Evason launches new wealth management company; Northwestern Mutual survey says American optimism is on the rise
Evason launches new wealth management company
Ken Evason, the former chief executive officer of Jacobus Wealth Management, has launched a new firm, Windermere Wealth Advisors LLC in Waukesha.
The new company received approval recently from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to conduct business as a registered investment advisor.
Evason, a CFA, serves as chief executive officer and chief investment officer at the new firm, which provides wealth management services to individuals, families and charitable organizations.
Windermere Wealth Advisors concentrates on capital outlook, asset allocation, investment policy formulation and specific sector securities in health care/health sciences and financial services.
Evason brings more than 30 years of expertise and experience to Windermere Wealth Advisors. Prior to his experience at Jacobus, he spent 24 years with the U.S. Life subsidiary of Clarica (formerly Mutual Life of Canada), rising to the role of CEO.
Pam Evason, CPA, CFA, is vice president of investment research and administration for Windermere Wealth Advisors. She was previously a senior manager in the audit practice of Deloitte & Touche LLP’s Milwaukee office, serving clients within the banking and investment management industry.
“I am very pleased to launch Windermere Wealth Advisors,” Ken Evason said. “Our name, our values, our systems all have been carefully built around our goal of financial peace of mind for our clients. I also take great pride in having my daughter, Pam, assume the role of vice president. Her proven financial acumen and market savvy make her an outstanding addition to the leadership team.”
Windermere Wealth is located at N19 W24400 Riverwood Dr., Suite 220, Waukesha.
Northwestern Mutual survey says American optimism is on the rise
The latest results collected from Northwestern Mutual’s Optimism Barometer – an online measurement tool – indicate a distinct upward trend in positive outlooks among Americans, despite the near-term challenges of the current economic climate.
Most notably, recent data in the Optimism Barometer revealed a 60 percent year-over-year jump in people who scored at the highest end of the optimism scale.
"These results suggest that Americans are, in increasing numbers, accepting the reality of the ‘new normal’ while also being able to see beyond the immediate challenges of the current economic cycle and remain optimistic about their long-term prospects," said Greg Oberland, executive vice president at Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. Inc. "We find it encouraging that Americans appear to be widening their time horizons and bringing a long-term approach to how they pursue their goals. It’s something at the very core of what we believe in, and aim to deliver through our process, and it’s a strategy that also has broad applications beyond finances in people’s lives."
The Optimism Barometer consists of six questions culled from The American Reality Study, which was commissioned in 2009 by Northwestern Mutual to help provide insight into how Americans are handling the economic, political, and social changes taking place in the United States, and to gain valuable perspectives on the way people view their lives and their future.
In the first quarter of 2009, only 25 percent of Americans scored between 8-10 (out of 10) on the optimism scale. Today, nearly 40 percent (39.7 percent) scored between 8-10, representing a 60-percent year-over-year increase in people at the highest end of the scale.
Additionally, it is not only the most optimistic among us that saw increases. Optimism shifted up in all categories, leaving only 2.4 percent of total respondents in the "least optimistic" category (0-4 on the optimism scale) vs. 19 percent last year.
In terms of demographics, younger respondents skewed slightly less optimistic than other age groups.
"The generational differences in the data have interesting implications about the effect that experience has on optimism," said Oberland. "On one hand, older respondents who have seen more economic cycles have higher levels of optimism than younger people who have less experience. That said, younger people believe more in the power of sheer ambition while older respondents are more cynical of the idea that anything is possible."
Questions for the Optimism Barometer were chosen from among those that were highly statistically predictive of optimism among survey participants.
