Why Walkner Condon?

We are a fee-only financial planning firm driven by the fiduciary standard of care under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. As fiduciaries for all of our clients and their transactions, we are required by law to put our client interests before ours. It is our belief that this should be the gold standard for all financial advisors, not the exception.

While we see our fiduciary responsibilities as non-negotiable, many “financial advisors” still don’t act as fiduciaries on all transactions for their clients. Our advisors do not accept commissions from the sale of investment products. 

Our approach focuses on providing investment solutions that are tailored to the unique needs of our clients. We work with you to identify portfolio series that best fit your financial objectives, risk tolerance, and personal values. While many advisors are inflexible, with inherent biases towards passive or active management, we believe strongly in offering choice in investment strategy.

• We believe that the bulk of our clients’ portfolios should be invested in a globally diversified manner and that clients benefit from a “buy and hold” approach rather than one that attempts to time the markets.
• We seek to utilize funds that are low in cost relative to their peers and categories and are generally tax efficient, though there are times where we may consider funds that are higher in cost or turnover if we determine it makes sense from an allocation standpoint.
• We offer our clients choice in their asset management strategy and are not absolute in our views in the debate between active and passive management.

Our staff features multiple individuals with master’s degrees, a Ph.D., a J.D., three CFP®s, a CFA, and a CPA. This extensive educational experience translates into a strong desire to inform and educate our clients. For those checking us out, we offer public blogs and podcasts designed to help you gain an understanding of investment and financial planning concepts in an approachable manner. For our clients, we take time in our meetings to ensure you understand the financial concepts behind the recommendations we make. We don’t pretend that finance is simple, but we aim to take the complex and make it easier to understand.

Our staff has a wide variety of life experiences, and many are career changers. Four of our advisors have lived abroad, while others were born and raised in Wisconsin. We have staff with previous work experience in HR, education, real estate, and nonprofits, and we have other team members that have worked in finance for most of their careers. We have people that have worked at giant brokerage firms like Merrill Lynch and Chase Private Banking, and others from local success stories like Epic and Madison Gas & Electric. We believe this breadth of experience allows us to better understand and assist clients from various backgrounds.

While our headquarters are located in Madison, WI, we serve clients throughout the world. All of our advisors can work with clients throughout the U.S., offering them in-person meetings where appropriate. Our U.S. expat team serves clients throughout the world in a virtual meeting environment. We primarily custody our assets through Schwab, though we also offer alternative custodians through our other partners where appropriate.

At Walkner Condon, our “Comfortably Unique” culture sets us apart from other financial firms. Although it is difficult to describe in words, the best way to experience our culture is by scheduling a no-cost, no-obligation consultation. During this initial “fit” meeting, we’ll help you get your financial questions answered, free from any sort of high pressure sales tactics.