My degree, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, is in economics. While I loved this study of the more philosophical side of business, I always imagined that, upon graduating with said degree in hand, I’d pursue the more practical world of finance, as was the norm for my Manhattan College brethren.
But then, something pulled the wool from my eyes. A few months before graduation I sat through a research presentation by a candidate for a vacant position within the Economics and Finance Department. This person’s area of expertise was firmly in the field which I had seen myself thriving in my post-college years.
Basically the presentation, which I had so looked forward, broke my heart. Not only was I bored to tears, but I realized I’d been deluding myself for far too long. There was no way on God’s green earth that I could do that for a living.
It wasn’t the number crunching that was the problem. I liked crunching numbers. It was that, to my ears, discussions of asset management, stocks prices, options, mutual funds, cash equivalents and the like sound something akin to the droning of adults in a Charlie Brown cartoon. Give me a good old economic indicator or a discussion about economies of scale any day, but the mere mention of financial planning and investment strategies and I promptly exhibit coma-like symptoms.
That’s not the case for Andrew Clark of Clark Wealth Management. Those same topics make him giddy. I’ve honestly never seen someone get so excited, so passionate talking about financial planning, asset management and all of the research involved to successfully accomplish the two. And it’s a good thing, too. Since that is what he spends his days (and a substantial part of his nights and weekends) doing.
It almost goes without saying that Drew, as he is known to his friends, doesn’t fit any preconceived notions I might have of someone who works in the financial world.
“The stereotype doesn’t fit me; and I don’t want it to,” he told me. While he is incredibly professional, he is much younger and less staid than one would expect from a financial planner. But don’t underestimate him because of his youth. He’s sharp.
Up until about a year ago, Drew worked at a prestigious Maryland firm doing high-end financial planning for clients with a million dollars of more in assets. But when he and his wife Melissa discovered they would be bringing a child into the world, they decided they were looking for a different lifestyle. So last November they packed up their things and moved back to Norwich to enjoy life in the small-town atmosphere where Drew had grown up working at his father’s accounting firm. Part of that dream was to start his own business, and thus, Clark Wealth Management was born.
Drew’s philosophy differs greatly from the not-so pleasant stereotypes often associated with his profession. I always think of an investment advisor as really more of a sales person, steering their clients in the direction of whatever mutual fund is paying the highest commission, regardless of that client’s goals and aspirations. And, particularly when those investments aren’t performing as hoped, they can’t seem to return a phone call.
But with Drew, it’s different. It’s not all about the money, it’s about people and relationships. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it is all about money in the sense that protecting and growing his clients money is his top priority. But it is less of a sales approach and more of a holistic approach with Drew.
The financial plans he generates for his clients take, on average, at least 30 hours of actual work and take up to a month to prepare. He works with their attorney, their accountant and takes the time to get to know them personally as well.
