Who We Are
The VALTA Deliverables Team
Dominique Vercaemert, RFC Ⓡ
President/CEO
Dominique has been in the financial services industry since 1975, and specializes in helping each client gain absolute clarity about what is most important to them in order to live a purposeful life. An avid lecturer domestically and abroad, Dominique speaks primarily on successful strategies for money management and retirement funding. Dominique is a Registered Financial Consultant (RFC Ⓡ), a designation awarded by the International Association of Registered Financial Consultants to those financial advisors who can meet the high standard of education, experience, and integrity that are required of all its members.
Dominique has created a values-based comprehensive financial planning approach driven by the collaborative effort of a team of subject matter experts from across all disciplines of finance. By helping clients self-actualize their lives, Dominique serves as a financial life coach to encourage his clients to make smart choices about their money for the reasons that are uniquely important to them. He guides each client to his or her own Life of Significance by harnessing the power of inspiration in order to align financial choices with each client’s core values.
Dominique’s wife, Karen, is an attorney in private practice, and they have been married since 1990. They love to play golf together, serve their community, and travel the world, especially to visit family in Europe and the Canary Islands.
Douglas Ludwig
Director Of Client Services
The Director of Client Services brings additional focus to meeting our clients’ needs and enhancing overall client experience. He is also key to managing the integration of information from our Subject Matter Experts, Advisors and our Deliverables Team to ensure that all reports and recommendations are up-to-date for each client’s three meetings throughout the year.
Doug, who has been in this role since 2015, is a New Jersey native who moved to North Carolina after a 20-year stint in Chicago. He has spent the bulk of his career in the chemical industry, working with Amoco and then BP, in sales, product management, and eventually as a Global Account Manager. While at BP, he led global market teams and was active in several trade associations. He brings a true client-centric focus and is excited to be a part of VALTA.
Doug holds degrees in Chemistry and Business Administration from the University of New Hampshire and enjoys golf, cycling, skiing, and travel. He goes back to Chicago frequently to spend time with is 14-year-old daughter, Miranda.
Barbara Matters
Director Of Operations
The director of operations ensures that all tasks for meeting preparation are completed in a timely manner, establishing deadlines and expectations for each of our team members so that client progress meetings are a great experience. Barbara is our contact person for clients and handles all intra-office logistics with an exquisite eye for detail. Clients love spending time with her when they come in — she is truly the glue that holds our office together. She is from New York by way of San Diego, and has been with VALTA since 2003.
Jim Matters
Director Of Technology/Client Services Assistant
Jim, our go-to in-house tech guru, makes sure the IT systems are working properly so that the team can get its work done. Jim has also created custom templates for organizing all the information from Subject Matter Experts and the deliverables team into a clear, concise form for client presentations. He compiles all of our reports, finalizes the step-by-step action plans, and makes sure that the financial plans are completely ready for client delivery. Jim is originally from New York and lived for many years in San Diego before joining VALTA in 2006.
VALTA’s Team of Subject Matter Experts
Frank Davies, CPA
Tax Expert
The two tax experts on our Subject Matter Experts team, Frank and Jack, prepare an income tax projection for VALTA clients to optimize tax strategy throughout the year in order to take advantage of all opportunities before the end of December. Our tax experts coordinate to review each client’s state and federal tax returns prior to filing with the IRS to an accurate and timely submission.
Frank has a diverse background of over 30 years of tax experience, including ten years with Big Four accounting firms. Frank has expertise in all areas of tax compliance, including corporate, personal, international, multi-state, company benefit plans, and sales tax. Where Frank adds value is his ability to take complex situations and simplify them into creative and practical solutions.
North Carolina CPA Certification Number: 33708
Jack Goldstein, CPA
Tax Expert
Jack has over 30 years of diverse experience in the public and corporate sectors, including five years as an Audit Manager with one of the Big Four firms. Jack has expertise in 401(k), non-profit, construction and homeowners association audits. He also serves tax and accounting clients, and brings an energy level and an attention to detail that always surpass client expectations.
North Carolina CPA Certification Number: 32175
Jerry D. Reed, J.D., LL.M
Legal Expert
The role of an attorney in the financial planning process is to align a client’s estate plan with his/her wishes, and review it periodically. At VALTA, our clients’ estate plans always receive an overview annually, and then reviewed comprehensively every 3 years and/or within four months of any significant tax law change. Or course, our attorney will always modify a client’s estate plan when circumstances or testamentary objectives change in order to ensure that everything is kept in alignment with current goals.
Jerry Reed has been in business for over 30 years, thriving on providing personalized service in the areas of estate planning, wills and trusts, tax planning for closely-held businesses and their owners, probate, and estate administration.
Jerry began his college education with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Indiana University. He then went on to the University of Miami School of Law, where he earned a Master of Laws (LL.M) in Estate Planning, after which he received his Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.) from Indiana University-Indianapolis Law School.
Jerry is admitted to practice law in North Carolina, Florida, and Indiana. He is a Member of the North Carolina State Bar and North Carolina Bar Association, the Mecklenburg County Bar Association, the Florida Bar, the Indiana State Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. Jerry is also a Certified Public Accountant in North Carolina and Indiana, and a Member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He has written articles for various publications and spoken at many professional and continuing education seminars.
Carter C. Brydon, CPCU, ARM
Risk Management Expert
The role of the Risk Management (Insurance) expert is to review all available insurance products and advise each client on the suitability of each type and amount applicable to his/her unique financial plan. This is done through the development of a risk profile, policy and coverage analysis, and risk management proposal for the individual, and his/her family and business interests. Carter, our Risk Management Expert, coordinates with our clients’ legal, investment and other advisors to ensure that the defined risk management philosophy and goals are incorporated into the clients’ estate, financial and tax planning. Once a year, Carter does a comprehensive assessment to confirm that the fees that are being paid for the insurance are still appropriate and to determine actions that can be taken to mitigate risks to the financial plan.
With more than 25 years of risk management and insurance brokerage experience, Carter consults, designs, and implements risk management and insurance programs for individuals, families and businesses throughout the United States. Prior to working with VALTA, Carter founded and led Aon’s Private Risk Management US operations. He was the chief architect of this Fortune 200 Company’s entry into the ultra high net worth wealth management industry, served as a member of the national leadership board for Aon Risk Services, and served as Managing Director of Aon Private Risk Management’s 22 offices. Carter has lectured at wealth management seminars and financial service conferences and published articles for the private wealth management industry. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and has served on numerous of its committees, including the Board of Trustees’ Presidential Search Committee. He holds a Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation and an Associate in Risk Management (ARM) designation from The American College.
Carter and his wife, Paige, reside with their two sons in Charlotte, NC.
Loring Ward
Wealth Management Experts
We work with Loring Ward to create a personalized investment portfolio designed around a client’s goals and within the constraints of their individual time horizon and risk tolerance. We meet with clients often to ensure that asset allocation changes are reviewed as target dates approach so that there’s little risk of our clients not having money the day they need it.
Loring Ward is a wealth management firm using Nobel prize-winning theory. We use their academic, scientifically structured investment approach because it is very reasonably priced and takes the guesswork out of investing. The Loring Ward strategy accepts market efficiency, meaning exercising patience and discipline but taking risks worth taking to effectively diversify and customize a portfolio, thus reducing risk to the investor and maximizing returns. Their team of experts uses inversely correlated large asset classes that make up better than 90% of market returns with predictable results to build portfolios for prudent growth and income with a lower volatility and standard deviation. Through Loring Ward, we are able to create customized portfolios that give our clients a high probability of achieving their goals.