OUR STORY
Mergent Advisors was created after years of watching successful people receive financial advice in disconnected pieces.
They had investment accounts, insurance products, tax professionals, estate attorneys, bankers, and retirement projections—but no one was responsible for making sure those decisions worked together.
THE FRAGMENTATION PROBLEM
The Illusion of Coordination
Mergent Advisors was created after years of watching successful people receive financial advice in disconnected pieces.
They had investment accounts, insurance products, tax professionals, estate attorneys, bankers, and retirement projections—but no one was responsible for making sure those decisions worked together.
THE INFLATION FACTOR
Why Returns Are Not Enough
It is easy to focus on the headline number of your portfolio’s return. However, inflation acts as a silent thief, quietly eroding your purchasing power year after year. A strategy built solely on nominal growth often falls short when confronted with real-world costs.
True financial planning requires looking beyond the gross return to understand what your money can actually buy when you need it most. By factoring in inflation and taxes, we aim for a realistic probability of success, not just a flashy projection.
The Unified Solution
Enter OnePlan™
OnePlan™ is the unified framework where every aspect of your financial life—investments, risk management, tax strategies, and estate planning—is finally brought together. We act as your single point of coordination, ensuring that all of your disconnected decisions are working in harmony toward a work-optional future.
CORE TENETS
Our Planning Philosophy
We believe in a disciplined, clear approach to financial planning. These five core tenets guide every decision we make and keep us aligned with what matters most.
Keep it simple
Complexity should be reduced, not displayed for its own sake.
Advance and protect
Growth and protection should be considered together.
Values-based planning
Money should support the people, priorities, and life that matter most.
Realistic and probable
We use assumptions and probabilities, not promises.
Boring and consistent
A durable strategy matters more than flashy sales talk.
The Boutique Commitment
“We believe in fewer clients, deeper relationships, and uncompromised attention to the details that matter most to your future.”
MEET THE TEAM
Experienced Advice.
Direct Relationships.
Mergent Advisors is built around experienced CFP® professionals and a support team focused on making complex planning feel organized, understandable, and personal.
PROFESSIONAL CREDENTIALS
Education:
B.A. Economics - Denison University 1997
CFP® Certification Education Program- American College 2011
Certifications:
Certified Financial Planner (tm) CFP®
Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor (CRPC)
Accredited Portfolio Management Advisor (APMA)
Primary Certification
CO-FOUNDER AND FINANCIAL PLANNER
Douglas Heagren, CFP®
Douglas Heagren is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and co-founder of Mergent Advisors. He brings extensive experience in comprehensive financial planning and works with families, professionals, and business owners facing complex financial decisions and major transitions.
Douglas is a husband, father, and private pilot. His experience with business owners is also deeply personal. After his father died, Douglas had to step into his father’s businesses, manage responsibilities during an emotional period, and help close the estate.
That trial-by-fire experience gave him firsthand understanding of the financial, operational, estate, and family challenges that can arise when a business owner dies or a transition is not fully coordinated. It informs his practical approach to business succession, estate coordination, family decision-making, and long-term planning.
Co-Founder and Financial Planner
Craig Cowles, CFP®
Craig Cowles is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and co-founder of Mergent Advisors. He helps busy professionals, business owners, pilots, and families coordinate the major decisions that affect financial independence and a work-optional future.
Craig has also been a professional pilot since 1986. That experience gives him firsthand knowledge of career concentration, medical-certification risk, disability exposure, mandatory retirement, and the challenge of separating personal identity from a career someone may still enjoy.
His planning approach emphasizes cash flow, risk management, asset allocation and asset location, tax-aware decisions, dependable income, and the flexibility to adapt as life changes. Craig favors disciplined and consistent planning over flashy return promises, with the goal of helping clients understand what their money needs to do: not simply what an account may be worth.
PROFESSIONAL CREDENTIALS
Education:
Bachelor of Science - Management Information Systems - Excelsior College
Certificate of Financial Planning - UGA Terry College of Business
Certificate of Business Exit Planning - Exit Planning Institute
Certifications:
CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (2012)
Certified Business Value Builder (CVB)
Airline Transport Pilot (1998)
Office Locations
Dallas–Fort Worth (Love Field)
7701 Lemmon Ave Ste 260-A226
Dallas, TX 75209
By appointment only
Stillwater (Lift Bridge)
310 1/2 Main St S
Stillwater, MN 55082
By appointment only
THE BOUTIQUE COMMITMENT
Start a Direct Relationship
Experience financial advice that is organized, understandable, and deeply personal. We invite you to begin a conversation about your future.
Mergent Advisors provides comprehensive, coordinated financial planning and wealth management for professionals, business owners, and their families.
Quick Links
Legal & Compliance
Contact
[email protected]
1-866-509-8866
Dallas TX:
7701 Lemmon Ave
Dallas TX 75209
Stillwater MN:
310 1/2 Main St S
Stillwater MN 55082
Mergent Advisors, LLC provides financial education, planning support, and insurance-related services. Investment-adviser referral and promotional services are offered through Mergent Wealth, LLC, a Texas-registered investment adviser that does not manage portfolios or exercise investment discretion. Mergent Wealth may receive referral compensation, and Mergent Advisors owns a 4% minority interest in Mergent Wealth, creating financial incentives and potential conflicts of interest. Insurance professionals may also receive commissions. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Registration does not imply a particular level of skill or training. Please review our Important Disclosures and Mergent Wealth’s Form ADV.
© 2026 Mergent Advisors. All rights reserved.