With each installment of WSR Pathfinder Awards, we honor a broad range of professionals across our industry, and no profession within wealth management is more crucial than the financial advisor. Advisors form the backbone of our industry, and when we ask questions about the advancement of underrepresented groups as part of our Pathfinder Awards, advisors can provide insights from their unique vantage point across both the industry and the end clients.
The son of Mexican-born parents, Gil Valadez has spent 37 years at Prudential Financial caring for the financial planning needs of Hispanic clients and families, and educating the Hispanic community on financial topics.
This week, WSR named Valadez as Hispanic Financial Advisor of the Year, part of the Pathfinder Awards – Top Hispanic Industry Leaders of 2023. We asked him about the needs of Hispanic clients, how our industry can develop more role models and his passion for financial education.
WSR: Tell us about the unique financial advice needs of Hispanic clients and how an advisor can address those.
Valadez: I believe the Hispanic community has the same needs as any other. However, engrained in our community is the sense of responsibility and duty to family. That often leads folks to focus on taking care of others before themselves, a noble sentiment and cause.
We need to understand that the best way to break the cycle of dependence is to become financially independent ourselves. It would be great to want to lend a financial helping hand only to find it was not needed.
WSR: How can our industry develop more role models and mentors for young Hispanic professionals?
Valadez: Virtually every college and university campus has some form of Hispanic or Latino student business association or club. Hispanic financial professionals who are willing to make financial literacy presentations to these student groups can heighten the awareness of a career in financial advice as well as give students a moment to recognize the enormous need for what we do in our respective communities.
An analogy to the navigation systems in our cars or phones is good for a financial advice career. We ask questions to determine where you are – your “point A.” We ask questions to identify where you want to go – your “point B.” Then, we create a path to get you from point A to B. We monitor progress and if need be, recalculate to get you back on track. That’s an analogy that would resonate with younger folks today.
WSR: Tell us about your passion for financial education.
Valadez: Financial literacy is obviously very important. Learning about financial products and strategies is beneficial in the same way that learning about medical and health issues makes one a better patient. I believe, however, that the educational need is one of processes and relationships.
No matter how much I learn about medicine and health, I would always be better served to put a health improvement plan in place under the guidance and supervision of a trusted physician in whom I have confidence and with whom I plan on having a long-term relationship.
One’s financial health is no different. Finances are foreign to many, and putting together a strategy to meet one’s financial goals and objectives has a much better chance of being achieved with the guidance and support of a trusted financial professional.
James Miller, Contributing Editor and Research Analyst at Wealth Solutions Report, can be reached at ContributingEd@wealthsolutionsreport.com.
