When investing money and developing a portfolio, one wants a certified financial planner who understands unique needs and goals. Someone nearby who can sit down and carefully come up with a strategy to make the most of money now, and in the future, is helpful.
“Everyone is a little bit different,” says J. Patrick Poling, founder, managing director and senior portfolio manager of Southern Oak Wealth Group, which opened in Brentwood in 2019. “There is a formula that calculates if someone is this age, then they need to be invested in this much stock, this many bonds. But this formula doesn’t always apply to everyone, so we like to dig a little deeper.”
As an independent firm, the advisors at Southern Oak (all of whom came from Merrill Lynch and are from the area) have the freedom and knowledge to go beyond these formulas and steer clients in the right direction for their unique needs. Patrick and his partners, Jonathan Trusty and Ann Hollis-Young, have been together for 10-plus years, although Jonathan and Ann were with Merrill Lynch/Bank of America in some capacity for 13 and 14 years, respectively.
“We brought our whole team with us, and clients made the move with us,” says Patrick. “Most of our business has grown through referrals from these and other current clients. We’ve also gotten a lot of new business from people who have moved into the area from out-of-state, because we are able to set them up right here where they live.”
Southern Oak also believes in helping clients by connecting them with other local advisors, such as estate planning attorneys, accountants, and bank executives. “We are able to point them in the right direction, whether that be finding an attractive mortgage rate, setting up an estate plan, or finding a good local bank for a business loan,” he says. “I think that’s one of the big advantages of being tapped into not just the community, but other businesses around town as well. When everyone is local, it makes that team more cohesive, which benefits our clients.”
He adds that most of their clients are small business owners based in Tennessee. “It helps to connect them with these other advisors, other clients and other business owners right here in their own community.”
Another advantage of knowing the area is having the ability to make clients aware of the many local commercial and industrial real estate investment opportunities. “Much of what we deal with branches outside of just the normal stocks and bonds,” says Patrick. “A lot has to do with local real estate opportunities in Tennessee that we are familiar with and clients who live here are familiar with, so they can speak to us freely about those things. We can help weigh in on these investments.”
He says the relationships he and his team have developed with clients through the years have been a nice bonus. “We’ve gotten so close to some of our clients that we go to their kids’ weddings, we have them over for lunch, or go to parties with them, so there is a big social aspect.”
615.246.5510
SouthernOakWealthGroup.com
