Some of today’s most successful financial advisors did not begin their careers in wealth management – and that has not impeded their ability to serve clients. Indeed, it can serve to elevate it. Though these “second-act” advisors did not cut their teeth in the industry, they bring hard-won experience and diverse competencies from earlier careers to their financial advisory roles.
Transferable skills, including technology, marketing and education fall squarely in the advice realm. However, it is intangible qualities, such as empathy, focus, care and integrity that ultimately will determine how successful career transitioners will be.
The demographic challenges facing the industry – an aging advisor population and a projected 100,000 advisor shortage in the coming years – may fuel a surge in such career changers joining the advisor ranks, as organizations struggle to fill the advice gap by looking at accomplished individuals outside the wealth management space.
While there is no typical career path second-act advisors follow, their journeys may offer insights to those considering a move as well as firms expecting to broaden their recruiting efforts beyond the boundaries of wealth management. We asked three second-act financial advisors to share their stories, how their backgrounds give them an edge and finding a fitting firm partnership.
- Barbara Heaton, Founder, Financial Planner at Bridgewater Partners, affiliated with Prudential Advisors, which supports more than 2,800 financial advisors
- Aaron Lucero, Financial Advisor at Terra Firma Wealth Management, part of Stifel Independent Advisors, an independent broker-dealer with over 8,500 associates in more than 400 offices
- Josh Strange, Founder and President of Good Life Financial Advisors of NOVA, an independent advisory firm serving government employees, government contractors and others
Heaton: A career as a financial advisor was not even on my radar. Finance and money were of no interest to me, but my very professionally successful godmother read an article in “The Wall Street Journal” about the “up-and-coming” field of financial planning and thought I should explore it. The rest is a 39-year-long career that I could never have envisioned but has been immensely rewarding.
My path to financial advice was not linear. I have a graduate degree in audiology and speech pathology and have worked with the deaf and multi-handicapped. That showed me that to communicate effectively, you need to create a multi-modal approach – visual, auditory and with storytelling. That has probably been the greatest gift as a financial planner.
I work with diverse clients who come to me at different stages of life, so being able to adjust my communication approach has been key to my success. I also spent several years in the airline industry, and by the time I was 28, I’d helped create two airlines and negotiated complex agreements with the major carriers. That intense environment showed me there is no such thing as “business hours” when a client is waiting. As a parent, that same schedule flexibility enabled me to deliver for my clients as well as be present for my family in the early years.
But my earliest jobs gave me some important soft skills that I still use: being a cold caller in high school taught me to accept rejection, and a bartender job in grad school taught me the art of listening.
Aaron Lucero: I had been in the industry in a non-advisory role for several years and really noted the struggles, mistakes and uncertainty many clients face without working with a professional financial advisor. I felt pretty strongly that I could provide this guidance to help people.
I entered the industry at a discount brokerage that had given me an opportunity as an intern while I was in college, and I worked my way up to become a branch manager. Eventually, I transitioned to a field supervision director role at another firm. I had interacted with hundreds of financial advisors and observed how they interacted with their clients.
This taught me how the most successful financial advisors worked, and I also witnessed the pitfalls of many of the financial advisors who struggled. I really wanted to help individuals, families, foundations and businesses navigate their unique financial circumstances, and I felt it was a natural segue to move into a role that would allow me to guide clients directly.
Finding the right firm to partner with is crucial, especially when transitioning from a non-advice role to one where giving guidance is foundational. I didn’t want to be with a firm where I was constantly cold calling and left on my own without the resources of a mentor who had my best interests at heart.
Now, with over 25 years in the industry, I feel it’s important to partner with a firm where you connect to their culture, and one that offers the suite of strategies, platform and technology that fit with your practice. Find a firm that supports your daily activities with your clients and supports your growth initiatives.
Josh Strange: When I was 18, I enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. During a mandatory personal finance briefing during tech school, a speaker came in to talk up the base exchange credit card, and everyone got really excited about what they could buy with their $850 per month salary. My mom had put the fear of God in me about credit cards, so I wasn’t interested. Then, another gentleman talked to us about something I’d never heard of before: the Roth IRA.
He dove deep into compound interest and how, by investing regularly and allowing markets to work over time, it was inevitable that we would become millionaires. While everyone else was almost falling asleep, I was hanging on every word. I had an interest in the stock market from a very young age, thanks to my uncle and the Game of Life, but no one had really put it out there in an accessible way for me before.
After the military, I tried a few different things, including an extremely successful stint in online advertising sales that lasted a few years. However, I always knew I wanted to help people understand what I learned in that tech school briefing.
The Air Force instills three core values: integrity first, service before self and excellence in all we do. This perspective has informed my work as an advisor throughout my career. Further, being an intelligence analyst taught me to think about the big picture, the laws of unintended consequences and to view things through an analytical lens. These skills have helped me view a client’s financial life from a broad perspective, rather than through a narrow lens.
My career in advertising taught me how to communicate ideas and listen to solve problems. I am very grateful for these experiences, as they made me the advisor I am today.
Janeesa Hollingshead, Contributing Editor at Wealth Solutions Report, can be reached at editor@wealthsolutionsreport.com.
