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Fiduciary Wealth Management for
 Multi-Gen Families of Business Leaders

Who We Serve


We serve Multi-Gen Families of Business Leaders


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Energy Executives


Learn about Common Characteristics

Family


Company Founders


Learn about Common Characteristics

Women


Women in Transition


Learn about Common Characteristics

Energy Executive

Ages 55 and 54


Married for 30 years with 2 children that recently graduated college

35 years with the same company

  • One spouse works 60+ hours per week and doesn't want to give up precious family time to research and manage financial decisions.
  • Wants a trusted partner in developing and executing the family’s financial strategy.
  • Prioritizes good stewardship and doesn't want to take unnecessary risk.
  • Realizes the value of independent objective advice and doesn’t like to be “sold”.
  • Thinks about what their contributions will look like in their next season of life.

Earn:$800,000

Spend: $200,000

Net Worth: $10 million

Company Founder

Ages 45 and 40


Married for 20 years with 5 children ages 4 to 12

Partnered with a friend 10 years ago to start the company

  • Would like to know where all the money goes.
  • Needs help strategizing and executing on advice and managing lumpy cash flow.
  • Would like to increase effectiveness of benefits for employees and maximize after-tax income from the business.
  • Needs to update estate plans and insurance to provide for spouse and children in the event of untimely passing.
  • No debt on the business.
  • Thinks about what children’s education looks like in the future and how to prepare.
  • Doesn’t want children to grow up with a sense of entitlement.
  • Gives 10+% of their income to charity each year.

Earn: $2 million

Spend: $500,000

Net Worth: $20 million

Women in Transition

Age 75


Widow after 50-year marriage with 2 grown children and 6 grandchildren ages 10 to 30

  • Deceased spouse was Engineer and handled family finances until terminal diagnosis.
  • Needed help to get affairs in order quickly while in Hospice.
  • Wants someone they can trust to educate, provide counsel and have genuine concern for his bride.
  • Does not want to be a burden to grown children financially or otherwise but does want to involve the children in decision-making.
  • Needed new estate planning documents, cash flow planning, aligning their asset allocation with his wife's risk tolerance instead of his and tax planning and preparation.

Earns: $0

Spends:$120,000 per year

Net Worth: $5 million




Common themes we address for client families:

  • How do we optimize our resources to support our hopes and dreams?
  • How do we prepare the next generation of family leaders to be good stewards?
  • How do we find and manage relationships with the right professionals given our complex needs and family dynamics?
  • How do we delegate the day-to-day responsibilities that come with significant resources without losing control and accountability?
  • How do we "get our affairs in order"?



Services and Fees


Services

We provide comprehensive wealth management, which includes Investment Management, Advanced Planning and Coordination of Providers. We take proactive responsibility for leading the process while clients retain full decision-making authority.


Investment Management

  • Needs & Risk Analysis
  • Strategic Asset Allocation Advice
  • Systematic Rebalancing
  • Transparent Reporting
  • No Hidden Fees - Compensation from clients only
  • Sustainability and Impact Investing
  • Income Planning
  • Managing around Concentrated positions
  • Manager Selection, Due Diligence and Monitoring
  • Overall Asset Allocation monitoring and reporting
  • Managing risk around large liquidity events

Advanced Planning

  • Estate Planning
  • Charitable Giving
  • Income and Estate Tax
  • Cash Flow
  • Risk Management and Insurance
  • Company Benefits Package and Compensation
  • Executive Benefits
  • Wealth Transfer
  • Stewardship Development for children ages 5 to 65
  • Short-Term and Long-Term Goal Planning
  • Transitions around Aging Gracefully

Coordinating Providers

  • Trustee Services
  • Executor Services
  • Tax Preparation
  • Legal Document Preparation
  • Insurance Providers
  • Employer Benefits
  • Employee Benefits
  • Bookkeeping
  • Getting Organized

Fees


We only receive compensation from our clients, which helps avoid conflicts of interest. We are compensated based on a percentage of the assets we manage for each family.

