Meet Mitch
Who is Dr. Mitch, and why is he the Financial Physician™?
Mitchell Levin, MD, CWPP, CAPP is the Managing Director of Phipps Lane, LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor. As your Financial Physician™, he is dedicated to your Investment Health™ — to stopping the Financial Malpractice™, and to curing the Financial Cancer™. His specialty, his mission is “empowering the investor to achieve market returns, consistently and predictably”.
To enable you to progress from scarcity, losses, fear, and frustration to abundance and peace of mind, he provides a completely independent financial second opinion. With Dr. Mitch as your investing coach, your Financial Physician you too can have investing peace of mind.
All right, does that sound a little corny? How can a physician do that? Why is a physician qualified to that? And how did he get to this position? Great questions.
A little history: While in medical school, Mitch was instrumental in setting up the first (and completely student financed) long-term endowment campaign through insurance and derivative products. After completing his training, he was recruited by Orlando Regional Health Systems.
Mitch then built one of the largest and most successful eye surgery practices in the region; personally performed over 20,000 procedures including LASIK, cataract, laser glaucoma and other surgeries; with multiple locations, several physicians on staff (including some now prominent eye surgeons), and dozens of supporting employees. He had “climbed the mountain”.
But his business model was upside down, and totally dependent upon him for success. Without him, the practice, the professional and non-professional staff, and the facilities would all come crashing down, worthless.
Add into the mix the nonsense of running a medical practice (not that all professions and businesses don’t have their own issues), the risks, and the diminishing value society places on that service (or is it an entitlement? —like the old joke about the plumber who is called into a doctor’s office for an emergency repair of a leak, and when the doctor gets the bill, he exclaims that he doesn’t get paid that much for the time; the plumber responds that neither did he when he was a physician). It was time. So Mitch sold. Retired.
“But he flunked retirement”
He donated a substantial sum to a local charity in the form of raw land for commercial development. That began a philanthropic journey with recruitment onto the board of trustees, culminating with chairmanship of the board, and a presidency of another foundation. Diving into that world completely, he became educated, knowledgeable in non-profit finances functions and operations, and an expert on board governance.
The liquidity event and major change in life circumstances also prompted a review of his estate plan. The president of the local chapter of Fund Raising Professionals suggested he meet with a major and Orlando based Donor Advised Fund, who in turn set up a relationship with an attorney out of Salt Lake City. This attorney suggested he visit a firm just outside of Detroit to learn about a process for his own investment optimization. During that visit, Mitch was reading a current issue of Chronicle of Philanthropy.
What he discovered in those pages was astounding: over 85% of the nations 250 largest and most well known endowments and foundations underperformed their own blended benchmarks. Repeatedly. Consistently. Shocking. Depressing. And, despite paying substantial sums for investment consulting. This was outrageous.
You would think that $13 Billion (in the case of only one high profile foundation) should be sufficient enough to elicit from the market place appropriate advice as to how optimize their portfolio’s performance. It wasn’t.
If you think the ultra-wealthy have the answer, you would be wrong. In fact, there is service organization for private family offices. That organization represents those families with a minimum net worth of $100 Million. The executive director, in a recent speech, decried the difficulties her constituent members experienced in trying to achieve consistently good returns.
Seeking “alpha”, they all failed — miserably.
Even “sophisticated” investment committee members and their ‘name brand’ investment consultants were on a quest – a wild goose chase – to out perform the markets. That is called seeking “alpha”. That is called impossible. History has shown it over and over again. “Alpha” is industry jargon for beating the markets. The equivalent of searching for the Holy Grail, or tilting at windmills. The impossible dream.
These advisors and the committee members believe (are duped?) they could achieve what others (the great unwashed – you and I) cannot. Hubris. Are they really that smart? Smarter than the markets? Consistently? Over long periods of time? Well, what about the endowments at Harvard and Yale? They have since come back to Earth. But at least they paid handsomely for the privilege.
What about Warren Buffet? His stock picking is less than stellar, and the long-term returns of Berkshire Hathaway stock is trending back to average. He has stated often and publicly that his time horizon for selling an investment is never. But, did he tell you he sold US Airways, or Conoco-Phillips? Of course not.
What chance did you and I have, then? Mitch made it his mission to bring a stable, solid, transparent, and prudent process to his investing clients. He found that process through Free Market Theory. To bring consistent, predictable market returns. To accurately know and measure and manage risks. To minimize fees, expenses, and taxes. To align his interests with yours. To bring clear vision to what for many (even the very large and “sophisticated” investors) is the fog of investing.
Mitch’s approach is useful—is necessary — for foundations and endowments, and importantly, now available for you.
Mitch spent several years developing his professional expertise in investment advisory, through education and training. He is fully licensed in securities; in life and health insurances; and investment advice; and he earned his Certification in Wealth Preservation Planning (CWPP), and Certification in Asset Protection Planning (CAPP). He is an “A” rated Florida State Representative of the Asset Protection Society, and a member in good standing with the Financial Planning Association, and the National Association of College Financial Advisors.
Author, speaker, trusted advisor: Dr. Mitch is the co-author or contributing author for many articles, and several books (Cover Your Assets: How to Build, Protect, and Maintain Your Own Financial Fortress; The Lies My Broker Taught Me©; and 101 Truths about Money and Investing©; and Secrets if a Worry Free Retirement©), and has been featured in several educational CD’s (The Seven Deadly Investor Traps©, How the Really Smart Money Invests©), and in the acclaimed documentary movie “Navigating the Fog of Investing©” along side several Nobel Prize Laureates.
In addition, Mitch is certified in Florida to provide Continuing Professional Education credits to Certified Public Accountants. Some of his speaking engagements include, “The Myths of Investing,” “College Funding Solutions,” “This Time is (Never) Different,” “The Affluent Survival Guide,” “Why Mutual Funds Stink,” “Why Your Insurance Agent is Costing You Tens or Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars,” “How to Prosper in the Reign of Error,” and “Your Asset Protection is Inadequate.”
Mitch has lived with his family in Central Florida since 1986, and has been involved professionally in the financial world since 2005.
A small business owner, Mitch has built, grown, bought and sold several other business entities. In addition, he is a successful commercial real estate investor. Dr. Mitch is a major donor to charitable organizations, and has served as an officer on several Boards of Trustees. The knowledge he gained through these experiences contributed to his personal financial success and the ability to pursue his passion of educating and assisting others in their quest for Financial Freedom.
For your investing peace of mind.
Let him bring you to or restore your financial health. Let him reduce your financial pain, cure your financial cancer, stop your financial malpractice. Now. Let him empower you to achieve consistent and predictable market returns.
