S14 BARRON’S March 16, 2020
AMERICA’S TOP 1200 FINANCIAL ADVISORS 2020
When Wally Obermeyer meetswith clients, he can
not only offer wealth-planning advice but also swap
stories on the nuts and bolts of entrepreneurship. As
president of Aspen, Colo.–based Obermeyer Wood In-
vestment Counsel, he heads one of the largest registered
investment advisors in Colorado. He also serves as vice
chairman of his family’s successful ski-apparel line,
Sport Obermeyer. “It’s just having that perspective of
how to run things,” Obermeyer says.
Obermeyer displayed business acumen early on.
When he was 15 and living on a farm outside Aspen, he
went to a local bank on his own and borrowed money to
buy a brown Swiss cow, so, in his words, he could “sell
the milk to the hippies in Aspen.” He later purchased
more milking cows, selling them after high school to
make a down payment on some property in nearby
Snowmass Village. That real estate venture put Ober-
meyer through college and business school, during which
time he developed a hydroelectric project in southwest-
ern Colorado that provides clean energy to 5,800 homes.
This pedigree, Obermeyer believes, resonates well
with Coloradans and those with property in Colorado,
who make up about 70% of the 600 families Obermeyer
Wood works with. “The environment is our backyard,
and people care deeply about it,” he says.
Obermeyer, 63, founded Obermeyer Wood in 1998.
The RIA has $1.6 billion of assets under management
and 20 employees.
Obermeyer flies himself in his Pilatus PC-12NG be-
tween the firm’s Denver and Aspen offices, as well as
to far-flung locations to meet with his clients. “There
are analogies with flying and investing,” he says. “In
flying, if you’re going to do it well and safely, it requires
a great deal of preparation and contingency planning,
like looking for alternate airports and weather analy-
sis.” In a similar way, Obermeyer Wood prides itself on
doing its own research and analysis for the majority of
its securities.
Obermeyer’s advice after the recent market turmoil:
Maintain relatively conservative asset allocations, look
for stocks that are more recession-resistant, and “be
willing to buy good companies on sale. The economy
will indeed slow for a while, so be patient.”—M.M.
Photograph byPHILIP VUKELICH
$1.6B $3M $10M
Total Assets Typical Account Typical Net Worth
Aspen, Colo. No. 3
WALLY
OBERMEYER
Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel