Duell Financial Strategies

What Duell Financial Strategies does

Duell Financial Strategies is a fee-only, fiduciary registered investment advisory firm operating in Northeast Wisconsin from its headquarters in Appleton and a secondary office in Green Bay. The firm serves retirees and pre-retirees, delivering four integrated service lines — retirement planning designed to last 30+ years, wealth accumulation, estate planning, and charitable giving — under a "purpose determines placement" philosophy. Service delivery combines personalized advisor-led planning with a small technology stack: the third-party Riskalyze platform for risk-tolerance scoring and portfolio alignment, and a private client portal with bank-level security for consolidated account viewing and fee transparency. Ongoing client engagement is maintained through weekly portfolio updates and monthly market commentary, plus a complimentary Retirement Lifestyle Review used as the entry-point engagement.

The firm operates on a subscription/recurring fee-only model with no product commissions, aligning advisor incentives with clients under a fiduciary standard. Its distribution model is direct-to-client advisory in person at the two Wisconsin offices and via virtual appointments, supported by a multi-channel top-of-funnel marketing stack: a recurring weekly TV program "Your Retirement" on WLUK-FOX, WFRV-CBS, and WBAY-ABC, a radio show/podcast on WTAQ AM 1360 / 97.5 FM (with podcast distribution on Spotify and Apple Podcasts), community education events at Fox Valley Technical College and Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, and organic social on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

Portfolio construction and investment strategy are delivered through a core partnership with Foundations Investment Advisors, providing the firm with institutional-grade asset allocation, portfolio management, and tactical modeling via ex-PIMCO executives (David Young, Peter Van De Zilver, Darren Leavitt). The firm is privately held and founder-controlled, with co-owners Sam Duell and Andrea "Andi" Schooler-Duell leading a team of four advisors (Sam Duell, Andrea Schooler-Duell, Luke Van Abel, Lake La Chapelle) and four client-services/operations support staff. There is no external institutional ownership, no parent company, no disclosed funding, and no M&A activity.

Name

Duell Financial Strategies

Legal name

Duell Financial Strategies

Website

https://duellstrategies.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Duell Financial Strategies is a fee-only fiduciary RIA in Northeast Wisconsin offering retirement, wealth accumulation, estate, and charitable giving planning to retirees and pre-retirees across its Appleton and Green Bay offices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Appleton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Fee-Only Financial Advisory Services: The firm operates as a fee-only registered investment advisor. Advisory services are provided under a fiduciary standard where the firm's values are aligned with clients. Revenue is generated through advisory fees rather than commissions on product sales. This model ensures unbiased advice in alignment with client investment goals.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Duell Financial Strategies is a fee-only fiduciary registered investment advisor that provides retirement planning, wealth accumulation, estate planning, and charitable giving services to individuals and pre-retirees in Northeast Wisconsin. The firm designs holistic financial plans where the purpose of the client's money determines placement, supported by a complimentary Retirement Lifestyle Review entry-point consultation and a Riskalyze-driven risk assessment process.

