What has inspired you to stay at Bernstein for as long as you have?
Even early on in my Bernstein career, I was inspired to grow professionally. Yet, even though I admired and appreciated the intellectual rigor of my colleagues, I never felt intimidated by them. Their willingness to share the knowledge they had accumulated even with those, like myself, who weren’t as tenured made me feel at ease. Now, years later, I continue to thrive at Bernstein because I have the opportunity to develop the next generation of leadership at the firm. Continuing to move the firm forward to meet the evolving needs of our clients and stay at the forefront of our industry is a great feeling. Grooming the next generation is also my way of paying back the generosity that my mentors and colleagues showed to me.
What’s the best way for people to put their wealth in perspective?
I have been really privileged to work with families and organizations whose focus goes beyond how much wealth they have. Rather, my clients, all caring, philanthropic individuals that aspire to make the world a better place, are most concerned about how they will use their wealth. I step in when they begin to ponder the best way to go about this. Generally speaking, the focal points for the conversations I have with my clients around wealth distribution are as follows: What is the most effective way to pass down important family values to future generations? And, how can I provide critical support for causes that will have a lasting positive impact on modern society or the environment? Working with these families reinforces my belief that ongoing, and active, long-term financial planning is the key to success to successful wealth management.
If you didn’t work for Bernstein, what else would you be doing?
Let’s say I didn’t work for Bernstein. In that universe, I would put in the hours toward hopefully shrinking the opportunity gap. My wish is for children who are born without proper financial resources or emotional support to receive what they need in the educational environment. We all deserve the opportunity to maximize our full potential and I am well aware that too many people are born with the odds stacked against them. This is a problem I would like to change. To remedy the socioeconomic divide in the US, I am particularly interested in creating educational interventions, which I believe instill confidence in students and teach them the social-emotional foundation that is necessary for long-term career success.