Kicking Off 40
The Big 4-0. When someone hits their 40th birthday, it is often filled with a surprise party, comments on physical decline, and plenty of black decorations.
But what do you do when an organization turns 40? We plan to figure that out over the course of 2025.
IAG Wealth Partners will officially celebrate our 40th year of faithful service to our clients on October 23, 2025. Forty years ago on that day, Lori Watt formed our initial firm – Financial Planning Strategies, Ltd. at our first office location in downtown Oconomowoc. Back in 1985, a young woman creating her own financial planning firm was unheard of.
From those humble origins of a one-person firm with zero clients, we have been blessed to gradually grow to a firm with 13 financial advisors and 19 team members who diligently serve over 2,500 families across the country.
For the curious (or just the historians) amongst us, here are a few major events in IAG’s evolution since 1985:
1987 – Lori begins preparing outsourced financial plans for Investment Advisory Group (IAG) in Brookfield, and eventually relocates Financial Planning Strategies (FPS) to IAG’s office in the Bishops Woods office park.
1990 – IAG and FPS relocate to an office on Sunny Slope Rd. in Brookfield.
1996 – Lori purchases IAG from John Selck and combines it with FPS to form Investors Advisory Group (still IAG!). IAG holds its first Wealth Management Symposium.
1997 – IAG relocates to the Investors Bank building in Pewaukee.
2005 – IAG relocates to the northeast corner of our current office building on Riverwood Drive.
2008 – Susan Kuhlenbeck purchases a portion of IAG.
2009 – IAG relocates to the center of our current office building to accommodate another tenant.
2011 – IAG purchases Peterson & Tracey, an investment firm with primary offices in Elm Grove and Janesville.
2012 – IAG hosts its first Shredding Picnic and Christmas Wine & Cheer events.
2015 – IAG expands our office to the north to accommodate growth and we begin our weekly blog.
2018 – IAG changes its name from Investor Advisory Group to IAG Wealth Partners. We expand our office further to the north, reclaiming most of our original suite. Chris Mitchell and Scott Heins purchase a portion of IAG.
2019 – Tom Peterson, Anne Sapienza, and Rusty Peterson purchase a portion of IAG. IAG forms a partnership with Great Midwest Bank to serve their clients’ financial planning needs.
While this list of milestones focuses on large visible steps over the last 40 years, an organization is only as good as the quality of the people that propel it forward from one day to the next.
Celebrating a 40th birthday would be impossible without the caring people who strive to serve our clients at the highest level every single day. Our primary source of growth from our first day has been our clients sharing our story with other people who would benefit from developing, implementing, and maintaining a long-term financial plan for their futures.
As we begin our 40th year, we are ever-thankful for our clients whom we serve, our team members who are dedicated to providing the highest level of possible service, and our advisors who serve as faithful guides during our clients’ journeys.
Thank you all for being a blessing throughout our 40 years.
Quote of the week: Benjamin Franklin: “At twenty years of age the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgement.”
