Michael Costa, CFP^®, CFA^®

What is your role?

I serve as the Chief Investment Officer to Harvest Wealth Management. As the Founder of NextStep Portfolios, LLC*, an independently registered investment adviser, I work with a select group of wealth managers like Harvest to help ensure that their client portfolios reflect the best possible thinking on markets and to ensure risk and potential returns are appropriately balanced in client portfolios at all times.

*Michael does not offer financial planning services through Commonwealth Financial Network. NextStep and Commonwealth are separate and unrelated.

What do you enjoy most about working in the wealth management industry?

I love working with advisors and clients to de-mystify markets, bring clarity and focus to portfolios, and ensure that risks and opportunities are balanced in an appropriate, if not optimal way. Every client and every market environment are unique, and that keeps my work endlessly interesting.

What do you enjoy most about working with Harvest Wealth Management?

I feel that Harvest really brings a huge breadth of skills to bear for clients. Everyone brings something uniquely positive to the table and that all gets channeled towards getting the best result for clients. I feel good knowing that all the bases are covered and everyone is focused on getting the results for clients.

What have you learned from your clients being in wealth management?

A good portfolio is like a good piece of clothing. It’s all about the fit. In wealth management, we don’t measure inseams (thankfully), but we do spend a lot of time listening. No single approach works for everyone, and it’s usually not about better or worse. It’s about fit.

What personal accomplishments are you most proud of?

When I was in the Peace Corps, I learned that ‘helping’ people is hard to do on a 9-5 basis. In everyday life, opportunities to ‘help’ are really more sporadic than constant. As a result, I learned to really value and seize opportunities to help when they arose. I’ve carried that mentality with me over the years in my personal life, where I sit on advisory boards for non-profits, help mentor others in their careers, and recently, have been helping friends and family affected by COVID.

What would you be doing if you weren’t working in wealth management?

I’d be working for a public policy or research organization of some kind. I need an outlet for all my opinions!

What do you love to do outside of work?

Despite a lot of city living, I’m an outdoorsman at heart. I love hiking, camping, skiing, fishing, and sharing all of that with my son and sometimes-reluctant wife. When the opportunity strikes, we’re quick to do some international travel as well. Between my wife and I, we’ve been to at least 32 countries.

Where does your story begin?

I grew up in the fabulous ’80s on the North Shore of Massachusetts. After attending college at the University of Maine and skiing more than anyone has a right to, I hit the bucket list and hiked the Appalachian Trail before joining the Peace Corps in Kenya. I parlayed that extraordinary experience into a spot at Columbia University in New York, where I earned an MBA, a Masters of International Affairs, and the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA^®) designation. As a dual-citizen (Irish/American) I was able to work in the EU (pre-BREXIT!) and took that opportunity to work in London for 10 years in a variety of roles as an investor, analyst, and portfolio manager, most recently with Fidelity. I moved back to the U.S. in 2018 to be closer to family and have been working with independent registered investment advisors ever since.