I believe traditional wealth management is broken – but I have a vision for the future standard of financial advice, and I am incredibly lucky to have found two partners who share that vision. Before I tell you how and why I joined Single Point, let me tell you a little about how I found my passion for financial planning.
I consider myself fortunate that I stumbled into my future career path at a relatively young age. As an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison I majored in a CFP® Board registered program at a time when financial planning was emerging as the preferred core component of the financial advisory relationship. What I learned in my undergraduate coursework, and the subsequent years to follow, is that each client’s financial situation is an intricate puzzle and every decision has a cascading effect on other areas of the client’s financial picture.
I loved the analytical components of financial planning, but what ultimately made me realize this is the career I wanted to pursue was a suggested reading from my professor during an estate planning course at UW-Madison. The book, titled “Beyond the Grave” by Gerald and Jeffrey Condon, delved into the psychological and emotional aspects of leaving and inheriting money. In reading this book I realized that the planning relationship is about more than numbers, and that delivering the best results requires an empathetic advisor who has an innate understanding of the emotional stakes at-play which are unique to each client and family. There is no greater honor than being entrusted to help make meaningful decisions around accumulating or dispersing wealth and being able to provide peace of mind through decision and implementation support.
After graduating I immersed myself in the industry and landed with a nationally recognized firm where I gained valuable experience working with and learning from some of the best planners in the country. During that time I pursued the CFP® designation and, at age 25, became one of the youngest designees in the country. More recently, I worked for a firm structured as a multi-family office where I advised ultra-high net worth clientele on various financial planning disciplines with a focus around multi-generational wealth transfer strategies. I am thankful for these experiences as I learned an immense amount about planning and the advisory relationship in both roles and those opportunities ignited my interest in the broader industry.
In my quest to acquire more industry knowledge I learned quite a lot about the different channels of financial advice. Each channel held themselves out as the ‘best’ option, but all I saw at every turn was an inherent conflict of interest accentuated by sales personnel who were only concerned with getting new assets in the door to bill on with little regard to how those clients would be serviced. I wanted to break the mold of a model that I saw as outdated and provide an alternative to those who want to partner with an advisor to broaden the conversation beyond their investment portfolio in a truly all-inclusive, conflict-free relationship.
As Shaun referenced in his introductory blog, we initially met several years ago through an FPA pro-bono initiative. The first time we met outside of the pro-bono setting, we talked at length about our respective firms and our philosophies around the financial advisory business. I learned about his partnership with Rene and their vision for the growth of Single Point Partners. I distinctly recall speaking to my father after Shaun and I met saying, “I could see myself working with him down the road”.
Fast forward to several months later, Shaun and Rene approached me about the opportunity to be a Personal CFO at Single Point Partners. In meeting with them, I was immediately impressed with their core values and ideologies, client-centric service model, fee structure, and thoughtfulness in answering the five pages worth of questions I had prepared. What intrigued me was the opportunity to have a seat at the table and an imprint in shaping a young firm to reflect what I see as the only way to provide unbiased financial advice. But in the end what sold me on the opportunity were the people I would be building that vision with. I wanted to be a part of the mission to transition Single Point from a practice to a business that disrupts the traditional wealth management model.
I joined Shaun, Rene, and Susan at Single Point because I believe in challenging the status quo of the wealth advisory business. I believe we have created a unique value proposition focused on attentive service and thorough advice in a day and age where most focus on scalability and profitability. I believe that every client we work with deserves the best advice and client experience. I believe in full transparency and a relationship built on mutual trust and respect. I believe in simplifying even the most complex wealth concepts because every client deserves to understand why I make a recommendation and how the strategy helps them achieve their goals. Above all else, I believe Single Point Partners is at the forefront of a much-needed industry revolution.
