Editor’s note: This article is part of a continuing series in which Paul Ellis, a well-known advisor and consultant on sustainable investing strategies, interviews industry professionals on the topics of millennials and sustainable investing. What follows is an interview with two industry experts: Valentino Scaramuzzo, CFP, ChFC, CLU, CRPC, CRPS, is a financial advisor with Ameriprise Financial Services Inc. and Philip P. Andriola, J.D., is a private wealth advisor and the chief executive officer of Andriola, Goldberg & Associates, a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services Inc.
To read other article in the series, click on the links below:
http://www.fa-mag.com/news/the-wise-woman-and-the-millennial-23738.html
http://www.fa-mag.com/news/millennials-leading-the-way-in-sustainable-investing-24019.html
http://www.fa-mag.com/news/millennials-mainstreaming-impact-investing-24487.html
/news/an-sri-collaboration-across-generations-and-genders-24873.html
/news/like-minded-people-with-purpose-and-passion-25457.html
/news/green-investing--all-in-the-family-26082.html
/news/sri-investing-well-positioned-for-growth-26394.html
/news/a-passion-for-healthy-living-and-sustainability-26918.html
Ellis: Val, tell our readers about your two decades in management before becoming an advisor.
Scaramuzzo: I joined Ameriprise in 1985 with the understanding that we were opening an office in Manhattan. Don Weaver and myself had fun recruiting advisors and building an office that the company wanted to close after a year and a half. The thinking was that New York was not the right market. I argued that we could succeed there and was given the chance make it work. Today there are over 100 Ameriprise advisors in New York, about half of whom I recruited and trained.
Ellis: Phil, you have a B.A. from Harvard and a J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law. What motivated you to choose a career in financial services?
Andriola: I was a practicing attorney when a college roommate, who was trading commodities on the New York Mercantile Exchange, asked me to join his firm. I saw this as an opportunity to fulfill my potential, so I became a commodities trader. As clients of American Express Financial Advisors, my wife and I did financial planning around this career change. During the process my advisor said, “I think you would be good at doing this work.”
His words stayed with me and my passion for becoming an advisor grew out of my personal financial planning experience and coaching kids in baseball. I had played in college and loved tutoring the kids and helping them prepare for life through playing sports. At some point I realized that financial planning was coaching families and made sense as a career based on my education, skill set and life experience.
Ellis: Val, back to you on your transition from management to being an advisor. You trained a lot of people who are still in practice. Why did you go into practice after many years in management?
Scaramuzzo: A couple of things occurred. I had moved an hour and a half from New York to Dutchess County for personal reasons, and then I got married for the first time. There were also changes within the firm that made becoming a franchise owner appealing compared to my field VP position. In April of 2009, I teamed up with a colleague here in Dutchess County and have been in practice since then.
It’s been a bigger lifestyle change than I originally anticipated, but a rewarding one as well. My wife and I have an adopted four year-old daughter, and I have still managed to earn the Five Star Wealth Manager Award two years (2014 and 2016). I use Doug Lennick’s “behavioral advice” concepts in managing my practice and these also supported my transition from management to the client advisory role.
Ellis: Phil, we left off with you becoming an American Express advisor. What happened next?
Andriola: I joined a small team practice that I was a member of from 2003 until early 2008. I came into the business with no clients and was responsible for developing everything in my practice. Again, I called on my background in team sports to learn from the other advisors. I also embraced the firm’s culture of financial planning because it was working for me personally, and I wanted to share it with my clients.
Peter Goldberg, financial advisor and my current colleague, was a member of that team as well. In 2008 Peter and I organized our own team practice with dedicated roles for team members based on their talents, life experience, education and workplace training, all of which we saw as being important to the future of this industry.
For example, Peter was the “inside guy”, managing client portfolios and service. I was the “outside person” and general strategist, managing the relationships and making sure I understood the clients on the micro-personal level. Peter and I launched the practice with a third financial advisor, a team member dedicated to doing financial planning, and a client-service coordinator to keep us all on schedule. Since that time, other advisors like Val have added their experience and perspective, which we can offer to all of our clients.
Ellis: Val, you have been incorporating sustainable and impact investment strategies into portfolios for clients who are interested in ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) analysis. How do you stay current on that part of the investment industry to make sure you are meeting your responsibilities to clients?
Scaramuzzo: Good question and the short answer is that we use a consultant. ESG strategies are not my forte, but I am able to keep current in that field by working with someone who has expertise in those types of investment products.
Ellis: Phil, is this something that you and Peter encourage advisors and staff within your team practice to do, use specialist support and consulting services?
Andriola: Yes. Val mentioned that he also works with Doug Lennick and think2perform. We work with a number of firms to help our advisors and staff maximize their talent and handle stress in their personal lives so they can empathize with clients and help them make better financial decisions.
For example, we work with a consultant who has passion and experience around client insurance programs. We also work with Ameriprise to support the experience and passion that advisors like Val, and an advisor who joined us from another firm, have brought to our team. Experienced advisors can point us to the people they work with to lead the way in some part of the financial planning process. Building our team has been about starting with a strong foundation and adding on to that. I believe that working with the concepts of emotional intelligence allows you to have the best perspective about everything else you create.
Ellis: Val and Phil, your offices are in different locations, in Dutchess County and on Long Island. How does that part of a team practice work?
Scaramuzzo: The offices are about 60 miles apart. We use technology for general operations and financial advisory support. It is not the same as just walking down the hall and having an interaction that way, but we are able to make it work and there is even more we can do with video conferencing and things of that sort.
Andriola: Like Val said, when technology works it’s wonderful. We have an associate advisor whose office is in Wyoming. The advisor running that office was working in New York, but he is from Wyoming and wanted to move back home. He understands the value of his client relationships and the way technology has advanced, so Michael does the same thing from Sheridan, Wyo. that Val does from Wappinger Falls, N.Y.
I think shared experience and business processes are becoming a necessity in this industry. From a business standpoint, margins are compressing, yet advisors are expected to provide more and more value to their clients.
Scaramuzzo: It is absolutely the way the industry is going from an economic perspective, but nothing will ever replace face to face contact with clients to understand their sensitivities and preferences. That’s why I use values-based protocols to establish and reinforce priorities right up front in the client relationship.
Offering sustainable and impact investment strategies has also been a good learning experience for me to understand the importance of personal values in the construction of an investment portfolio. More clients today are clear about wanting investment choices, as well as other aspects within financial planning, to reflect these values.
Paul Ellis founded Paul Ellis Consulting to work with financial advisors who want to integrate sustainable and impact investment strategies for their clients. Valentino Scaramuzzo, CFP, ChFC, CLU, CRPC, CRPS is a financial advisor with Ameriprise Financial Services Inc. and Philip P. Andriola, J.D., is a private wealth advisor and the chief executive officer of Andriola, Goldberg & Associates, a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services Inc.