What is the most fulfilling aspect of being an advisor to your clients?
The most satisfying part of my pre-Bernstein career in business development was mentorship. I always found it to be enormously rewarding to play an active role in helping my team members reach their goals— personally and professionally. As a financial advisor, the reward that comes from helping others has been even greater. I love mentoring my direct team, however, I receive the most profound reward from my clients. Wealth is one of the most personal, and least talked about, subjects. This is especially true within a family unit. Conversations about wealth, and the hopes, dreams and fears associated with it, require genuine intimacy. Thus, it’s a privilege every time a client opens the door to talk openly and honestly about their wealth. The opportunity to acquire their trust, and offer insights and ideas so I can make a difference, truly excites me.
What kind of experience do you offer to your clients?
Every prospective client has his/her own story and a unique set of circumstances. Over time, I have developed experience solving problems across a broad range of situations. My bread-and-butter areas of experience are individual and family wealth and estate planning. Some additional activities include: • Helping senior corporate executives work through the unique challenges associated with single stock concentrations • Navigating the complex taxation aspects of international and cross-border wealth • Endowment and foundation advisory work • Planning for the sale of a closely held business • Pension solutions and Cash Balance plans
Which personal accomplishment makes you proudest?
My wealth is my family. When my wife and I are not working, we are usually with our three daughters enjoying some fun new experience, or traveling to different places. We’ve learned firsthand how hard it is to raise a family and survive the inevitable adversities and challenges that lie in wait. The anxieties and fears that come with parenthood are more acute than any other. Every parent wants their child to have the best life possible. Yet, fortunately, the rewards and joys are no less profound. As our children now transition into adulthood, my wife and I see, and marvel at, their developing independence and maturation in character and values. To catch an occasional glimpse of our own parental influence is so indescribably and deeply satisfying.