By Jeffrey J. Brown, MD, MBA, CFA®, CFP®
As a physician, you provide incredible value to your patients. They turn to you when they or a family member are concerned about their health and they trust you to give them reliable information and an action plan tailored to their situation. Does anyone provide that level of value to you regarding your finances? That’s the question we aimed to address when we started Shearwater Capital.
For Physicians, By Physicians
We understand the financial challenges and opportunities faced by physicians because we have over 40 years of combined experience working as physicians in both private and academic practice. We have seen first-hand how physicians are often underserved by the financial industry. Too many physicians pay unreasonable fees for active investment management, which is unlikely to add value in the long run.
So we took our passion for finance, combined it with our unique perspective as physicians, and set out to create a new solution: evidence-based investment management and comprehensive financial planning services for physicians at all stages of their careers and financial lives.
Science First
Just as in medicine, there is a scientific literature in financial economics, in which advancements in the field are published in peer-reviewed journals. We add value for our clients by taking some of the best ideas from academic finance and applying them to the practical world of investment management.
Our Fiduciary Pledge
As physicians, we believe that every patient deserves our best effort. The same thing is true for our financial clients. As a fiduciary firm, we have a moral and legal obligation to put our clients’ interests first in everything we do. We owe each client a duty of care, which means that our advice is based on a reasonable inquiry of your financial situation and investment objectives, and is in your best interest.
Reduced Expenses
Another tenet of our philosophy is to keep expenses as low as possible to maximize the amount of money you keep in your pocket. We do this by keeping our fees low and investing in a tax-efficient manner.
We are fee-only advisors, meaning that we get paid a percentage of the assets we manage for you. In other words, your success is our success. We have a financial incentive for your account to grow as large as possible and to minimize your transaction costs, tax liabilities, and anything else that might hinder the growth of your account over time.
We Are Here For You
You’ve given your all to your career and your patients and we believe you deserve to have someone in your court who gives their all for your financial future. That, in a nutshell, is why we work with physicians. If you want to partner with someone who understands and cares about the details of your life, schedule an introductory phone call online or contact us at (314) 434-4750 or contact@shearwatercapital.com to get started.
About Jeff
Jeffrey Brown is principal and chief investment officer at Shearwater Capital, LLC, a fee-only fiduciary financial advisory firm helping physicians and their families attain financial security using a scientific, evidence-based approach. Jeff has been a practicing radiologist for over 30 years and is currently chair of the Department of Radiology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Irvine and his medical degree from the University of California, San Diego. He has been named one of St. Louis’s Top Doctors every year since 2011 in St. Louis Magazine. Jeff saw a need for physician-tailored financial services and earned an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, going on to found Shearwater Capital, LLC with fellow MBA classmate and radiologist, Eric Malden. Jeff is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) and CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® (CFP®) practitioner. Learn more about Jeff by connecting with him on LinkedIn.