Unveiling our mission to create financial freedom for everyone

As the CEO and co-founder of a fast-growing startup, there isn’t a week that goes by without passing a significant milestone. The first employee. The first product. The first customer. In the past year alone, Vise has invested heavily in our product, exponentially increased our assets under management and grown our team from six employees to a diverse, talented team in the dozens.

But while there are many milestones, there is something special and unique about defining a company’s mission and its values. 

As a company, we recently unveiled our Mission and Values as a company. We had spent months talking about and reflecting on questions like - what solutions would help our customers, what kind of culture do we want to create, what kind of company do we aspire to be, and what impact do we want to have on our communities? 

As we looked at the world around us, and how Vise might fit into it, these key issues stood out

• Inequality is painfully high: In the US, the wealthiest 10% of families control 77% of total wealth. There are also huge disparities between demographics. In 2016, the typical White family had eight times the wealth of the typical Black family and five times the wealth of the typical Hispanic family. Despite representing more than 30% of the population, Millennials hold just 5% of the financial assets. 

• Financial freedom is about more than money: Financial freedom isn’t about piling up more and more dollars and cents. It is about being able to visit the doctor without worrying, it is about being able to give your child a great education, it is about being able to retire with confidence and dignity. 

• Access to advice is unequal: Not everyone has access to financial advice. Research indicates between 65% and 75% of Americans don’t use a financial advisor. What’s more, those who would benefit most from advice are likely to have only limited access.

• Advisors can be the difference: Financial advisors play an important role in helping people achieve their goals. While advisors are more than just asset managers, research shows good financial advisors can increase returns by between 3 and 4.83% a year.

That’s why Vise’s mission is to create financial freedom for everyone. We believe that expanding access to the best financial advice will help create more financial freedom for more people. We are empowering a new generation of advisors with the technology and tools they need to spend less time on basic tasks and spend more time growing their practices and helping even more people achieve their goals. 

Whether or not Vise comes close to achieving its Mission will all hinge on our people and our culture. Our Values are central to both. They will shape not only how we will do things but what we will and importantly what we won’t do.

Our Values are:

Be worthy of trust

Trust is fragile. 

Own the outcome

Just because it’s not your fault, doesn’t mean it's not your problem. 

Value growth

It’s all about the slope. Commit to learning and improving. 

Solve for the customer

Put the customer first, everything else second. Focus relentlessly on impact. 

Dare to dream

Question the status quo, there is a whole world to win. 

One Vise

Go far together. 

Looking forward, we are excited to continue our work empowering advisors and advancing our mission of financial freedom for everyone.