Portfolio Resource Group
The Portfolio Resource Group (PRG) is a partnership between independent advisors and Prosperity's home office, designed to allow the advisor to do what they do best: manage client relationships, build financial plans and grow their business.
PRG is both similar to a traditional third-party asset management program, but also offers an enhanced offering leading to a very unique experience.
As a valued member of Prosperity Network of Advisors, you have access to a team of professionals dedicated to portfolio management and investment research through the PRG program.
Brett Jergens, CFA®, CFP®
Brett Jergens is Chief Investment Officer at Prosperity Advisors and is a partner of the firm. As CIO, Brett leads the investment team and supervises research and development activities, provision of investment strategies, and management of client portfolios.
Brett began his career as a CPA® with a Big Four accounting firm focusing on tax planning solutions for individual clients. He transitioned to the wealth management industry where he earned his Certified Financial Planner CFP® designation and worked as a financial advisor. Brett quickly learned that his passion was on investing and creating unique portfolio solutions for clients. His driving love for investments comes from the enjoyment of the challenge the stock market provides. He earned his Charted Financial Analyst CFA® designation and began focusing on managing investments for two wealth management firms. Prior to joining Prosperity, Brett worked for 13 years at Tortoise Capital a Kansas City based institutional asset manager with assets totaling $25 billion. He served as a portfolio manager overseeing equity and fixed income investment strategies.
Brett earned a BBA degree in Accounting and Finance from Kansas State University in 2001. Brett currently holds his CFP®, CFA®, SIE, Series 7TO, and Series 63 registrations, and he is also a former CPA®.
Our members love us
“I’ve been a PRG member for several years, and it has been a great investment in my practice! I feel as though I gained 2-3 team members with this alliance. PRG provides me with a level of skill and depth in economic research and investment management that I would not have myself and allows portfolio customization that aligns with my investment philosophy for clients. Most importantly, I can spend more of my time on what I do best - focusing on my clients and growing my client base. And I do this with the utmost confidence that PRG is handling the research and providing the services, products and technologies that support my clients’ goals. But the proof is in the numbers as well. Since coming on board with PRG, I’ve nearly quadrupled my assets under management, added 200 additional accounts and my account average is higher as well.”
“I feel as though I gained 2-3 team members with this alliance. Since coming on board with PRG, I've nearly quadrupled my assets under management.”
““Being a member of PRG, I have realized significant benefits for my practice. I’ve saved time, reduced costs for myself and my clients, and have been able to provide greater differentiation of investments for clients. Investment research and portfolio management are, in my opinion, very inefficient to do oneself. I’d much rather spend my time with existing and potential clients, advising them on a plan to fit their goals. There are also cost benefits with PRG. As a result of being affiliated with Prosperity, sometimes I receive discounted pricing on platform fees. I know many advisors use TAMPs, but PRG is, to me, a better solution for portfolio management; TAMPs can be overly costly. I also appreciate that I have easy access to the portfolio manager with PRG. I recommend any advisor who wants to offer more options for clients, with less cost, and create a higher level of efficiency in their practice with a trusted strategic partner, join PRG.”
“I recommend any advisor who wants to offer more options for clients, with less cost, and create a higher level of efficiency in their practice with a trusted strategic partner, join PRG.”
“Among the top benefits of working with PRG for me is outsourcing portfolio management to an experienced, knowledgeable team whose sole focus is research and management. PRG also provides me with an advantageous level of service ability for my clients, from customization that includes requests and legacy positions to specific feedback on accounts. But I also want to highlight how much PRG membership frees me up to focus on clients instead of the market and portfolio positions. I’m also much better equipped to discuss what’s going on in the market at a deeper level due to PRG’s excellent analysis and reliable and timely market updates and commentary. To put it simply, though my office is small, but with PRG I’m able to tell my clients that I have access to a portfolio team within my elite network of advisors that manages only our clients’ assets – and I know my clients appreciate that.”
With PRG I'm able to tell my clients that I have access to a portfolio team that manages only our clients' assets—and I know my clients appreciate that.”
4 Corners
Our innovative solution to investing
Money managers often debate which investment strategy is best. Common sense tells us that placing all of one’s eggs in a single strategy is too risky. Why not choose a balanced approach? We created a solution that we call “4 Corners” to achieve the right mix.
Some funds have managers and teams that believe in investing with great focus and conviction. These managers limit their number of holdings to 20 – 80 stocks. They monitor their ownership in these companies and are active managers.
Filtering the universe of stocks to identify quality balance sheets and earnings can identify target companies. We buy those stocks when they fall below our estimation of fair value and sell them when they reach our targeted sell price.
There are stocks of iconic companies that we want to own as investors. Buying these stocks and holding them for the long-term provides a simple (but not diversified) way to participate in the success of some great companies.
Participating in “market returns” is obtainable with passive funds that emulate indices like the S&P 500. They simply cost less to hold.
Our process
The client collaborates with the advisor to define the purpose of the portfolio. The purpose and the risk tolerance results will contribute to the design.
Our team and the advisor will collaborate to see that the portfolio is built with client goals and risk tolerance as the focus.
The portfolio operates within a framework (four corners, asset allocation, current market climate) design. Our portfolios are not all alike, but they rhyme. Contributions from the collaboration will be harmonized within the framework.
Planning for income and client tax situations gives us an opportunity to build a portfolio that is the correct fit.
The difference between a good cook and a great chef – recipe, ingredients and preparation. The same is true of portfolio construction.
The ingredients are carefully researched and reasoned positions that work well with the other ingredients. The preparation difference shows up in being intentional in understanding and managing consequences, finding cost-effective solutions, being thoughtful with implementations that are sensitive to the current market, and a drive to find a better way to pursue objectives.
Careful steps are taken to impact results, and the expectation is clear; as situations evolve, your portfolio is managed accordingly.
Trimming the portfolio when investment selections hit a tough season or are just not thriving as anticipated, makes a difference. Even more so, pruning a position that is getting overgrown can protect the portfolio.
Finding new positions to improve the portfolio, diligent monitoring, rebalancing and adhering to diversification guidelines aim to pursue risk-adjusted returns that are aligned with the portfolio’s purpose.
Our Foundation
The unique balance of these four approaches rests on a firm foundation of principles that guide us when managing each portfolio:
Investment decisions made by a team of qualified professionals
Collaborative framework incorporates new ideas
Disciplined construction, review and monitoring by a dedicated team
Accounts are not identical, but they “rhyme”
Top line analytical tool (Bloomberg) informs decisions with economic, financial and business metrics
Portfolio that is thrifty by reducing expenses when wise
Team that adheres to the fiduciary guidelines prescribed in the AIFTM process
Team supported by credentialed professionals including the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation
Portfolio that does not restrict investment options