Explaining the difference between what our firm does rather than other financial services firms can be challenging. So here’s an analogy we hope helps.

Think about a national restaurant chain, like Olive Garden, and then think about a local chef run restaurant in your area. Our firm, WH Cornerstone Investments, is like a chef run restaurant and the big wire houses or brokerage firms would be like an Olive Garden.

The national chains offer you the same experience where ever you dine in the country. The menu is set by the corporate office and is virtually the same whichever restaurant you dine in. They have big national advertising budgets. You probably have seen a TV advertisement or maybe in ad in a magazine so they are recognizable. The wine list is going to be mass produced wines that you are familiar with so you might feel comfortable with the recognizable selections. Getting your favorite server or table is not always likely since these restaurants are often crowded, and the staff, often teenagers, changes fairly regularly. If you need to talk to the General Manager (du jour), you will get a different person each time because corporate relocated the old GM to another market last month. If you are on a special diet, the chef is unable to accommodate your request since their recipes are preset. And, lastly, you won’t likely see any table clothes—those just get in the way of turning the tables faster and add to the overhead expenses.

A firm, like WH Cornerstone Investments, is like a chef owned and run restaurant. After working in the mutual fund industry, Bill had an idea back in the mid 90’s to create a firm to offer individualized investment portfolios for people just like you. So he hung out his shingle. No big marketing budget but by delivering high quality service he would grow the firm. Each day going to market to find the freshest, lowest cost available ingredients to build unique menus with great flavor for our clients. Special food requests are not a problem since we can be accommodating and flexible based upon our clients tastes and restrictions. You may not always recognize wines on our wine list since we like to find unique wines to offer our clients and those vineyards often don’t have big marketing budgets either. You will receive white glove service from your chef and staff. We will only have a few tables so we will know about you and your family, your tastes and preferences and you will interact with us each time you call or come in.

We hope you have a better sense of some of the differences a firm like ours may offer you. The masses may be attracted to and flock to the Olive Garden’s of the world but we know there are a whole bunch of clients out there who prefer the experience of a local chef run restaurant. Stop in and give us a try sometime.