WORDS
Lauren Mauldin
Horses Have Trainers,
Investments Have Above all else, equestrians are good at putting our horses first. How many times have you heard someone at the barn say how they’re eating ramen noodles so that they can afford special shoeing, a horse show, or veterinary care? Many of us are good at managing discretionary spending when it comes to the benefit of our animals. But what about us? It can be harder to provide that same level of financial support and security for ourselves. While horses teach us to live in the present, we also need to learn how to plan for the distant future. For that we turn to Walt Mancing, Senior Vice President/Investments for Stifel | Mancing Wealth Management Group. With over 15 years of experience providing guidance to equestrians, Walt and his team know the delicate balance of saving and investing in an unpredictable, high-overhead industry.
26 ┃ THE PLAID HORSE ┃ May/June 2020
Educated at the Wharton School of Business with a B.S. in Economics, Walt then went on to the University of Notre Dame to start his professional career as a lawyer. He practiced corporate litigation in Los Angeles, California, and had a three-and-a-half-year stint working at a startup film financing company. In 2003, Walt returned home to Pennsylvania where he went to work as part of his parents’ financial advisory team. He’s been providing guidance to clients about retirement planning ever since and assumed leadership of his team in May 2008. Now Senior Vice President/Investments at Stifel, he has been a Chairman’s Council producer every year since he joined the firm in 2009. “That puts me in the top 5-7% of Stifel advisors, nationwide every year,” Walt explains. When he’s not at the office, Walt enjoys spending time with his wife, Joan, and two daughters. Equestrian professionals are experts in so many things—developing young horses, training top equitation clients, marketing sales horses. However, we can’t be experts at everything. Which is why we turn to Walt, who is experienced in helping people manage their