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Our Sub-Advisor Partnership

Gulf Coast Financial Advisors has partnered with Aptus Capital Advisors to provide institutional-quality investment management for our clients. This sub-advisor relationship allows GCFA to focus on what we do best — comprehensive financial planning and personalized client service — while leveraging the deep investment expertise of a dedicated portfolio management team.

Aptus Capital Advisors serves as the sub-advisor responsible for day-to-day investment decisions and portfolio construction within GCFA client accounts. This partnership brings our clients access to sophisticated investment strategies typically reserved for large institutional investors.

Investment Philosophy: True Diversification

The Aptus investment philosophy centers on the concept of True Diversification. Rather than simply spreading investments across many asset classes that tend to move together in a crisis, Aptus builds portfolios that are designed to provide genuine protection during market downturns while still participating in market growth.

Their approach emphasizes risk management as a core principle, not an afterthought. By combining common-sense money management with institutional-grade downside protection strategies, Aptus helps ensure that the wealth you have worked so hard to build is protected against the inevitable volatility of financial markets.

Key Investment Principles

Aptus designs risk-managed strategies designed to help clients stay invested through the ups & downs of market cycles. Part of these strategies include upside capture through downside hedging.

This approach is designed to produce what every investor wants: potential for growth and income while defending against their most feared risks. Key features include:

  • True Diversification — Building portfolios with genuinely uncorrelated components that provide protection when traditional diversification fails
  • Risk Management First — Prioritizing the protection of capital as the foundation of long-term wealth building
  • Downside Protection — Utilizing hedging strategies and defensive positioning to limit losses during market corrections
  • Long-Term Focus — Making investment decisions based on long-term fundamentals rather than short-term market noise

Balancing Risk with Return

Why should someone invest in the stock market? To meet future spending needs, right? Unfortunately, putting today’s dollars under the mattress is not going to get it done. Aptus designs their portfolios to help harness the power of compounding, to meet client needs, and to empower the advisors at Gulf Coast Financial Advisors to consistently deliver on the following three client questions:

  • Am I going to be ok?
  • Can I maintain my family’s quality of life?
  • Can I improve it?

The primary investing dangers that investors worry about generally fall into one of two categories:

  • Longevity Risk (Sneaky, hard to recognize in the moment)
  • Drawdown Risk (Can strike without warning)

How Can We Balance Risk and Return? We start by getting back to True Diversification and our approach: 

  • Prudent allocation to areas of higher potential return (stocks).
  • Reducing drawdown and the emotions that come with it.
  • Turning market drawdowns into opportunity.

In Aptus founder JD Gardner's words, "Aptus is proud to help advisors serve the lifeblood of financial services clients. While we’re always happy to help manage a $20m household, the majority of our days are spent helping the advisor make sure that their $1m-$5m families are a) positioned properly and b) confident in that positioning."

"With stocks and bonds correlating more closely, we think an extra set of eyes can only help advisors help clients. We feel privileged every day, to sit alongside fiduciaries and support their practice in every way possible. Our focus on risk mitigation plays a key role, but we think consistency in and consistency of messaging is equally important to keeping clients confident enough to gain the benefits of long-term investing."

To learn more about Aptus Capital Advisors, visit https://aptuscapitaladvisors.com/. Note: this will take you away from the Gulf Coast Financial Advisor's website. 

Aptus Capital Advisors Disclosure:

Aptus Capital Advisors and Gulf Coast Financial Advisors are separate and distinct organizations, and are not affiliated. Aptus receives payment for investment management services directly from Gulf Coast Financial Advisors and not from clients' accounts. There are no revenue sharing or referral fees paid to, or received from, in regards to Aptus Capital Advisors' role with Gulf Coast Financial Advisors.

For more information about Aptus, or to receive a copy of our disclosure form ADV and Privacy Policy contact us. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any securities. Aptus Capital Advisors website and its associated links offer news, commentary and generalized research, not personalized investment advice. This website is for informational purposes only and does not constitute a complete description of our investment services or performance. Nothing on this website should be interpreted to state or imply that past results are an indication of future. All investments involve risk and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Be sure to consult with a tax professional before implementing any investment strategy. Aptus Capital Advisors is a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is headquartered in Fairhope, Alabama. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training.

Here is the core team at Aptus Capital Advisors:

JD Gardner, CFA CMT Photo
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JD Gardner, CFA CMT

CIO & Founder

Background & Education

JD holds an undergrad degree in Finance and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Wright State University. He holds both the CFA Charter and Chartered Market Technician (CMT) designations. He spent time at UBS, Morgan Stanley, and as a research analyst before starting Aptus. With experience in developing systematic strategies, he saw the opportunity to help navigate the current environment with efficiencies found in the ETF structure.

Outside of the Office

He lives in L.A. (of course that means Lower Alabama) in Fairhope with his wife Mallory and their 4 kids (JJ, Luke, Mims, & Silas).

Why Aptus?

“I founded Aptus in 2013 to attack the behavior gap. An investor’s return is more important than an investment’s return, and Aptus delivers solutions designed to minimize behavioral inefficiencies and enhance outcomes.

