2014 Trusted Advisers Wealth Manager: Paula Dougherty

Paula Dougherty launched her financial planning business from scratch – no client list, no how-to guide. Nearly 20 years later, Dougherty is a top wealth manager with five employees and 560 clients.

“I did not have any clients or a book of business given to me. My natural market was college students with debt,” says Dougherty, a private wealth adviser and franchise owner of Dougherty Wealth Management Ameriprise Financial.

“Through consistency and perseverance, I built my practice one client, one referral at a time through integrity, honesty and hard work. The one piece of advice I was given that I adhered to was, ‘Do what you say you are going to do.’”

Dougherty works with clients on financial goals and the steps to achieve them and, as a full-service brokerage and investment firm, her company invests for both the short and long term.

“What we do at Ameriprise with our comprehensive financial planning is not only changing lives for our clients but also for generations to come in their family,” Dougherty says.

“It is not about selling people a hot stock or a certain fund. It is about educating them to make sound financial decisions and helping them to plan for a solid financial future for themselves, their children and, potentially, their grandchildren, through the use of tax strategies, insurance and certain investment options.”

Dougherty Wealth Management works with many small-business owners, especially on retirement plans and legacy planning.

“This includes buy-sell agreements for when the client is transitioning to retirement and ready to pass on their business to the next owner,” Dougherty says. “We also help plan for unexpected events, such as illness or death, which allows the business to continue on with capital and strategies in place during what could be a very unsettling time for employees and customers.”

Dougherty is an alumna of Missouri State University, where she earned both undergraduate and graduate degrees, and she holds numerous professional designations, including certified financial planner, chartered life underwriter, chartered financial consultant, chartered adviser for senior living and chartered retirement planning consultant.

Lisa Alexander, president of the CoxHealth Foundation, has known Dougherty for 10 years in her role as a member of the CoxHealth Foundation Volunteer Committee.

“She is so respected in her field and has served as our speaker for our financial planning seminars for years because of the trust she has earned in her profession and the way she lives her life,” Alexander says. “Paula’s honesty in her business dealings is what has helped her become one of the most successful in her field.

“One does not grow in this industry without a reputation for the honesty and integrity that she lives each day.”

Dougherty has worked with Junior League of Springfield and is involved with Rotary Club of Springfield Sunrise, United Way of the Ozarks and the Child Advocacy Center.[[In-content Ad]]