BY Madison Rose Lovely

 

Dirk Calvin and his investment firm have been rooted in downtown Franklin for the last twenty-five years. In 1989, Dirk Calvin co-founded the firm, which later rebranded to Sage investment Counsel LLC in 2020. Dirk was recently joined by Mike Denney, Jonathan Henderson, and Jackson Calvin. Together they combine for 100 years of industry related experience. 

 

With almost forty years in the industry, Dirk has seen it all and gained priceless experience in several areas of focus. Early in his career as a pension consultant, he noticed that most individual investors were not getting the same level of treatment as large institutions. This led Dirk to create his own firm, primarily working with individuals while using the same strategies he saw succeed with large pension plans, such as setting investment objectives, monitoring and comparing portfolio returns, evaluating investment risk, and optimizing asset allocation. Dirk says, “Institutions tend to take a more methodical approach to investing by filtering out what they can and cannot control.  By focusing on what you can control, an individual investor may improve his or her odds for long-term investment success and reduce overall anxiety.”  

 

The saying goes, “Investing is simple, but not easy.” – Warren Buffett. 

 

Dirk says, “The industry, along with financial media tends to overly complicate and confuse investors. Since no one can reliably predict the future or guarantee a result, we focus on a simple set of variables that are within control; with the objective being to increase a client’s odds of investment success. These variables include offering competitive management fees, controlling internal costs and expenses, maximizing tax efficiency, practicing low turnover, utilizing traditional asset classes and structuring appropriate diversification, to name a few of the tried-and-true methods we focus on.” 

 

Jackson Calvin, Dirk’s son, has stepped into the family business to eventually succeed Dirk. While succession planning is important for their firm, it is also important for investors who have goals of passing their wealth along to the next generation. Jackson is excited to serve the firm’s existing clients while also looking forward to meeting and introducing other investors to their firms’ methodologies. “It is a blessing to be a part of this business.” Jackson continues, “Not only to have the opportunity to work with my Dad every day, but also to learn from the wisdom that he has gained from almost forty years in the industry.”

 

Throughout the combined experience of Sage’s professionals, many good and bad markets have come and gone. The value of having experienced and professional money managers stewarding your financial assets and generational wealth is something we all need but rarely are we pointed in the right direction for trustworthy counsel. Sage believes their clients deserve to sleep well at night, having confidence and trust in a philosophy that has withstood the test of time.