What has inspired you to stay at Bernstein for as long as you have?
This is easy—the people. One of the great joys in life is working with brilliant, talented people that have a true fiduciary mindset and come together for the benefit of others. I have the great privilege of investing in others to expand their client impact, as many others have done for me and continue to do to this day. When you hire Bernstein, you hire thousands of people who wake up every day and obsess over how to make our clients’ lives better. Whether through service, investment results, financial planning—or the host of non-financial outcomes that are important to clients—I am humbled to be part of a team that constantly innovates using our clients’ goals as our collective North star
What differentiates you from other advisors?
At Bernstein, the role of the advisor is distinct. As the financial quarterback, we have the opportunity to bring true experts in their field to help solve any of our client’s problems. The needs of today’s wealthy families simply can’t be met by someone (or a team of “someone’s”) sitting behind a desk trying to think about the optimal portfolio across 24 time zones, six continents and thousands of investable opportunities in between meetings. The same goes for financial planning, family engagement or philanthropic activities. While being in the industry for 20+ years can lead to a feeling of hubris for some, my experience has shown that adding value by truly listening to our clients and marshaling the right team of experts leads to the best outcomes. This humility extends to my passion to educate, which I believe is key to the empowerment so many clients crave. Our mission is simple to describe but challenging to execute. As we seek to engineer both their investment success and other important non-financial outcomes (like feelings of confidence and security), I am fortunate to work at a firm that spends so much time and treasure providing such a wide range of resources for me to take advantage of as we serve our clients.
Who has been the most influential person in your life?
Not to be cliché, but my children. While having kids has impacted my life in countless ways, it has truly helped me be a better advisor to families and informs my approach when working with my clients. Early in my career, I was focused on the numbers and my ability to engineer great financial outcomes. I now know that while that ability is still table stakes, adjusting plans and providing advice on a host of non-financial outcomes is often more important. It can shift the goalposts for what “success” ultimately means to clients and how I support those goals.