What has inspired you to stay at Bernstein for as long as you have?
I am inspired by Bernstein’s relentless pursuit of improvement. Bernstein is not a place where you can coast on your laurels, and no one accepts mediocrity. A client’s financial well-being depends on our excellence.
Every member of the firm—from the CEO to the heads of investment services to junior analysts—is expected to be involved in training the next generation of talent. In doing so, we not only educate future leaders but we also push one another to ask fundamental questions: WHAT are we doing for our clients and HOW can we constantly improve?
Tax law, the investment markets, and family dynamics are constantly changing. We can’t be satisfied with only using the tools we relied upon in the past for success. To be prepared for tomorrow, we must be relentless in our pursuit of excellence and ingenuity while holding all of our colleagues to the highest levels of accountability.
What inspired you to join Bernstein?
I endured a terrible experience with my wealth when exiting a company that I helped start. While moving across countries and changing currencies, I had to reframe my mindset vis-à-vis my portfolio from feeding it to having it feed me—all while the equity markets suffered a historic collapse. Ultimately, I received poor advice. But instead of letting that experience drag me down, I decided to learn how to help other entrepreneurs avoid making those same mistakes. That desire to help others is what fuels me to this day.
Who has been the most influential person in your life?
Dr. Paul W. Ambrose was the most influential person in my life.
I met Paul when I was still in college. He was eight years older, already a practicing physician, and came from a small town in West Virginia. By every surface measure, we couldn’t have been more different—and yet we formed a friendship that changed the entire trajectory of my life. Paul saw possibility everywhere. He made you believe you could do more, give more, be more.
Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop once said that Paul had “the ability to put as much effort into four or five projects simultaneously with the same zeal you and I would put into one.” That was him. Tireless. Self-giving. The very model of what a physician—and frankly, what a human being—could be.
Paul was the most ambitious person I’ve ever known, and somehow also the most humble. He devoted his life to improving how communities understand and care for their own health—especially through food and education. He did this while serving as Deputy Surgeon General, volunteering weekly in free clinics, sitting on medical boards, launching initiatives, and showing up for every friend as if you were his only priority. He lived in constant service, yet always with gentleness and joy.
Paul was on American Airlines Flight 77, which struck the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Losing him left a mark that will never fade—but neither will the passion he poured into everyone he met. My wife and I named our first child after him so that his light, which was so bright in life, continues to shine forward in ours.