AAM University Readies First Rogers Graduates

Arvest Asset Management, the financial services arm of Arvest Bank Group Inc., launched its first AAM University seminar series this year in Rogers and averaged about 60 participants per event. Bob O’Neal, the new AAM manager for Rogers, brought the concept over from Tulsa where he helped organize its first run last year.

The five-part free series featured professionals discussing topics from investing to retirement and tax planning. About 5,000 Arvest customers without existing AAM accounts were invited to the monthly seminars at the Shewmaker Center for Workforce Technologies in Bentonville.

Designed to give customers insight to wealth management strategies, the series is part of a growing trend by firms such as Bank of America that offer similar programs.

August’s AAM edition featured Christopher Rogers, a partner with the law firm Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard PLLC in Rogers. A tax lawyer, Rogers told the crowd that setting up a revocable trust is a way to make wealth transfer easier on survivors.

“One of the more significant benefits of revocable trusts is the ease of administration and the ability to avoid probate and associated costs,” Rogers said. “There are also a number of ways revocable trusts can be used to take advantage of the state tax exemptions and planning options that Congress has given each of us.”

The series concludes on Sept. 28 when Hugh Triplett, regional vice president for Van Kamper Investments, will discuss “Investing for Long-term Success.”

Attendees for all five meetings will get a graduation certificate, and one will win a drawing for a new Dell laptop computer. The 2005 AAM University series in Rogers will run April through August and both existing and prospective customers are invited to call Arvest in Rogers office for more information.

A spokesman for AAM — which offers investments, trusts, retirement planning and insurance — said the division has “thousands” of local customers.