Morningstar Magazine - October/November 2016 - 87

She adds, "I'm the perfect financial advisor for clients who want personalized one-on-one service and advice from an independent advisor. I have been fee-only since I started my practice and actively embrace the NAPFA fiduciary model." Investing Philosophy Curtis follows the principles of strategic asset allocation: setting target allocations for various asset classes, then periodically rebalancing to maintain these original allocations. She takes great care in balancing a client's need for return with risk tolerance when choosing the asset allocation. Her portfolios are a mix of exchangetraded funds, actively managed funds, and index funds. She chooses the best options for each asset class, paying close attention to fees, standard deviation, and strategy of each investment. Curtis used Morningstar.com even before she became a financial advisor as a tool for her personal investing. As a financial advisor, she still considers the site an essential business tool. "I use the site daily for research on various investments, in the development of my model portfolios and to review the existing portfolios of prospects," she says. "Morningstar is a great resource that allows me to stay current on industry trends as well as on financial planning and retirement issues. I also attend the Morningstar Investment Conference each year to soak in the knowledge of seasoned investment managers and mingle with peers." Positive Influence Cathy Curtis, CFP, founder of Curtis Financial Planning. How to Create a Budget Aligned with Your Values, Beliefs and Ideals. How she caught our eye: One of the most visible financial advisors on social media. Owner of financial planning firm focusing on women. Personal: Married to Rob, a retired mortgage broker who now acts as COO of her firm. They live in Oakland Hills, Calif. President and board member of CUESA, a nonprofit whose mission is to cultivate a healthy food system and program chair of the Commonwealth Club of California's Food Matters Forum. She is an avid swimmer, Pilates practitioner, hiker, and loves to read for business and pleasure. Career path: Graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1980 with a bachelor's of arts degree in social sciences and public policy. She received her Certificate in Financial Planning from Berkeley in 2000. Worked in a number of customer service, sales, and marketing positions in the food packaged-goods industry before starting Curtis Financial Planning in January 2001. Author of the e-book The Happiness Spreadsheet: Favorite funds: PowerShares S&P 500 Low Volatility ETF SPLV, iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol Emerging Markets EEMV, iShares Edge MSCI Minimum Volatility EAFE EFAV. Curtis says that being an advisor allows her to follow her passions. "I became a financial advisor because I was passionate about personal finance and investing," she says. "I also wanted to be of service to people and to have a positive influence on people's lives. Money matters are complicated, and many people don't have the time or interest to learn all the nuances of investing, taxes, healthcare, estate planning, insurance, education planning, etc. I love to help my clients make good choices in all these areas of their financial life." K Roger Wohlner is a financial advisor and a freelance writer. His blog is The Chicago Financial Planner. global.morningstar.com/Morningstarmagazine 87 http://www.Morningstar.com http://global.morningstar.com/Morningstarmagazine

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Morningstar Magazine - October/November 2016