Bizline: Investment advice with a personal touch

Q: What type of business do you operate?

A: New Path is an investment advisor providing portfolio management and financial planning.

Q: Where are you from, and why did you decide to open your business in Summit County?

A: Ron Bristol dedicated several years to a corporate-level career with Ameriprise Financial. When he decided to open his own investment and planning office in 2004, his family was attracted to Summit County by its quality of life, small-town feel and beautiful surroundings. Kevin McDonald moved to Silverthorne from Vail in 1993 to serve as President of FirstBank of Silverthorne. We teamed up to create New Path Capital Advisors in 2006.

Business facts Name of business: New Path Capital Advisors Owners: Ron Bristol and Kevin McDonald Location: 561 Blue River Parkway, Silverthorne Phone: 970-468-0654 Date business opened: September, 2006

Q: What experience do you have in this field?

A: Ron Bristol’s job with Ameriprise was to develop and provide resources for firms like New Path to allow them to successfully plan and invest for their clients.

Ameriprise had a strong culture for financial planning, and that has carried over to his new firm. McDonald was an officer, and later bank president, in the Eagle and Summit County markets for 22 years. This experience allowed him to assist numerous clients with their credit needs, examine and guide their broad financial practices firsthand and gain valuable experience operating a local business.

Q: What sets your business apart from other similar businesses?

A: We strongly believe there is still value in local personal contact and real-world experience. Our investment philosophy targets long-term results, however our active management style is more defensive in nature than many firms (which served our clients well in 2008). We do not have a minimum account size and we often provide guidance to locals who have simple questions about saving, investing, banking, budgeting … you name it! Finally, we do not “sell” financial products or insurance: We may advise someone to utilize these products, but we do not collect sales commissions for doing so.

Q: What types of customers do you hope to reach in Summit County?

A: We serve many households that have either accumulated wealth over their careers or are doing so now. Most of our local client base consists of retirees and small business owners.

Q: Why did you choose to open where you did?

A: We enjoy living in Silverthorne, and our office location on Blue River Parkway is close. Many of our clients enjoy working with people who reside locally and are active in the community.

Q: What are your plans for your company’s future?

A: First, we hope to increase our base of retail customers who can best utilize our tactical allocation services … these are generally households with over $150,000 to invest. Second, we hope to expand into advising pension funds, family offices and other institutional clients.