I consider it a mixed blessing that I began my career in the early spring of 2007, just before the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis. While it was certainly not short on stress, it provided me an opportunity to experience and analyze a wide range of market conditions first-hand.  After a course at the Dorsey, Wright & Associates Point & Figure Technical Institute early in 2008, I discovered that I had a strong natural inclination toward technical and statistical analysis, and I was determined to learn everything I could throughout the duration of the crisis and its subsequent recovery. As a result, I soon took over the majority of the portfolio construction and monitoring responsibilities for our team, recommending portfolio changes to my father based upon my analysis. I continued in that role until he suffered a stroke in early 2017.

In the wake of his stroke and subsequent retirement, it became clear to me that I was not going to be able to continue serving our clients in the tradition of the practice that my father and I had built at Wells Fargo Advisors, so after researching a number of alternative options, I found that Raymond James was a much better fit for both my clients and me.

Today, I use the same portfolio process that my father and I developed and fine-tuned over the past 10+ years. On a day-to-day basis, I monitor a wide array of financial data, ranging from broad asset classes to individual positions. I filter that data through a proprietary set of technical and statistical indicators intended to measure the degree of relative risk or opportunity present in a given market or position from an unemotional perspective. When my indicators suggest that relative risks are elevated, I make hedging recommendations to my clients, and when they suggest that opportunity likely outweighs risk, I make recommendations for putting cash to work.

I have a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Grand Valley State University, and I passed the Certified Financial Planner™ exam on my first attempt back in 2011 and maintain that certification. While I specialize in portfolio management, investments are only one aspect of one’s overall financial health. That is why I use a comprehensive, holistic approach to helping my clients achieve their financial goals by routinely reviewing everything from insurance coverage to estate plans in order to identify areas in which we might be able to reduce costs and/or improve benefits.