Aptus is family. The culture we’ve created and the people involved…I couldn’t imagine being surrounded by anybody else (that goes directly to all team members and indirectly to our spouses who make it all possible). There’s an opportunity to impact the advisory space through our services and strategies. I’m thankful for our team and the chance to compete daily and work to earn trust with them by my side.”

Beckham Wyrick, CFA Photo
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Beckham Wyrick, CFA

Portfolio Manager & Portfolio Reviews

Beckham Wyrick joined Aptus Capital Advisors in 2016 and serves as a Portfolio Manager and Analyst. He is passionate about finding solutions at the business and portfolio level to enhance the value proposition of Aptus’ advisory partners and improve the financial outcomes of their clients.

Background & Education

Beckham is originally from Cincinnati, OH and attended college at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where he was also a member of the men’s basketball team and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance. Upon graduation, Beckham played 9 years of professional basketball in Germany before returning to America and joining Aptus.

Beckham is a CFA Charter holder and is a member of the CFA Institute and CFA Society of Alabama.

Outside The Office

Beckham currently resides in Fairhope, Alabama with his wife, Johanna, and their three children (Ada, Henri, and Emmi). Beckham enjoys spending time with family, traveling to new places, being outdoors, and the occasional attempt to get back out on the basketball court.

Beckham’s wife, Johanna, was born and raised in Nuremberg, Germany, and annual trips to visit family around the holidays are a highlight of the travel calendar.

John Luke Tyner, CFA Photo
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John Luke Tyner, CFA

Portfolio Manager & Fixed Income

John Luke Tyner is a member of the Aptus Investment Committee. He is a fixed income analyst and trader, provides in-depth portfolio analysis, and leads the construction of the Impact Series Model portfolios.

Background & Education

John Luke joined Aptus in 2019 after spending time on the institutional fixed income desk at Duncan-Williams, inc.  During his career, he has helped implement client-specific strategies within his client’s bond portfolios. He has a strong background in municipal, corporates, agencies, and mortgage-backed securities.

He graduated from the University of Memphis with a degree in Accounting where he was a member of the men’s golf team. John Luke also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation from the CFA Institute.

Outside the Office

In his spare time, John Luke enjoys spending time with his family, playing golf, tennis, and being active at 3Circle Church in Fairhope. JL is in the process of learning Spanish, as his wife is fluent. He does his best to take advantage of any opportunities to go fly fishing and being outdoors.

Dave Wagner, CFA Photo
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Dave Wagner, CFA

Equity Analyst & Portfolio Manager

David Wagner is a member of the Aptus Investment Committee and is responsible for equity research, selection, the evaluation of macro-level trends, and advising about the current market environment.

Background & Education

Prior to joining Aptus, David worked with both Opus Capital Management and Driehaus Capital Management where he was responsible for conducting research and analysis for various small and microcap equity strategies. David is a regular contributor on CNBC, Bloomberg, WSJ, and Barrons.

David is a CFA Charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of Cincinnati. He earned his BS in Accounting and BBA in Finance from the University of Kentucky. He also earned his MBA specialized in Finance from Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH.

Outside The Office

David resides in Mt. Lookout, Ohio with his well-accomplished dog, Saddie. He enjoys hunting, fishing, and all things Cincy sports. Outside of work, you will find David working on his farm and treating himself to a nice glass of bourbon. To Dave, the little things in life bring him the most joy – such as mowing and admiring his lawn with his lawnmower named ladybird –  is always up there on his list.

Clay Calhoun Photo
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Clay Calhoun

Trading & Client Service

Background & Education

Prior to joining Aptus, Clay worked as an agent and underwriter within the property and casualty insurance industry for 12 years. Clay graduated from The University of Alabama in 2009 with a Major in personal financial planning.

Outside The Office

Clay was born and raised in Fairhope where he now resides with his wife Courtney and their 3 kids (Harlan, Collins and Miller). He enjoys spending time with his family as well spending time in the woods and on the water.

Joseph King Photo
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Joseph King

Trading & Client Service

Background & Education

Joseph previously worked in the software/technology space where he managed large strategic and enterprise accounts and has a passion for building, managing, and growing relationships with partners and clients.

He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in 2005, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance.

Outside the Office

Joseph is originally from Wilmington, NC, and being a beach bum at heart (Wilmington is on the coast of NC), he stayed in his hometown to attend college. Joseph was also a member of the men’s basketball team for 4 years at UNCW. After living in North Carolina all of his life, Joseph now resides in Fairhope, Alabama with his wife, Hannah, and their 2 children Kensington and Ryker.

John Goldsberry Photo
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John Goldsberry

Facilitator, Operations & Technology

John Goldsberry manages operations for the firm. Anything from trading, client service, HR, process implementation & maintaining technology – he truly is the facilitator for the firm.

Background & Education

John graduated from University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Joining Aptus right after his glory days playing basketball were over, he learned the business by being a big part of building this one. John has been fortunate to gain unique perspective and experience in business and ETF operations through his time at Aptus.

Outside of the Office

John was born and raised in Vandalia, Ohio, went to college at the beach in Wilmington, North Carolina and then spent 8 years playing professional basketball in Germany. He now resides on the Gulf Coast of Alabama with his wife Lindsay and their 4 kids (Jackson, Kennedy, Laney Kate, and Maggie).