THE HUSBAND-WIFE TEAM of Rich Schaufert and Donna Tyus recently moved their financial consulting firm The Kirkwood Group to Fairfield. After spending a good portion of 18 months apart operating an investment management firm in Florida and pursuing business interests in Fairfield, the husband and wife financial team of Rich Schaufert and Donna Tyus recently relocated their company to Fairfield.

The couple operate The Kirkwood Group Investment Management which they founded in Daytona, Fla., in 1998.

For the past 18 months, however, Schaufert has remained in Florida while Ms. Tyus commuted between Daytona and Fairfield where she is developing Villa del Crista Pino luxury townhomes and tending to other family business.

"We finally decided that since we are married it's better to live together," Schaufert says.

The couple point out that their clients are located throughout the United States so it makes little difference where they have their office.

"It doesn't matter where we are as long as we have a computer and telephone," Schaufert says.

They have located their office at 11 Pine Ridge Court, in one of the townhomes that also serves as a model home to show prospective buyers.

Ms. Tyus is the daughter of the late Haynie and Kerry Tyus and points out that her family has lived in the Fairfield area for more than 150 years.

She is a 1974 graduate of Fairfield high school, earned bachelor of business administration degree and master of science degree in finance at Baylor University, and earned certification as a trust and financial advisor and financial services counselor at National Graduate Trust School at Northwestern University.

Since 1982 she has worked as a stock broker, bank vice president and trust officer, and vice president and managing director at several banks and stock brockerage firms. Immediately prior to joining The Kirkwood Group in 2002—-it was started by Schaufert four years earlier— she was vice president and managing director of private capital management at First Union National Bank, now Wachovia.

Schaufert is a native of St. Louis, Mo., earned a bachelor of arts degree at Drury University in Springfield, Mo., and is a certified retirement plans specialist and accredited asset management specialist.

He worked as a financial advisor with Smith Barney Harris and Upham, Oppenheimer and Advest, Inc., before starting his own financial management firm.

The couple lived a number of years in St. Louis and moved to Daytona Beach in 1997 for better weather to enjoy outdoor activities.

Name for the firm is the same as the St. Louis suburb in which they lived before moving to Florida.

Ms. Tyus joined the firm two years after it was formed.

In a division of duties, Schaufert deals primarily with asset and portfolio management and Ms. Tyus works with estate and tax planning for clients. Formally, Schaufert is president of The Kirkwood Group and Ms. Tyus is chief financial officer.

They note that the decision to pull up stake and move their business to Fairfield was partly prompted by the retirement of a longtime assistant. Rather than hiring a new assistant, they sold their Florida property and changed locations.

The couple are independent financial brokers, working through VSR Financial Services to place investment orders. They explain that technology has allowed for independent brokers to operate through broker-dealers, instead of being affiliated with a franchised firm.

"We are completely independent," Schaufert says. "

"We have no account minimums and we treat all our clients the same," Ms. Tyus says.

Although independent, their business is reviewed and audited for compliance by VSR.

The couple point out that after the financial market meltdown in September 2008, the stock market is coming back, especially in the past four months.

In addition to his work as a financial consultant, Schaufert serves as an arbitrator for Financial Industry Regulatory Authority on a 3-member panel that resolves monetary and business disputes between and among investors, security firms and individual registered representatives.

Outside work, he is past president of Children's Advocacy Center in Daytona Beach, member of Rotary International and Daytona Beach Redevelopment Board, past member of Halifax Yacht Club and Sunset Harbor Yacht Club, both in Daytona Beach, has been a committee member for Asthma and Allergy Foundation and Judevine for Autistic Children's galas in St. Louis, and was a reserve police officer in Kirkwood for 11 years.

Ms. Tyus is a member of Fairfield History Club and Fairfield Rotary Club, and has served as Easter Seals Foundation chairman, on the boards of Daytona Beach Community College Foundation and Halifax Hospital Foundation, and has been a member of Halifax River Yacht Club, Sunset Harbor Yacht Club and LPGA International Golf Club.

Schaufert and Ms. Tyus have been married almost 19 years. A daughter, Christy, 32, is a branch manager for a credit union in St. Charles, Mo., and has a 3-year-old son, Thomas, and a son, Matthew, 30, is a professional baseball umpire in St. Louis.