Portfolio Size

Annual Rate

First $5 million 1%
Next $5 million 0.80%
Next $10 million 0.60%
$20 million + 0.40%


Periodically, we also provide project-centered consulting for a flat fee based on the expected time and resources required.

Who We Are



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Thoughtful and Intentional

We listen, provide a safe place to explore confidential topics together, provide observations and analysis and implement client wishes. We help families ask the right questions, understand their options and feel good about the decisions they make.

When we do not have expertise in an area, we coordinate with professionals that do.

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Fee-only fiduciaries

As fiduciaries, we are required to place our client’s interests above our own in all we do. We are fee-only, which means that we will never accept any form of compensation from anyone other than our clients. This alignment with our client families helps us avoid conflicts of interest.

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Comprehensive

Our primary measure of success is not the number families we serve or the revenue we generate but rather the positive impact we create for and through the families we serve.

We expect to serve each client family for generations. We know that a family's multi-generational needs and wishes will change over time, so we tailor our services for each family to where they are today.

Rodney James, CFP®, CTFA, EA Photo Rodney James, CFP®, CTFA, EA Hover Photo

Rodney James, CFP®, CTFA, EA

Founder & Advisor
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Rodney James, CFP®, CTFA, EA

Founder and Family wealth Advisor


Prior to Vineyard Family Wealth, I spent 12 years in various wealth management roles, mostly analytical. The majority of that time was spent with an independent trust company serving some of the wealthiest families in the country first as an Analyst and then as a Family Advisor. In addition to my love for serving families, I also enjoy investing in the future leaders of our profession. Vineyard Family Wealth is a place where aspiring financial planners can come to learn, mature and develop a love for client families and a heart for servant leadership.

After earning a B.A. in Speech Communication from Texas A&M University, I completed the Certified Financial Planner® program at Rice University. I also completed the Advanced Trust School at Southern Methodist University. I am a Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor, which is the industry standard for Trust Administrators.

The most advanced program for institutional investment managers is the Chartered Financial Analyst program, and I have passed the Level 1 exam. Being an Enrolled Agent with the Internal Revenue Service helps me understand how a family's decisions impact their tax return and tax bill. I am also licensed to practice before the U.S. Tax Court.

The thousands of hours I have invested and continue to invest in learning equip me with a wide range of technical knowledge so that client families can rest assured that our guidance really is comprehensive and in their best interest.

I grew up in the northern suburbs of Houston as a third generation Houstonian. I have been actively involved in community development projects around the city and with Houston’s First Baptist Church, where I met my beautiful bride, Jennifer. We are both avid readers, so it's no surprise that I proposed to Jennifer in one of our favorite places, our church library. When I was younger, I enjoyed marathons and triathlons, but now Jennifer and I enjoy the outdoor adventures of walking, hiking and backyard gardening.


Jessica Contreras Photo Jessica Contreras Hover Photo

Jessica Contreras

Operations Associate
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Jessica Contreras

Operations Associate


Jessica  graduated from California State University in 2014. After graduation, she and her husband moved to Arizona where she worked as an Emergency Dispatcher for the local Police Department. Her time there sharpened her communication skills and enhanced her ability to prioritize and process incoming tasks and projects. After realizing that the snow wasn’t for them, they finally moved to the great state of Texas. Jessica has been serving the operational needs of our clients since the very beginning.

When she isn’t working, Jessica enjoys being a new mom to a precious baby girl and spending time with her family. We are grateful to have her on our team.
Jessica Riner Photo Jessica Riner Hover Photo

Jessica Riner

Operations Associate
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Jessica Riner

Operations Associate


Jessica provides deep expertise in serving client families. After graduating with a Master's Degree in Educational Technology, Jessica spent six years educating small business owners around the country how to leverage digital marketing and operations.

After the birth of her son, Chase, Jessica began working from home as a Vice President of a document conversion company where she learned the intimate technical details that are critical for large scale data management.

Jessica has been partnering with Vineyard Family Wealth since the beginning and brings nearly two decades of experience serving client families to our team. Jessica provides the operational expertise and diligence needed to consistently meet client needs. We are grateful to have her on our team. 


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