GOLD INVESTMENT
Physician Program
At GIM we have an intimate knowledge of the pains, struggles, and joys that come from a career in medicine. We know what it’s like to be buried in debt while your spouse makes less than minimum wage and spends every fourth night in the hospital. We understand what you’re going through. GIM is a fee-only investment management practice that develops specialized financial plans and portfolios for our clients. We are in the dream quantification business. You tell us what you want for your future and we figure out how to invest accordingly. We help put numbers on your dreams and talk about how much risk will be necessary to see them become reality.
Low, All-Inclusive Fee
Evidence Based, Low Cost, Systematic Portfolio Management
Holistic Approach, High-Touch Service
No Minimum Account Size
Professional
Credentials and Continued Education
Physicians are held to the highest professional standards and they should demand the same of their advisors. GIM’s advisors owe you a fiduciary duty and are held to the highest educational and ethical standards. Our staff members hold the following degrees and designations: B. Comm, B.Sc. (Honours), MBA, CFA, CIM, CPA, DMS and FCSI.
Three-Pronged
Approach
Comprehensive Financial Planning
The financial planning process involves identifying where you are, where you want to be, and how you’re going to get there. We will provide you with a financial plan as well as ongoing accountability to ensure that you are meeting your goals. And if something unexpected happens, we’re here to guide you through it.
INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
The investments that we recommend to our clients are the very same investments that we make for our families. We practice what we preach and eat our own cooking. GIM believes that it can help you achieve your investment goals by accurately measuring your tolerance for risk and rebalancing your investments based on the right mix of risk-free assets, risky assets and low-cost alternatives. Our strategy is simple but effective: Low-Cost Focus, Systematic and Repeatable, Evidence Based.
Client Education
GIM focuses first and foremost on client education; the more our clients understand, the more likely they are to make the best decision for their future. Our portfolio managers are constantly educating clients via our quarterly newsletter, blogs and our client-facing Facebook Group. If we expect our medical professionals to be up to date on the latest and greatest, then why shouldn’t our physician clients expect the same of us?
Our Process
Getting Started
1
First Meeting
( Approx 90 Min )- During this initial informal conversation, we’ll talk about your financial life – your banking, your debt, your investments – to gain a preliminary understanding of where you’re at, after which we will write up a progress note. The most important thing about this meeting is that we extract all the information from you so that we can assess the most important areas to address first.
2
Second Meeting
( Approx 90 Min )- In this meeting we will focus more on specific numbers as we discuss budgeting, student loans, insurance needs and your future financial goals. In meeting two, we will import your account data into our financial planning software, review transactions, categorize what you’re spending, establish your risk tolerance, and start analyzing your student/personal/business debt.
3
Third Meeting
( Approx 90 Min )- Here we get to attach number figures to your financial goals and flesh out how we’re going to get you to financial independence. This conversation will focus on your dreams, goals, intentions, and life plans as well as the investment strategies we intend to use to accomplish those goals. We’ll be able to assess what’s realistic, what’s not and how to make your goals a reality.
4
Follow Up
Now that we have all the data and a thorough understanding of your goals, we will present you with an Investment Management Agreement (“IMA”), and a personalized financial plan with simple, straightforward cash flow management recommendations. These recommendations will provide you a “roadmap” for the upcoming 12 months with action-items needed to implement the plan.
Why Do We Work With Physicians?
We, at GIM, come from physician families. We are different than the Bank “advisors” who are focused on selling banking and investment products rather than providing investment counsel and advice. GIM is independent and aligned with our clients. We do not sell proprietary or third-party products. In fact, we won’t try to sell you anything. Instead, we offer counsel that’s free from jargon and other tactics designed to obfuscate. Guiding physicians to a secure and prosperous future is what we do at GIM and why we created the GIM Physician Program.
Financial Habit Checkup & Behaviour Management
As a part of your primary financial care, we do quarterly check-ups. Think of these check-ups as long-term financial care visits. As much as we emphasize the importance of sticking to your plan, we realize that life is lived in the here and now. What is the point of working if you can’t enjoy an expensive meal or a vacation for the family? What we want to stress to our clients is commitment to “the process”. At GIM, we think human beings are entirely creatures of habit. Young children are born with no habit loops. They’re born as blank slates. Then they habituate themselves to learn patterns and they condition themselves to get through everyday life. These habits are good, and they allow us to process things in the background while our neocortex and frontal lobe stays available to solve brand new problems. However, we also unconsciously pick up habits in the background and we keep them for decades. We may not realize this but they’re bad for us until we’re ready to move on them. To some extent, we think that our attitude towards life, our mood, our happiness levels are also habits. Do we judge people? How often do we eat? What kind of food do we eat? Do we exercise? Do we read? Are we impulsive? These are all habits. We need habits to function as we cannot solve every problem in life as if it’s the first time it’s been thrown at you. Which is why it’s important to be able to un-condition yourself, to be able to take your habits apart and say, “This is unhealthy, and I need to make a change.” Is this bad financial habit serving me anymore? Is it making me happier? Is it making me healthier? Is it making me accomplish whatever I want to set out to accomplish right now? This is why we don’t charge a one-time fee for creating a plan and then hourly for every time you need guidance. Our fee structure aligns client goals and compensation with what is truly best for you – it always allows GIM to be accessible, and the plan to be fluid as we manage your financial habits from the beginning of the relationship through to your retirement and even the next generation.