“Giving is Getting.”
My little girls hear these words every single night before they go to bed. With enough repetition, my hope is the importance of giving will be woven into the fabric of their being.
My Annabel recently said to me, “Dada, how can I give if I don’t have a way to make money?” As I’m sure you can surmise, explaining how kindness, compassion and love doesn’t cost a thing to a 4 ½ year old, isn’t easy. Though, with a dad’s pride, she seamlessly grasped it. In my belief, she easily understood it because these things are programmed into her DNA. Needless to say, I was a proud Dada that night.
My lesson to her is one we all need to be reminded of now and again—Most of us have the ability to give, quite often. And, the best gifts don’t require money. There is not a person reading this right now who doesn’t have the ability to be kind. Kindness is one of the very few things in life that is truly free. Extending a hand, helping one brave the rain, or to help them carry their stone without waiting for a thank you, is altruism at its purest.
When we perform random acts of kindness—true altruism—it entices others to pay it forward. Giving, not unlike laughter, is a benevolent contagion; infecting all involved. Scientific studies have shown, that the generous among us live healthier and longer lives. In fact, in November, 2017, Time Magazine published an article stating that dog/pet owners live longer, more fulfilled, lives than folks who choose not to own a pet. The explanation for this is simple–kindness is the penultimate gift one can bestow onto another; second only to love.
Other Side Asset Management has embarked on a journey to open the minds of investors. We set out with the practical, yet humble, idea to provide all investors with the Other Side of the investing story. Many of these stories have never been heard. Many don’t even know these stories exist. We are a full disclosure firm. We do not hide fees…we expose them. Be that as it may, we make a concerted effort to present all sides of the investing story, allowing everyone in our realm to make fully informed decisions.
Much like kindness and love, compassion is another of the cornerstones of our existence. It is also at the heart of our extraordinary referral program. We’ve designed this program around the most beautiful of human acts—giving. Our goal is to make this world a better place by surrounding ourselves with like-minded individuals—the kind, the loving and the compassionate.
When we opened our doors, our goal was to greatly impact the investing community to the best of our ability through education and enlightenment. Though, as an independent asset manager we can do better. We can foster change, both inside our industry, and out. Together, we can do more. Together, we can be more.
Our goal is to harness the power of giving. We can aspire to impact so many. We can dare to change lives.
All we ask is for a seat at the table…
Should you refer business to us, including but not limited to:
Setting up a “get together” of any kind: coffee with a group, conversation over dinner, a conference or webinar with an association, and allow me to speak about my firm, what we do, the services we provide and how we may be able to help.
Our Pledge
We pledge to donate 40% of our gross “advisory fee” revenues* to a qualifying 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization of your choice, should we derive any advisory fee business from the event or introductions.
Our goal is to increase the percentage in which we donate. When we ran this idea past our tax advisors, they looked at us like we were crazy. Our business structure is an LLC. which limits our charitable deductions. As such, we have been advised to hold the percentage to 40% for now, allowing us to model out the possible future tax implications this program will have on our balance sheet.
We’ll play along. Because, let’s face it, who else would be so bold as to give away 40% of their referral business earnings to charity?
Well, we would.
Why? Because, we live in this world. We’re raising our treasured children in it. We want to be able to teach our kids what’s best about us, what’s best about our species; what’s perfect about our imperfect humanity. Together, we can make an enormous difference. Our long-term goal would be for more companies to follow our lead.
Kindness, compassion, love–that’s what’s perfect about humankind.
That’s how we do more.
That’s how we become…more.
- *Less 3rd party custodial/performance reporting account fees
- Disclaimer: It is important to note, since there is no obligation for anyone to use our services, setting up a gathering does not immediately equate to automatically giving money to a cause. However, given our unique perspective, our story often resonates with many. Additionally, given the amount of our advisory dollars we are willing to donate, at the very least, our story deserves to be heard.