What's the Secret to Growing from $27M to $2.2B?

What's the secret to growing $27M to $2.2B?

Transcript (please watch video for disclosures. PM-09192026-7762310.1.1)

You know, I often get asked. We often get asked, how did you get in central Ohio and Dublin, Ohio? How did you get from 27 million in client assets with a handful of clients in central Ohio, in the Columbus area to today, where we advise and manage over $2.3 billion for clients in over 44 states. And first of all, it's not an easy answer.

And we didn't get there quickly. But for me personally and professionally, I have to go all the way back. I grew up in Dublin, Ireland, and my dad farmed and it was during a very interesting time in the 1980s in Ireland. But observing my dad look at farms, I learned very early that not all farms were valued the same, and all of a sudden valuation made sense.

I used to hear my dad talking about it. Fast forward, I end up in college in the middle of Kansas in the 1980s, and once again, farming comes into play because of course, Kansas is a very ag-centric state. But in my studies, I started to pick up lessons from great investors, and all of a sudden I'm in a class one day and I hear about this guy called Warren Buffett.

And I'll never forget thinking it was a light bulb moment for me going, oh my gosh, I think I could go down this rabbit hole. I never stopped reading about this guy. He's in Omaha, Nebraska, and he starts this company in 1967 — by pure coincidence, the year I was born. And he started it with just a small holding company, and now it's one of the most well-known, successful companies of our lifetime.

So I started to read about great investors. And time and time again, one of the ingredients was: you have to have a long-term philosophy. It's not about timing the market. It's about time in the market. And it's so important for us to remember the market is really our friend. Short term, it could drive you crazy, but time and time again, not just Warren Buffett...

So many of the great investors over the last three, four, five decades will tell you over and over again: find great businesses with a wide moat around them. We talk about a wide moat around here all the time. What is a wide moat? You've got to build an enterprise with terrific people, with a terrific product and service that's going to be sustainable.

And we want to do that here at Ascend. We want to make sure Ascend has a wide moat, and we do that. Oh my gosh, we just built a new headquarters in Bridge Park, Dublin, Ohio. We went from 4,000 square feet to almost 20,000 square feet. And now the place is full — but it's full of talent, so we can keep serving our clients from just in central Ohio to 44 states.

We have to stay out ahead of it and build our moat. And then when we invest on behalf of our clients and we're building out a portfolio, we want to look for companies that have a wide moat. We typically don't invest in startups. We don't invest in brand new ideas. That might make us a little conservative, but we believe a basket of well-run companies that have been around for a long time, run by brilliant men and women, providing a great product or service with a wide moat around them, is eventually going to add a lot of value.

And to finish off that point, we try to remind our clients and our team here at Ascend that we want to be right on the balance sheet. We don't obsess about the calendar. The calendar is all about this week, this month, this year. Nobody knows the future. Nobody knows what the markets are going to do in one year.

But if history repeats itself, we think terrific American businesses will do great over three, five, seven and ten years — and compound our clients' assets.