Bill Strand

Founder and Principal

Email Bill Strand
Phone: (763) 201-1025

Education:

• B.A., St. Olaf College, Biology and Philosophy
• University of Minnesota, finished major in Chemistry 
• University of St. Thomas, MBA

A New Paradigm in Wealth Management
My career in finance began in the mid-80s at a small brokerage firm on the 40th floor of the IDS Center in Minneapolis. I learned a lot, especially what I didn’t like about the financial services industry. After about a year, I set out on my own and started a “Financial Planning” firm, then joined forces with another advisor, and began building an infrastructure for the future. In 1995 I bought out my business partner and founded Paradigm. I wanted to build a company that wasn’t subject to the lack of trust, accountability, and transparency so prevalent in the industry. I felt those critical elements were missing in the financial world and I wanted to change that.

Supporting Clients Through Wealth Management
Our business has changed tremendously since those early years. We’ve grown substantially, moved into a larger building, and added several new faces to our staff over the years. Several very loyal clients from the mid-80s are still clients today!

My role has changed over the years and right now I’m probably having more fun than I’ve ever had in my career. What I love most about my role is working directly with clients, something that I plan to do for many more years. I am also involved in actively developing our next generation of advisors and future leaders of the company. I’m spending a lot of my time mentoring and teaching really smart, young advisors –which I find extremely rewarding.

One of Paradigm’s main business objectives is to build a really strong foundation that is sustainable for multiple generations to come. While I have no intention of retiring soon, it’s imperative that we have the right people in place to lead this company forward. I’m designing Paradigm to be a flourishing business that can retain top talent and continue to attract great clients. Another key objective is to continually look forward and seek to understand what technology will be necessary for Paradigm to continue to thrive. We want to anticipate change, use it to our advantage by shaping it to our needs, and have the courage to keep pushing forward even when we aren’t sure what the future will bring.

Succession Planning for the Future
As part of the evolution of Paradigm and my succession plan, a very important decision in 2019 was for me to step down as President and promote Kris Bentzen to the role while also making her part owner of our company. Over time, the plan is to create additional leadership roles to share responsibilities and provide opportunities for staff to evolve their careers.

One of the things Paradigm has become known for is its experience with, and commitment to, working with families. We have numerous families as clients where we advise two and sometimes three generations, as well as siblings of clients. I am committed to building a solid organization that will have the capacity, creativity, and desire to work with multiple generations of clients as well as younger clients for many decades going forward. While the daily responsibility of running Paradigm is no longer my role, it’s fairly easy to see that I have plenty to keep me busy!