Behavioral Investing

Articles and resources related to Behavioral Investing.

Security Is a Feeling, Not a Number

Cody Tresselt-Warren, CFP®, CPA

Senior Integrated Wealth Advisor
507.321.4023
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Professional Biography
Cody Tresselt-Warren is a Senior Integrated Wealth Advisor at Carlson Capital Management. In this role, Cody partners with clients and their families, providing the firm’s fully integrated wealth management experience, including investment management, retirement modeling, estate and educational planning and all other aspects of general financial planning and client care. In this role, Cody also connects clients with the firm’s specialists for overall portfolio management as well as direct access to expertise in areas such as tax planning and insurance analysis.

Cody joins CCM with nearly five years of experience in corporate tax and seven years in financial planning. Most recently, he served as a senior wealth planner at a large wealth management firm where he led comprehensive planning strategies for high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals and families. In this work, he delivered integrated and multigenerational wealth planning related to cash flow, income tax planning, executive compensation, and estate planning based on a thorough understanding of their personal values, wealth transfer and charitable goals, and vision for their legacy.

Cody received his Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Augsburg University in accounting and religion. He went on to earn a Master in Business Taxation degree from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management and a Certificate in Financial Planning from Boston University. Cody is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and holds the Certified Financial Planner™ designation granted through the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards. He is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Minnesota Society of CPAs.

Cody is an active volunteer, serving on the board of Northfield Shares, as a BestPrep classroom volunteer, and as President of church's council. He is also an instructor in the Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) program at Minnesota State University – Mankato.

Cody grew up near Madison, Wisconsin, and now lives in Rosemount, Minnesota, with his wife, Christine, and two children. Outside of his time at CCM, Cody enjoys the multitude of family activities, crafting holiday meals, Excel spreadsheets, and pretending to golf.

Personal Thoughts
When my son was younger and was asked what my work was, he replied, “Dad drives taxis.” Certainly, this was funny in the moment as he confused taxes with taxis. However, upon reflection, maybe he was on to something.

I find great purpose in deeply connecting and understanding the joys, hopes, and worries of individuals and families, and being able to help them accomplish their financial and non-financial goals with that foundational understanding. Or, perhaps as my son would imagine, acting as a taxi driver—helping individuals and families get from Point A to Point B (or C, F, 6, B1). Ultimately, the best laid plans are the ones solidly rooted in those goals and objectives to create the roadmap.

Now, almost 8, he understands a bit more about my work and has a bit more nuanced idea of my work. He currently believes I help people protect their piggy banks. Another great image that I like. Some of our earliest money habits and memories we formed with our first piggy banks, and it is important to recognize and honor those instinctive money habits.

It is an honor and privilege to work so closely with the clients of Carlson Capital Management to help them take their piggy bank where they want to.

Cody Tresselt-Warren, CFP®, CPA
Senior Integrated Wealth Advisor

As humans, we may react emotionally to portfolio volatility, changes in career, or world events. We often feel insecure or out of control during these moments. Feeling secure, particularly financially secure, is just that—feelings. As we encounter these moments of feeling insecure, it is important to think it through: Why do I feel this way? What would make me feel better? How should I react? And then pause before reacting to reflect. Recently, my spouse and I ... [Continue Reading]

Published March 24, 2022 Topics: Behavioral Investing, Financial Planning, Integrated Wealth

Images to Help Navigate a “Scary” Stock Market

James Michael Yaworski, CFA

Senior Investment Strategist
507.206.2804
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Professional Biography
James Michael Yaworski serves as Senior Investment Strategist at Carlson Capital Management. In this role, James is responsible for investment research, portfolio management, and client investment education. James monitors and reviews client portfolios to maintain balance across asset classes, makes recommendations for portfolios when out of alignment with models, reviews daily cash positions, and places trades through the custodial trading platform. He also provides new client portfolio analysis, asset class/portfolio research and analysis, prepares and presents client education materials, and manages other activities in support of overall client portfolio management.

James is a graduate of Northern Illinois University where he earned his degree in Finance. While studying at NIU, he gained insights into his future career as part of a student-managed portfolio team. Prior to joining CCM, James’ experience included working in the roles of investment manager, project manager in investment research, and financial analyst in both large and small financial organizations. James holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA Charter) designation, granted by the CFA Institute, which entails a rigorous exam requirement. He also represents CCM as chair of the investment research committee of Zero Alpha Group, a national network of eight independent wealth management firms.

In addition to the research James conducts related to building strong client portfolios, he is engaged in research on approaches that enhance institutional experiences as well. His most recent work sets out to provide institutional investors with a more robust way of constructing spending policies. In a paper published in the Financial Analysts Journal, James shows how current practices create poor long-term outcomes, resulting in declining support for beneficiaries over time. He also demonstrates how current methods expose trustees to significant fiduciary risk, and how small errors in implementation can have significant long-term ramifications on portfolio growth. His in-depth and thoughtful research stems from his genuine interest in providing university, public and private foundations, and endowment trustees with an approach that not only optimizes the outcomes of their portfolio’s performance, but also addresses their fiduciary responsibility with regard to spending policies. [You can read the accepted manuscript of James' paper here.]

