Pointer Creek Helps ‘Feed Our Valley’ in 2020

CANFIELD — Points of pride for Pointer Creek Wealth Management in 2020 include its volunteer work, company achievements and assisting clients in uncertain times.

Last year, Allison Centofanti and Brittany Russell organized the financial planning practice’s first Drive Through Food Drive to benefit WFMJ’s Feed Our Valley campaign, raising enough to provide more than 20,000 meals, including 16,000 in one afternoon.

“It really showed how special a family we have at Pointer Creek and how our efforts could be multiplied by the generosity of the Mahoning Valley,” says Stephanie Rutushin, office manager.

To offer fiduciary advice to clients worried about uncertain finances, Pointer Creek implemented a monthly subscription-based model last year that one new client describes as “having a fiduciary in my corner each month, looking out for my best interest in every financial decision, for about the cost of my phone bill,” Rutushin says.

Starting at $100 monthly for basic personal planning services, the program also offers assistance to business owners for $1,000 monthly, including ongoing monitoring and coordinating their personal, business and estate/charitable planning, rather than a one-time project like drafting a will or funding a trust, Rutushin says.

“This new pandemic adaptation offering did not exist a year ago, we were offering one-time, as needed, planning engagements,” she says.

Throughout the pandemic, the firm’s three full-time employees and part-time workers helped keep clients informed on market volatility and its impact, or lack thereof, on their financial goals, she says. Pointer Creek currently manages nearly $100 million in assets. During the worst week of the decline, the firm processed more than $5 million in new deposits from existing wealth management clients “because we had been preparing for such a buying opportunity for long-term investors,” she says.

Also in 2020, the firm qualified for the Cambridge Signature Club, which recognizes the top 10% of advisers based on practice revenue.