Awards and Announcments

Geology? Yes, John Woolway earned an undergraduate degrees in the study of rocks. His other degree, in business administration, is what got him into financial services, but the connection between the two is easier to make than it might seem: “I started my career as a fixed-income analyst, focusing on insurance-company balance sheets and mortgage-backed securities,” Woolway says. “I found that finance and geology both required in-depth analysis, as things weren’t always what they appeared to be on the surface.”

As president and chief investment officer for Vantage Investment Partners, Woolway brings not only critical-thinking skills, but values handed down early in life. “My parents were my first and best role models I could have asked for,” he says. “They grew up in the Depression, so the values of hard work and saving were instilled into me at a very early age.”

Mowing lawns and bagging groceries helped get him through the University of Iowa, and he followed that experience by earning his MBA at DePaul University in Chicago. He went to work for Chicago Title and Trust Co., then First National Bank of Omaha, before becoming chief investment officer at the Old United Insurance Companies in Merriam, which partnered to form Vantage in 2003. Woolway has been ranked among the Top 100 wealth advisers nationally by AdvisorOne.com (No. 82), with a $350 million portfolio and clients who average nearly $15 million in assets.

That success, though, isn’t all his, he’ll tell you. “I have been blessed with incredible mentors/bosses/partners throughout my career,” he says. “Without some of their guidance, I wouldn’t be where I am today.” One of the most important things he’s learned, especially given the market volatility of recent years, is to stay composed. “Don’t panic,” Woolway says. “The wild swings in the markets over the last few years have created some very good opportunities for my clients.” But it’s a lot easier to avoid market anxiety if you just dial out the noise, he says. “Other than checking where the futures markets are in the morning, I don’t have much use for financial market info-commercials,” Woolway says. “Clients do call or email from time to time about a certain character or comments they heard that day, but our discussion focuses on the facts as opposed to someone’s opinion that seems to change day to day.”

Being a responsible asset manager, says Woolway, sometimes involves delivering difficult messages. But even then, things work out if the message is based on the right foundation. And that would be? “Trust,” Woolway declares. “The client understands that we’re both sitting on the same side of the table, in essence, we’re partners. Also, I have some very interesting clients from whom I have been able to learn some very valuable life and business lessons.”

Vantage Investment Partners Ranks 83rd  in AdvisorOne.com’s  2011 Top Wealth Managers This is the 11th year that AdvisorOne (and its predecessor publications) have surveyed the wealth management industry to determine both the largest RIA wealth management firms by total assets under management and to explore the state of the wealth management industry. We solicit fee-only wealth managers, RIAs who are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (as of 12/31/2010) to provide us with a, well, wealth of information about their specific firms, and after scrubbing the data to ensure it meets our standards, particularly on AUM, AdvisorOne and its partners at Fusion Advisor Network determine the ranking.

Vantage Investment Partners Ranks 20th Among Ingrams’s Top Wealth Management Firms       October 2011 * Volume 37, No 10 *This list of 50 area wealth management firms is compiled from data provided through questionnaires and interviews with company personnel and from reports of Assets Under Management made to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Some firms deserving mention may have been omitted due to lack of response or information.

2011 Top RIA Ranking Vantage Investment Partners Ranks 90th Financial Advisor Magazine 2011 Top RIA List. With more than $1 Billion in assets, Vantage Investment Partners is pleased to be recognized in the community of Registered Investment Advisors for our firm’s accomplishments this past year.