Mark Cheeley (Synergy Wealth Management)

Mark Cheeley is the owner of Synergy Wealth Management, an Ameriprise subsidiary that helps clients effectively navigate financial planning. 

Growing up, Cheeley lived in Dayton, a Twin Cities suburb.

His upbringing followed that of many kids, in that the experience was relatively normal; nothing decadent, but also nothing overly traumatic. 

Still, Cheeley always possessed an innate curiosity and drive for something more. 

“From a young age, I knew I wanted to excel,” he says, even though he didn’t quite know how. 

That answer would come later, when, after a year spent studying science at Mankato State, Cheeley reclassified as a business major, with an emphasis on financial planning. 

“With financial planning, I knew that if I worked hard, I could build a nice life for myself,” he shares. 

That next summer, he secured an internship with Merril Lynch, and soon he would graduate college and become a licensed financial planner. 

“But before I started my own practice, I wanted to make sure that I partnered with a company that did true financial planning,” Cheeley adds.

Following an in-depth analysis of the various financial institutions, Cheeley opted to work under the Ameriprise umbrella, founding Synergy Wealth Management, and for the last two-plus decades, Cheeley has cemented himself as a premier financial planner, devoid of tacky sales tactics too often employed by reps from other firms. 

“The bad thing about this industry is everyone says they are a financial advisor, but a lot of times that supposed advisor doesn’t do financial planning,” Cheeley points out. 

“Instead, they’re just trying to gather assets.”

For his part, Cheeley is more a consultant than he is a salesman. 

When meeting with clients, his aim isn’t to push new products, but rather to match clients up with a plan that works for their budget and long-term vision for their future. 

“Back when I started Synergy, that was my value proposition, was bringing value to people through planning instead of selling a product,” the Maverick alum states. 

“To this day, we continue to cultivate relationships by focusing on adding value from a planning perspective. We know that if we do that, everything else will fall into place.”

For context, financial planning is more nuanced than just putting money into your savings account. 

If assisted by the right financial planner, and if an individual is fiscally responsible, they can efficiently build foundational and generational wealth. 

“When we work with clients, we not only take a look at their current financial situation, but we also reverse-engineer the entire wealth-building process to show people how they can allocate their money in order to reach their long-term financial goals,” Cheeley explains. 

For context, Cheeley and his team don’t tell people how to spend their money, but they are routinely analyzing market trends and conducting client meetings on an annual basis, with the express purpose of offering guidance uniquely tailored to the client’s specific needs. 

During these conversations, everything from estate planning to life insurance is discussed.

“We of course want to generate returns for our clients, but we also want to protect their assets so that, in the event of something tragic happening, families are covered and lifestyles are not compromised,” Cheeley says. 

“Beyond that, life is life, and every year new things happen. People then have different priorities and things that they want to see change, so that’s what we’re talking about when we meet with clients, among other things.”

Due to the sophisticated approach Cheeley takes, Synergy Wealth Management typically attracts business owners and other high-level professionals to their practice. 

“Those with a net worth in that $500,000 range, and who are serious about establishing a foundation and seeing their money grow, that’s who we really like to work with,” Cheeley says.

At the same time, Cheeley’s talents include more than just creating tax shelters for the affluent.  

“We can also facilitate companies being able to offer retirement plans to their employees, and we help business owners prepare a succession plan for their eventual departure,” Cheeley shares. 

Therefore, there is much that makes Synergy Wealth Management unique, but all their guidance and consultations would be rendered moot if not for their deep commitment to operating with a people-first approach. 

“We have built our practice on doing the right thing for people, and being honest,” Cheeley notes, simply but powerfully. 

“That’s crucial to note because yes, we earn business by being more strategically creative with how we go about enhancing and expanding portfolios, but that likely doesn’t happen if our approach is more transactional than personal.”

To reiterate, whether it’s investing in private equity, hedge funds, or any other financial vehicle currently being offered, each proposal Cheeley and his team prepare is designed around the client and their unique circumstances. 

“Everything is tailored to the client. We take a lot of pride in the fact that we are very knowledgeable when it comes to financial planning and how different strategies affect different people,” Cheeley says. 

“As a result, we know how to ultimately put our clients in a better position to build wealth.”

For this expertise, Synergy Wealth Management does not charge exorbitant fees, nor do they want to.

“The industry is moving away from commissions, so a lot of our compensation comes from the total amount of assets that we have under management,” Cheeley says. 

“For that, we like to keep our compensation structure at the industry-average level.”

Looking ahead, Cheeley and Synergy Wealth Management will continue to refine the way they approach financial planning.

They have already developed strategic alliances with powerhouses like David Graff (from CPA firm, Graff, Ltd.) and Rory Morse (from the estate planning outfit, Stone Arch Law Office). 

“David and Rory offer services that perfectly complement what we do,” Cheeley says. 

“By having their expertise at our disposal, we are able to bring that much more value to our clients.”

Yet, it’s not just access to other key professionals that Cheeley is offering, but rather a synchronized, collaborative approach to financial planning. 

“When we’re presenting clients with a comprehensive plan, we can bring in those outside experts to specifically showcase the strategies that we are planning on implementing,” Cheeley says. 

”In that sense, we’re not just making an introduction and then letting our clients figure it out. We’re offering a fully integrated service that ultimately is going to centralize everything and give clients that much better of a customer service experience, and final result.” QS

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