Arete Wealth

Location: Crystal Lake

  • Erik C. Olson

    Erik C. Olson

    ABOUT ERIK: A former director of research and international field studies at the University of Michigan Business School’s Global Leadership Program and Chicago-based consultant to senior executives of global companies, Erik’s career took a serendipitous turn into the financial industry in 1999. Knowing of Erik’s analytical background while a Ph.D. student at the University of Michigan, the president of Erik’s consulting firm asked him to harness advanced statistical techniques to design, develop, and evaluate high-frequency trading strategies for the exploding equity market. These strategies proved so effective that they ironically led to the effective disintegration of that company and the formation of a trading and research group whose clients included systematically-oriented private traders and a San Francisco-based hedge fund.

    Five years later, in another twist, Erik moved from the research side to the client side, applying his analytical bent to the needs of individual clients for well-integrated, comprehensive financial planning and wealth management. Erik joined Josh Rogers’ team, and quickly rose to become one of the top financial advisors in his entering class at American Express, with his 150 Chicago-area peers naming him the 2005 Advisor of the Year. Erik went on to become a district manager, helping lead some of the most experienced advisors in the Chicago employee platform at that time.

    In 2010, Erik moved to Arete, which offered the opportunity to serve high net worth clients with greater flexibility, better service, more sophisticated solutions, and free of the potential conflicts of interest inherent in a publicly traded product manufacturer. In addition to continuing to serve these clients, Erik has developed advanced proprietary multi-market portfolio designs and strategies intended to help clients protect and grow their wealth even in highly challenging market environments.

    When not thinking about his clients or ways to help them with advanced investment approaches, sophisticated retirement income strategies, tax reduction strategies, or estate planning strategies, Erik loves spending time with his college sweetheart and bride since 1983, camping, ultralight backpacking, reading, following politics, debating epistemology, running the occasional statistical analysis on a question that strikes his fancy, watching his beloved Padres and Vikings, fellowshipping with men at his church, uncovering amazing private equity and debt impact investments, and visiting his delightful daughters and their families in Michigan and Seattle.

    For four years he co-hosted The Retirement Lifestyle Show, a weekly podcast on all things retirement.  Some favorite episodes include these highlighting impact investing:

    To schedule a brief introductory “Learn More” conversation with Erik, click Erik’s Calendly link here

    To better understand your own retirement income style, click to take your RISA® assessment here

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  • Ed Ducett

    Ed Ducett

    ABOUT ED: Ed began his career in the advisor world in 2010 after enjoying a 30 year career in the promotional marketing industry. Ed, along with his partner Erik Olson, offer their clients financial planning, investment advisory services, insurance products (life, disability, and long term care), and estate planning. Their advisory practice is client centric and feel client interests always come first. Our client focus is primarily high net worth clients and we team up with industry specialists to offer the expertise and sound advice in all areas. In addition to offering mutual fund portfolios based on risk tolerance to manage assets, Arete also offers direct investment in alternative investments. This class of investments include: private/public partnerships, Renewable Energy, Oil and Gas Royalties, Non-Traded REITs, Business Development Companies, and Direct Real Estate Investments. Even though many firms do not offer these types of investments, Ed is well versed in the features of alternative investments and is experienced in evaluating the appropriateness of them for individual clients.

    Background
    Ed spent the first 30 years of his career as a top executive in the promotional marketing industry. His expertise was focused on Fortune 500 Companies, and he built his reputation as a leader in the industry emphasizing quality and service. Ed’s job required ascertaining the intricate details of a company’s marketing strategies and developing marketing campaigns to assist them in reaching their sales and marketing goals. In 1995 Ed launched his own promotional marketing firm, growing it to a prosperous company appealing to a competitor who acquired the company in 2006.

    In 2009, Ed joined the Arete Group – to start his second career and follow his passion as financial advisor. Ed’s 30 plus years as a businessman, marketing advisor, business owner and now wealth advisor has laid the ground work for Ed to bring a new, unique, and fresh perspective to the investment advisory world.

    Personal
    Ed is a 1982 graduate of Northern Illinois University achieving a degree in Economics with a minor in Business Administration. One of Ed’s greatest personal accomplishments was having the privilege of head coaching both his children’s basketballs teams at St. Thomas the Apostle school in Crystal Lake, IL. Looking into the eyes of those kids and realizing the importance of your role as a life teacher is extremely rewarding and humbling. Ed also served numerous years on the St. Thomas Athletic Board and held a number of board positions including President. Ed is an avid golfer, an active member and board member of Crystal Lake Country Club.