Our History

Our firm was founded by Robert C. Huhn, who began his career in the financial services industry in 1988 when he contracted with New York Life as an agent. In 1989, he earned his securities licenses and began to offer investments through NYLIFE Securities. In 1997, RC recognized a shift in the industry that was beginning to occur. Clients were looking for a new type of relationship that revolved around goal based holistic planning, comprehensive risk management, and investment services that were fee based rather than transactional. Basically, people wanted a long-term relationship where an overarching plan was created, risks and opportunities were well identified, and strategies were developed that had a clear and identifiable purpose in forwarding the client’s interest. Thus, he joined Eagle Strategies LLC in 1997 and began operating under RC Huhn Financial Advisers. The firm operated under this name until 2004, when Bradley Wessel joined as a partner.

Brad began his career in April of 2000 as an adviser with AXA Advisors. During the formative years of his career, the stock market and economy were in the midst of a significant decline as the tech bubble and roaring economic expansion of the 1990’s came to an end. As a new adviser, Brad saw firsthand the impact these shifts were having not only on clients, but advisers as well. Advisers that built their practices on a transactional based business model were suffering as asset values dropped and fear permeated the populace. At a time when clients needed their advisers the most, many were unavailable as they were trying to maintain their livelihoods. Many closed their practice altogether. Clients that lost sight of what was truly important felt lost and unprepared for what was occurring. Many didn’t have a comprehensive plan to reach their goals, but rather a disjointed portfolio of various financial instruments and investments. The strong market and economy of the ‘90’s masked the inefficiency and inherent risk of the lack of coordinated strategy. In many cases, both advisers and their clients failed to follow a disciplined asset allocation model leaving them particularly exposed to the lofty valuations of the tech sector.

RC and Brad met for the first time in 2003, as Brad and a group of AXA Advisors were considering a change. When New York Life was mentioned as an option, Brad was one of the most outspoken against as he stated “I never want to become a life insurance agent. Our clients need us to be planners.” Brad was introduced to RC as an example of a practice that was built around financial planning and investment management, through RC’s affiliation with Eagle Strategies LLC. They spent hours together that fall as Brad was tasked by the group with vetting the opportunities that Eagle provided for comprehensive planning. The group joined New York Life in late 2003.

In 2004, RC approached Brad to join his firm as a partner, as he was interested in pursuing a business opportunity outside of the financial industry and did not want to leave his clients unattended. He felt a partnership with Brad made sense as the similarities of beliefs, values, and commitment to the client’s interest was clear from their earlier discussions. Thus, Huhn, Wessel & Company was born. RC stayed on through the transitional period and resigned from the industry in March of 2006. The firm is very proud that over 80% of its clients remained with the firm through the transition. The firm operated under this name until mid-2018, at which time it rebranded to Voyage Wealth Strategies.

While the name may be relatively new, the firm still stands on the core beliefs and values that were developed and strengthened over its 30 years of existence: understand our clients’ goals and objectives, identify risk and opportunities, create comprehensive solutions, educate, be transparent, put the client first, and our purpose is to serve.

We measure our success on the strength of our relationships and if our clients are achieving their goals. The vast majority of our clients have been with our firm for over 10 years, and many predate the partnership. Obviously, revenue is important as it keeps our doors open, awards and recognition are fine as it is always nice to be recognized by our peers, but what really matters to us are the thank you cards, emails of appreciation, and kind words our clients express regarding our efforts. That is why we do what we do. We will be your partner, not just your adviser.