The Vantage Philosophy

     The Vantage Consulting Group's mission is to mediate the inherent conflict between fiduciaries, who establish investment objectives, and the capital markets, which ultimately satisfy or frustrate those objectives.
     Our mission is creating disciplined investment strategies from a careful mix of theory and practical knowledge. Vantage has consistently set the standard as one of the industry's most innovative and progressive investment consulting organizations.
     Our ultimate goal is to add value to the entire process of investment consulting, making our clients better educated decision-makers and more successful investors at every level of the process.
     We strive to deliver a product to our clients that is not simply a consensus view. In an efficient market, the consensus view is already priced. There is no alpha – no excess return - to following the rest of the investment world. At Vantage, the consensus view is the starting point of our analysis. Our ability and commitment to understanding and incorporating innovative strategies and alternative asset classes into a diversified asset mix; our dedication to a disciplined, quantitative process built on the tenets of modern portfolio theory, behavior finance and economics; and our willingness to deliver a solution to our clients that is not merely a dressed up consensus view of the capital markets, is what sets Vantage, and our clients, apart.

A Brief History

     Vantage Consulting Group is a Registered Investment Advisor with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In addition the firm is registered with the National Futures Association (NFA). Vantage traces it roots back to the 1970's when its founder, Professor Robert F. Vandell, was retained by decision-makers at a large pension fund to share his investment expertise.
     Dr. Vandell, who taught at the Harvard Business School and at the Colgate Darden Graduate School at the University of Virginia, focused on adapting the precepts of modern portfolio theory to the practice of investment management. Impressed with Dr. Vandell's work, the fund asked Vandell to assume the role of Investment Consultant, and the Vantage Financial Management Company was born. Vantage quickly became a unique blend of academics and practitioners.
     In 1985, at the request of an ailing Dr. Vandell, Mark Finn assumed a leadership role within the company and in 1988 the name was changed to the Vantage Consulting Group. Interestingly, the core group of individuals at Vantage has been together for 20 years.
     Our clients include public and private companies, endowments and foundations in the United States, Canada, Ireland, Scotland and England. In addition, Vantage consults to a several large investment firms and fund of funds on portfolio modeling, manager selection and due diligence and risk modeling.
     From the firm's inception we have maintained strict client confidentiality. Our clients' desire for privacy mandates that client names are not revealed in our marketing materials. References are available upon request.