Ahmet Sumer, who came to the United States from Turkey to work in one of the world’s financial capitals, has now launched his own wealth management firm.
Yuva Wealth Planning, based in San Diego, opened its doors to high-net-worth clients Dec. 8 and is part of the platform provided by tru Independence, a consulting and service provider for financial advisors, RIAs and wealth management firms wanting to work independently.
Sumer came to the United States from his native Istanbul in 1999 with dreams of working in finance in New York City. He stayed there until he relocated to San Diego 12 years later and worked for Wells Fargo, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, and most recently as vice president and advisor at Merrill Lynch in San Diego.
“I decided it was time to branch out on my own to serve my clients. It is an obligation I do not take lightly,” said Sumer.
He founded his sole-practitioner, fee-only business and named it Yuva, which means nest or home in his native language. In addition to Turkish, Sumer also speaks French, Italian and Spanish, as well as English.
Although he is multilingual and an immigrant, he does not target immigrant clients.
“Some of my clients speak other languages, and that is fun,” he said. But his target client has $5 million or more in assets and complex financial needs.
“Financial planning is very complicated and I wanted to be able to spend more time with my clients and the independent space is where I can do that. It gives me a lot more flexibility,” he said. “I think the relationship between clients and financial planners is often malnourished. I want to have a more robust connection.
“The financial industry is changing very rapidly. Tomorrow’s wealth management practice will be different than today’s and I want to be part of that revolution,” he said. There may be more pressure in the future on small advisory firms, but “any business model has some challenges; there will still be progress.”
“Freedom, flexibility and the reduction of inherent conflicts of interest are in the best interests of my clients,” he added.