Product overview

Duell Financial Strategies is a fee-only fiduciary investment advisory firm offering a unified suite of financial planning services for retirees and pre-retirees in Northeast Wisconsin. The core offerings comprise Retirement Planning, Wealth Accumulation, Estate Planning, and Charitable Giving, each designed to integrate into a holistic financial plan where purpose determines placement. These services are supported by the Riskalyze Risk Assessment tool (which determines clients' risk number and matches them to a corresponding portfolio risk score), a Private Online Investor Portal (providing consolidated account viewing and fee transparency), and recurring communications (Weekly Market Commentary, monthly market commentary, and event-driven updates). The firm also offers complimentary Retirement Lifestyle Reviews as an entry-point service, and supplementary educational programming including Retirement U classes, Medicare 101 Workshops, and Taxes In Retirement Masterclasses. The architecture is best characterized as a single-service advisory firm with modular add-on analysis tools and educational programming rather than a software platform with modules.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Retirement Planning Comprehensive retirement planning service designed to help clients develop financial strategies with the potential to last 30 years, mitigate unexpected investment loss, and guarantee income throughout retirement.
• Wealth Accumulation Investment strategy service focused on growing client wealth over time through portfolio optimization and retirement asset diversity, with strategies that shift to more conservative approaches as clients age.
• Estate Planning Service helping clients navigate the complex process of estate planning, including asset distribution after death, tax law navigation, and ensuring assets are transferred safely according to client wishes.
• Charitable Giving Charitable gift planning service that integrates philanthropy into financial and estate planning, potentially providing income tax deductions, avoidance of capital gains on appreciated assets, and no estate taxes on charitable contributions.
• Retirement Lifestyle Review Complimentary comprehensive and custom analysis of a client's portfolio, combining modern technology, proprietary software, and customized financial reports to guide clients through financial planning; entry-point engagement for prospective advisory clients.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Foundations Investment AdvisorscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFoundations Investment Advisors provides investment strategy, portfolio management, and asset allocation services. Chief Investment Officer David Young served at PIMCO for 14 years. Head of Portfolio Management Peter Van De Zilver has 20+ years of investment management experience including 18 years at PIMCO. The partnership provides institutional-quality portfolio management to Duell Financial Strategies clients.
• David YoungcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChief Investment Officer at Foundations Investment Advisors with 26 years of investment experience. Former executive vice president at PIMCO for fourteen years. Currently teaches finance at Paul Merage School of Business. Manages approximately $50 billion in assets across UK, Europe, Middle East, and Africa.
• Peter Van De ZilvercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHead of Portfolio Management at Foundations Investment Advisors, CFA charterholder with 20+ years of investment management experience. Spent 18 years at PIMCO from 1992-2010 responsible for architecture and development of analytics and risk management systems.
• Darren LeavittcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerManager and Senior Market Analyst with 20+ years in financial markets, primarily as buy-side institutional investor. CFA charterholder with experience as CIO, CFO, Portfolio Manager, Senior Analyst, Senior Trader, and Financial Advisor. Provides growth-oriented equity portfolios and tactical asset allocation models.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• Robert W. Baird & Co. Milwaukee-based diversified financial services firm with a large wealth management practice serving individuals and families across Wisconsin and the Midwest. Comparable as a Wisconsin-rooted advisor offering retirement, estate, and wealth planning services to a similar regional client base, though significantly larger and broader in scope.
• Heritage Financial Consultants: Mid-sized fee-only RIA providing retirement, investment, tax, and estate planning to individuals and families, often with a regional or community-bank affiliation. Comparable fee-only fiduciary model and holistic planning orientation for individual clients.

Direct peers

• Creative Planning: Large fee-only registered investment advisor offering retirement, wealth, estate, and tax planning to individuals nationwide. Directly comparable fee-only fiduciary model, comprehensive service suite, and target market of retirees/pre-retirees, though substantially larger and operating across multiple geographies.
• Fisher Investments: Fee-only RIA primarily serving individual investors with retirement and wealth management services. Directly comparable business model (fee-only fiduciary) and target customer (retirees and high-net-worth individuals), though operating at much greater scale with a national media-driven acquisition strategy.
• Edelman Financial Engines: Largest independent RIA in the U.S., providing fee-only retirement planning, investment management, and financial planning to individuals and employer-sponsored plan participants. Comparable fiduciary model and retirement-income focus, but with substantially more scale, proprietary technology, and employer-plan distribution.
• Carson Group: RIA support platform serving independent financial advisors and their clients with wealth management, retirement, and business-coaching services. Comparable fee-only fiduciary orientation and advisor-led delivery, though at much larger scale through its affiliated advisor network.

Broad incumbents

• Edward Jones: National full-service broker-dealer and RIA serving individual investors with retirement, wealth, and estate planning through a large branch network. Comparable target market of mass-affluent and pre-retiree households, though traditionally commission-based with a broader product set.
• Raymond James Financial Services: Diversified financial services firm with a large advisor network offering retirement planning, wealth management, and estate services to individuals. Comparable client base of retirees and pre-retirees, though much larger and spanning brokerage, banking, and asset management.

Emerging players

• Schwab Intelligent Portfolios: Charles Schwab's robo-advisor platform offering automated portfolio management and financial planning at low cost. Not directly competing in human advisory services, but increasingly relevant as a low-fee alternative competing for the same retiree/pre-retiree segment.
• Betterment: Leading online investment and retirement planning platform offering automated portfolios and access to CFP professionals. Adjacent rather than direct competition, but represents the digital-first, low-fee alternative pressing on traditional advisory firms' pricing and value proposition for the mass-affluent retiree market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@duellfinancialstrategies770
• Facebookfacebook.com/duellstrategies
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/duell-financial-strategies
• Instagraminstagram.com/duellstrategies

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Duell Financial Strategies