percent.”
Life throws curveballs, and it’s impossible to bat 1.000, but Sager hopes to serve Venturi clients to the best of his ability.
“People don’t want to hear their pilot, surgeon or financial adviser say, ‘Oops,’” Sager said. “What we do we want to do really, really well.”