Editor’s Note: This article is based on Steve Sanduski’s podcast interview with Rebecca Rothstein, a managing director and private wealth advisor with Merrill Lynch whose office manages more than $4.5 billion in assets under management. To access more than 100 interviews with industry leaders, subscribe for free to Steve’s podcast, Between Now and Success by clicking here.
What do you need to be a successful financial advisor?
An Ivy League degree in finance? A family practice that you can inherit? A group of wealthy connections that you can network? An “in” at one of the major firms?
Well, Rebecca Rothstein doesn’t check off any of those boxes, and she’s currently managing over $4.5 billion in AUM.
Without even a high school degree, Rebecca left home at age 17. She bounced through a series of odd jobs—including walking racehorses after they’d finished running—and by the late 1980s she was slogging through an unfulfilling sales position. She jumped to finance and earned her Series 7 just weeks before Black Monday. Anxious investors looking to take their portfolios in a new direction responded to Rebecca’s curiosity and tenacity, two traits that she credits with helping her build her business brick by brick, one phone call at a time.
Today, from her office in Beverly Hills, California, Rebecca’s client list includes celebrities, athletes, musicians and top CEOs and entrepreneurs. Rebecca has appeared numerous times on Barron’s list of the top financial advisors, and according to Forbes, is currently the #1 woman advisor in the United States.
In my podcast conversation, Rebecca and I discussed how drive and perseverance helped her to overcome the obstacles she faced early in her life and build a multi-billion-dollar AUM business.
Here are 5 key insights from the conversation.
1. Let Your Team Do What It Does Best