Main Street Financial Solutions LLC, a registered investment advisor headquartered in Newtown, Pa., has launched Thin Blue Line Financial, a New York City-based wealth management firm with $40 million in client assets, according to co-founder and CEO Nicolás Valdés-Fauli.
Valdés-Fauli said in a news release announcing the new division’s launch that Thin Blue Line Financial was on a mission to provide best-in-class retirement and investment management services to police officers.
“Traditionally, sworn personnel have been … lacking high-quality, low-cost investment advice, delivered by an advisor held to the fiduciary standard,” he said in the news release. “The new venture opens its doors with more than 100 retired and actively employed [officers] across multiple agencies in South Florida.”
Born and raised in Miami, Valdés-Fauli is an industry veteran with two decades of experience who now resides with his family in New York City. He began his financial services career in 2002 at Smith Barney, where he was recruited into the firm’s advisor training program. In 2010, he opened New York City offices for his new employer, Main Street Financial, which currently manages over $1.4 billion in client assets nationwide.
As CEO of the firm’s new division, Valdés-Fauli plans to follow in the footsteps of Thin Blue Line's parent company by scaling its growth nationwide, but unlike Main Street Financial, he said he'll accomplish that goal by serving a niche clientele of active-duty and retired law enforcement officers. As clients of Thin Blue Line, active-duty officers are eligible to receive a comprehensive suite of financial services at no cost or financial obligation until their retirement. At that point, Valdés-Fauli said, Thin Blue Line will use its expertise to preserve wealth and maximize client benefits under the Florida Retirement System or local municipalities’ 457 and deferred retirement option plans.
“Our expansion plans go well beyond just Florida,” Valdés-Fauli said in an email to Financial Advisor. “We have current law enforcement clients in other states, including New York and Maryland. Although there are some intricacies and nuances in state pension systems, many of the strategies we employ are relevant nationwide.”
The firm bills at a fixed rate based on assets under management and does not receive a commission for selling financial products, Valdés-Fauli said in the news release. It also manages client portfolios directly, rather than outsourcing them as other firms do. More important, he said, is that he and his firm are held to the fiduciary standard of care.
Founded as a registered investment advisor in 2008, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC has a licensed staff of 25 financial advisors serving 1,203 clients in 24 states nationwide.