The Single Point team continues to expand.  One of the most rewarding things for me personally is seeing the extremely high caliber of people we have been able to add to our group. It says a lot about our current team and our approach to working with families that we are attracting such talent. In getting to know Martin over these past couple of years, the word that comes to mind first in describing him is thoughtful.  In addition to knowing the technical ins and outs of finances, it requires being an attentive listener and taking time to analyze the impact of a decision to be a great financial planner.   His intelligence and technical training combined with his compassion as a person leaves me with no doubt that he will be an amazing Personal CFO for the families that choose to trust SPP with their financial well-being.

We’re excited for you to get a chance to get to know Martin. Below you can read his story and get a sense of the path that led him to SPP.  

I started at Single Point Partners after a long career in wealth management with Fidelity Investments.  Financial planning for me is the next logical step as I attempt to leverage my previous experience.

I grew up in Denver, Colorado and came East for college.  I majored in English at Wesleyan University.  Obtaining a liberal arts education by reading and writing about the world’s best literature seemed like a fun and worthy goal for a college education.  However, English was not a particularly lucrative major when I graduated, so I went to work for EDS (Ross Perot’s company) as a Systems Engineer.  After a few years of writing code, I decided to work for my grandfather in the women’s retail clothing business back in Denver.

My grandfather was a successful immigrant and working with him was indeed very special.  As much as I loved it, I decided that in order to take over the business, I needed to learn more about modern management theory, so I once again packed my bags and headed East.  This time it was for business school at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.  Upon graduation, I still wasn’t ready to work 7 days a week in the family business, so I decided that management consulting would introduce me to a variety of businesses and challenges.  I worked for both a start-up and a very large consulting firm, spent a year working in South Africa, and traveled the US, while coaching many senior executives on how to transform their organizations and manage change.  I loved solving problems, but when my children were born, being on the road was not so much fun anymore.

I then joined Fidelity as an internal management consultant, learning about financial services and investing.  I earned my Chartered Financial Analyst® designation in 2001 and moved into an investment role – managing a team of investment managers and thousands of taxable managed accounts.  Eventually, I drifted towards creating new products for these tax-sensitive clients.  In 2016, I became a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ so I could provide more than just investment management.  My last role at Fidelity was around helping clients simplify and organize their financial lives.

Along my path in wealth management, I have seen a lot of financial services firms say they look out for clients’ best interests.  However, many advisors do not act as fiduciaries and conflicts of interest abound in our industry.  Pushing product, making money by commission, and forcing canned solutions upon clients turned me off.  I am on a mission to elevate financial planners’ credibility to be more like other professionals (i.e. accountants, attorneys, doctors) and the fee-only model of financial planning felt like the best fit for me.

I was drawn to SPP because of Shaun’s straight talk, easy going but driven focus on doing the right thing for clients, as well as the start-up spirit of not being afraid of trying new things.  I knew Shaun for almost 2 years before I started and watched the firm closely as it grew.  I’m excited to be a part of an organization that attempts to minimize as many conflicts as possible and has aligned our goals with our clients’ goals.

Helping people straighten out their financial lives and achieve their life goals has been a fantastic way to leverage both my investment and management consulting skills.  I love helping and coaching people and believe that by sharing my knowledge I can do good in the world as well as feel good about what I do.

I am a member of the Financial Planning Association (FPA), the CFA Society Boston, and the CFA Institute, and an associate member of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA).  I also volunteer for several non-profit organizations.

I live in Brookline, MA with my wife, Shari Lisann, and our golden doodle, Maddie.  Outside of work, I enjoy tennis, biking, yoga, triathlons, skiing, and traveling to see our children and the world.