James enjoys being engaged in the community with Habitat for Humanity and Paws & Claws. In his free time he also enjoys golfing and playing softball. James grew up in Crystal Lake, Illinois and now resides in Rochester, Minnesota with his wife, Brittany, their three young children, and two dogs, Frankie and Jordy.

Personal Thoughts
“I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.” -Mother Teresa

I have grown to appreciate the importance of collaboration and teamwork in this industry. A group of individuals, each dedicated toward expertise in their respective fields, can help to piece together the puzzle of a family’s financial lives in an incredible manner. The end result is one which truly connects the math of an individual’s personal finances with the why that makes up who they are and what they want to achieve in life.

As a member of our investment team, I enjoy every aspect of this process; from our discovery meetings where we learn about financial goals, to the analysis and construction of a financial plan, to the educational meetings where we help put all the pieces into place. Ultimately, building a relationship with clients that centers on creating financial security and establishing confidence in their financial plan is extremely gratifying.

James and other members of the CCM Investment Team regularly post articles of interest including investment insights, recommended reading on timely topics, and articles on portfolio management which you can find here.

Posted on July 23, 2020

Carl Richards is a fellow financial planner whose notoriously creative napkin sketch drawings help simplify complex personal finance concepts. Richards, also known as "the sketch guy," has been penning columns for the New York Times for a decade, and is the author of two books, The Behavior Gap and The One-Page Financial Plan. In Your 5-Step Guide to Navigating a Scary Stock Market, Richards provides useful and timely advice for us all by highlighting a number of key sketches. He does a ... [Continue Reading]

The Impact of Stress on Investment Decision Making

Kelly Irvine

Chief Marketing & Communications Officer
507.321.4021
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Professional Biography
Kelly Irvine is a member of the Management Team and Chief Marketing & Communications Officer for Carlson Capital Management. She oversees the planning, development, and execution of the firm’s marketing strategies; client communications; brand management; event management; and community involvement all with an eye on keeping our clients’ experience at the forefront. She is also responsible for partnering with other leaders and human capital colleagues to nurture and support the firm's keen focus on culture as expressed through its mission, vision, and values.

Kelly graduated with departmental distinction in Political Science from St. Olaf College, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude. Her career took her to Montana, Idaho, and Wisconsin before returning to Minnesota. Kelly’s professional background spans both the corporate and non-profit sectors. She has held corporate management positions in community relations and human resources.

Community involvement is important to Kelly. She was selected as a Policy Fellow at the University of Minnesota Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, and served board tenures at both the Northfield Area Family YMCA and the Helena Education Foundation. Additional activities have included advisory committee service at St. Dominic School and co-chairing 5th Bridge-Feed My Starving Children Northfield meal-packing events, and many years of Northfield Jingle Bell Runs. Kelly, her husband Colin, and their two children spent the 2010-2011 school year living in and working from Oslo, Norway. She now telecommutes from Sioux Falls, South Dakota where she resides with her family.

Personal Thoughts
Like many Minnesotans, I grew up with the privilege of “going to the Lake” in the summer. (Much to the chagrin of my spouse, who hails from the West, we Midwesterners never really bother to specify which lake. It’s just the Lake.) Not unlike many families in this area, I am fortunate in that early ancestors from Norway had the foresight to purchase lake front land where they wasted no time establishing family traditions – including an annual July 4th celebration. And while land is simply land, it’s our landscape that helps describe the essence of who we are. For me that landscape, and more precisely the Lake, is really all about cousins.

I recall my wedding day as guests came out of the chapel to greet us in the receiving line. My new mother-in-law from out of state stood next to me as I introduced her to many unfamiliar faces. She remarked later that every other person was “a cousin from the Lake.” How right she was. In our family, it doesn’t matter if one is a first cousin, a third cousin twice-removed, or the spouse of a second cousin – we are just cousins. Cousins range from several months old to those in their nineties. We all grew up spending summers at the Lake, and we were always accountable to the aunts and uncles in the generation (or two) ahead of us. We are there for one another’s weddings, funerals, and sometimes birthdays. We look forward to sharing kransekake and rommegrot on special occasions. We are intent on ensuring that our children know our cousins’ children. So, to know me is to know that I am a wife and a mother, a daughter and a sister, and, importantly, a cousin.

All of us at CCM look forward to learning your story, because that is how we at CCM have defined ourselves as a company, and that is how we will continue to define ourselves in the future. Knowing you, and your story, enables us to help you accomplish what is important to you.

Posted on March 2, 2017

Our emotions affect our investment decision making in countless ways, which can have a very real impact on our long-term financial goals. One of the most powerful ways our emotions affect us is through our appetite for risk. When markets are calm and returns have been positive, our brain tells us that it’s okay to take on more risk in hopes of achieving higher rates of returns. The opposite is true as well. When markets become volatile and returns have been negative, our brain tells us to take ... [Continue Reading]