Investments & Financial Planning

Investments & Financial Planning

The firm opened in 2012 in Lexington, Kentucky, founded by J. Eric Mullins and David B. Short, whose tandem credentials — including CFP, CFS, ChFC, and RICP designations — frame the practice's specialty in retirement income and investment management. The launch came as post-financial-crisis regulation sharpened the distinction between fiduciary advice and brokerage sales, creating a window for fee-based planning firms targeting individuals and high-net-worth families in the Bluegrass region. Its strategy rests on financial planning for retirement transitions, emphasizing tax-aware distribution strategies and investment platform selection rather than proprietary products. The team runs a predominantly fee-based model, which maps client portfolios across managed accounts and advisory platforms rather than commission-driven insurance or brokerage placements. While the firm does not publicly disclose portfolio holdings, its public materials point to an investment approach built on risk profiling and long-term allocation. The client base spans individuals, families, and business entities, served from a single office at 1795 Alysheba Way in Lexington. The lean team lists six professionals on the website. In addition to Mullins and Short, the group includes Jennifer L. Curtsinger in client services, Steven T. Kober, Kenta Ito, and Rylee K. Hobbs — Hobbs joined the firm in December 2024 as a Client Services Associate, the most recent publicly visible hire. The firm's structural differentiator is its deliberate small-team architecture in an increasingly consolidating wealth-management landscape. Where many RIAs in its cohort have rolled into aggregator platforms, Investments & Financial Planning runs independent and generalist, competing on high-touch client relationships and credentialed planning expertise rather than in-house asset management, prop trading, or institutional scale.