History and Ownership
Marquette Asset Management, LLC (“Marquette”) is a Minneapolis-based investment adviser
registered with the SEC under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. We operate as Marquette
Wealth Management to accurately reflect how we use a holistic approach with our clients to
address their entire financial picture.
We were founded in 2005 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Marquette Financial Companies, a
diversified financial services firm owned by the Carl R. Pohlad family. As part of a major
restructuring, the Marquette Financial Companies were acquired by UMB Financial
Corporation, a publicly held bank holding company headquartered in Kansas City, in May 2015.
Returning to our roots as an independent, privately held boutique wealth management firm,
Marquette was purchased at the end of 2017 by Marquette Wealth Management, LLC, an
entity owned by senior Marquette employees.
Mission
Our mission is to maximize your wealth, so you feel confident in your financial future.
Financial Planning and Investment Management
Our primary advisory services are financial planning and investment management. While some
clients engage us to manage only a portion of their assets with a specific investment
management goal, generally we manage all of a client’s investable assets. Regardless of the
engagement, we encourage and offer the opportunity to all clients to go through our financial
planning process, which gives us a better understanding of their situation and enables us to
give our best advice and service.
This comprehensive approach to financial planning and investment management helps clients
define the purpose of their wealth and make informed financial decisions. With client
cooperation and assistance, we construct and maintain a current balance sheet and offer tools
to organize assets, liabilities, income, and expenses on an ongoing basis. We discuss
retirement planning, education planning, estate planning, charitable giving, and tax
considerations with clients as well. This information, along with discussion of values, goals, risk
tolerance and time horizon, drives our recommendations to clients regarding asset allocation
and portfolio construction. We establish a customized written Investment Policy Statement for
clients to guide their plan and keep their strategy on track.
We also provide financial planning services on a stand-alone basis for those clients that do not
currently require our professional investment management.
In certain situations, our clients wish to have professional administration of their personal trust
accounts. In those circumstances, we work with the family to designate a Directed Trustee to
administer those accounts. We serve as the Investment Trust Advisor for those accounts. We
recommend that clients name Bell Bank as the Directed Trustee whenever possible.
We also provide various consulting services to qualifying employee benefit plans and their
fiduciaries. These services are designed to assist plan sponsors in administering and
managing their corporate retirement plans. Certain services are provided by Marquette or a
fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended
(“ERISA”). ERISA is the comprehensive federal law that governs the operation and
administration of private pension and welfare benefits plans. In accordance with ERISA Section
408(b)(2), each plan sponsor is provided with a written description of Marquette’s fiduciary
status, the specific services to be rendered, and all direct and indirect compensation the Firm
reasonably expects under the engagement.
Wealth management relationships frequently include retirement accounts. ERISA Prohibited
Transaction Exemption 2020-02 (“PTE 2020-02”) requires that retirement-related
recommendations be in the best interest of retirement investors and that conflicts of interest be
eliminated or mitigated. As an SEC-registered investment adviser, we were previously subject
to these requirements. We provide
information acknowledging our fiduciary status and
enhanced descriptions of the services we will provide and fees we will charge as required by
PTE 2020-02 exemption through the Retirement Disclosure. Where we recommend rollover of
qualified plan assets, we also provide an explanation of our rationale for why the
recommendation is in the client’s best interest.
Our Process
1. Understand: We work with clients to understand their life goals, financial objectives,
comfort with risk, current and anticipated tax situation, cash-flow and liquidity needs,
and estate planning considerations. We collaborate with their attorney and accountant
where appropriate.
2. Design: We develop a personalized financial plan and design an investment portfolio
which reflects each client’s goals, risk profile and cash flow needs. We establish a
customized Investment Policy Statement for clients. The Investment Policy Statement
defines their goals and identifies the asset classes to be used in structuring the
portfolio.
3. Implement: We construct and manage portfolios in accordance with the Investment
Policy Statement. Where appropriate, we phase in investment recommendations over
time to manage tax ramifications.
4. Monitor and Supervise: We oversee the management of client portfolios. We evaluate
progress against clients’ goals. We offer ongoing performance reporting via our client
portal. We meet with clients regularly to stay on top of their evolving needs and goals.
We proactively keep clients and their attorney and accountant abreast of notable
developments and help evaluate alternatives and opportunities. We regularly review the
Investment Policy Statement to ensure that the asset allocation and strategy remain on
target.
Each client is assigned a relationship manager who provides ongoing administrative service
and offers comprehensive wealth management.
We manage portfolios by balancing risk and expected return. We believe strongly in building
portfolios which are well diversified within and among asset classes. An asset class is a group
of securities that share similar characteristics, behave similarly in the marketplace and are
subject to the same rules and regulations. The most common asset classes are fixed income,
equity securities, cash, real assets, and alternative investments. Real assets include
investments such as real estate and precious metals while alternative investments currently
include private equity investments, reinsurance funds and master limited partnerships (MLPs).
We recommend a custom target allocation based on each client’s unique situation. Portfolios
are then constructed with bonds, exchange traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, and where
appropriate, real and/or alternative assets. We will hold individual stock positions for clients
upon request.
We maintain sub-advisory arrangements as needed when an appropriate mutual fund or
exchange traded fund vehicle is not available to achieve the goals of the Investment Policy
Statement.
As of December 31, 2023, we had $712 million of assets under our discretionary management.
The value of assets under management is based on the market value of all assets held in
discretionary portfolios.
Prices for individual stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange traded funds and certain
alternative investments are generally obtained from our accounts’ custodians. To the extent an
asset is not priced by one of our custodians, our portfolio reporting and trading provider,
Envestnet, provides values if the security is held elsewhere on its platform. If a price is not
available from either of these sources, we will obtain a price from sources deemed reliable.
We obtain the market value of nonmarketable securities, if any, reflected in our reports from
sources deemed to be reliable. Our market valuation methodology for those alternative
investments is disclosed to participants on an annual basis. We had no discretionary assets in
such nonmarketable alternative investments as of December 31, 2023.