What do you enjoy most about working in the wealth management industry?
I enjoy wealth management because the typical client relationship spans years, if not decades, and involves work on many different investment and financial planning needs and objectives.
What do you enjoy most about being part of Harvest Wealth Management?
Harvest offers me the opportunity to work with two amazing teams on behalf of my clients. The first is our Harvest team of professionals who are focused on delivering the highest level of client experience centered on customized financial planning. The second team is our Registered Investment Adviser Commonwealth Financial Network®, which provides great technology and research tools to deliver the best investment solutions for our clients.
What do you love to do outside of work?
I love to be out of doors hiking and camping and ideally in the Sierras or the Adirondacks. I am particularly fond of the wilderness areas around Lake Tahoe where we have spent many years camping with our children. Still on the list to do are many of the great national parks in the west.
What would you be doing if you weren’t working for Harvest?
Someday, when I retire, I would like to start a second career renovating old houses for resale. I have lived in an old Victorian for 20 years where we have done a lot of renovation and that has given me a great deal of pleasure. I am told I have a good eye for this type of work and I know I would get a great deal of pleasure restoring houses for new families to enjoy.
What qualities of yours make you best suited to do what you do?
I have been told by clients that I would be a good teacher by the way I present financial planning concepts. I do see client education as a critical part of our services at Harvest Wealth Management given that the financial world is changing so rapidly that our clients have come to rely on us to bring key new concepts and opportunities to their attention.
How can a client get the most value from their relationship with Harvest Wealth Management?
We start with the premise that every client is unique and therefore, the solutions we craft to achieve their needs and objectives will be customized. Second, we have designed our client service model to deliver a highly personalized service meaning both unlimited access and fast response to unexpected or urgent needs. Finally, as an independent firm, we are free to find the best solution for you; putting your interests first without concern for corporate priorities or quarterly profit reports.
What is the biggest professional challenge you face today?
One of the biggest challenges in our rapidly evolving industry is keeping up with new technologies that can offer better client service and planning solutions delivered with the highest level of customer security. Over the past couple of years, we have been hard at work in this area with the addition of our client CFO functionality on our website, as well as important security changes with the help of Commonwealth.
What is the most influential book you have read recently?
Published in 2016, There is Life After College – What Parents and Students Should Know About Navigating School to Prepare for the Jobs of Tomorrow is an excellent read for parents with college-bound children. This book looks at college graduates today and revisits the adage that it is less important where you go to college than what you do while being there. In particular, this book focuses on how current college students need to manage their life experiences inside and outside the classroom through internships, study abroad, and other professional development opportunities.
What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?
Earlier in my career, I worked for the American International Group (AIG) managing their life insurance and pension subsidiaries in Santiago, Chile. This was a wonderful personal experience in a beautiful country where our two youngest children were born. It was an equally rewarding professional experience as the two companies experienced significant growth in Chile’s booming economy and capital markets of the early 1990s.
Where does your story begin?
Financial planning was not my first career. Following my graduation from Harvard College in 1976, I spent the next 20 years pursuing a career in international business in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In 2004, I left the corporate world to become an independent financial advisor to design my own financial services practice and focus on my clients' needs first and foremost.
I am a 20-year resident of Brookline, Massachusetts, where my wife, Beth, and I have deep roots in the community through service on the boards of local colleges, cultural organizations, and close connections with local schools. We have raised our two sons and daughter in the town. When I am not working, Beth and I enjoy traveling to visit our children and spending time sailing, golfing, hiking, and camping.