Honoring Industry Leaders at IWI's 2019 Annual Conference

Las Vegas, NV — May 7, 2019  — The Investments & Wealth Institute^® (formally IMCA) presented five prestigious awards at its 2019 Annual Conference Experience  recognizing outstanding contributions to the investment and wealth management industry.
 
Investment Consulting Impact Award

The Investment Consulting Impact Award honors individuals who have made an outstanding contribution and demonstrated commitment to the field of investment consulting, including contributions to industry-specific technology or to advances in the advisor skill set. The Awards Committee honored Margaret M. Towle, PhD, managing member, Yakima River Partners, LLC with the 2019 Investment Consulting Impact Award.

Towle has been an influential driver of the adoption of impact investing, and has advanced thought leadership throughout the investment consulting profession through a variety of high-profile roles. As chair of the Investments & Wealth Monitor editorial advisory board from 2004 to 2008, she was instrumental in expanding the publication to include more peer-reviewed contributions. Towle became editor-in-chief of the Journal of Investment Consulting in 2009, and she now serves as an advisory committee member for the University of Oxford Said Business School Impact Investment Programme. Her career spans many organizations, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Hightower, and Greycourt & Co. Towle also served as executive vice president and chief investment officer for Northern Trust Global Advisors.

Wealth Management Impact Award
 
This award  honors individuals who have contributed exceptional advancements in the field of private wealth management, embodied by the Investments & Wealth Institute Certified Private Wealth Advisor^® (CPWA^®) program. The award recognizes key innovations and thought leadership in any of the following CPWA knowledge domains: human dynamics, wealth management strategies, client specialization, and legacy planning.
 
The 2019 recipient of the Wealth Management Impact Award is Tim Kochis, founder, Kochis Global, and former CEO and Chair of Aspiriant. Before founding the predecessor firm to Aspiriant in 1991, Kochis led the personal financial planning practice at Deloitte and before that at Bank of America. Kochis has had a tremendous influence on the development of the financial planning profession through his service in professional and educational organizations. Kochis also was a long-time volunteer for the CFP Board of Standards, having served as chair of the board of examiners and the board of directors. He was a co-founder of the Personal Financial Planning Program at University of California, Berkeley, one of the first accredited financial planning programs in the United States, where he taught for eighteen years. Kochis is the author of the several books, including Wealth Management (2nd Edition, 2003), Success & Succession, (2015),  and Managing Concentrated Stock Wealth: An Adviser’s Guide to Building Customized Solutions (2nd Edition, 2015). Kochis was an early instructor for the CPWA certification taught at The Chicago Booth School of Business.
 
Governance Insight Award
 
The Governance Insight Award honors the author of a written work (e.g., article, paper, book) published in the previous year that has made a significant contribution to advancing the understanding and knowledge of investment and wealth management in the area including contributions in ethics, legal, and regulatory issues that affect these professional practices.
 
The 2019 recipient is Scott MacKillop, chief executive officer, First Ascent Asset Management for his article, “The Harmonization Trap: Why Advisors Should Demand Truth-in-Labeling Rather Than a Uniform Fiduciary Standard,” which appeared in the September/October 2018 issue of Investments & Wealth Monitor. The Awards Committee also recognized Mark Harbour, CPA, CIMA^®, CFA^®, business development director, Morgan Stanley, with an Honorary Governance Insight Award for his thought leadership and lifetime contributions on the topic of governance and ethics.
 
Journal Research Award
 
The Journal Research Award honors the author(s) of an original article that represents the best writing for the previous year, is germane to investment consulting and/or private wealth management, and was published in the Journal of Investment Consulting or Retirement Management Journal. Stephen Huxley, chief investment strategist and founding partner, Asset Dedication, and Brent Burns, president and founding partner, Asset Dedication, received the 2019 Journal Research Award. Huxley and Burns were recognized for their paper, “Safety Zones, Danger Zones, and the Critical Path: Visualizing U.S. Asset Class Returns Based on Time Horizons, Size, and Style.”
 
Investments & Wealth Monitor Writing Award
 
This award honors Investments & Wealth Institute members for their excellent editorial contributions to Investments & Wealth Monitor during the previous year. The Investments & Wealth Institute honored Todd Taylor, managing director and head of marketing, strategy, and analytics, New York Life; Nick Halen, director and head of business development and research, New York Life; and Dylan Huang, senior managing director and head of Retail Annuities, New York Life, for their article “The Decumulation Paradox: Why Are Retirees Not Spending More?” which appeared in the July/August 2018 issue. The Awards Committee also honored Bob Rice, managing director, Tangent Capital and Rice Partners, with an honorable distinction for his article, “Implications for Advisors: Quantitative Easing to Quantitative Tightening,” which appeared in the September/October 2018 issue.
 
Click here to learn more about the Institute’s awards and to read the award-winning articles.