Like many financial advisors who are working today in independent practice, Hiram Arnaud cut his teeth at a big wirehouse — in his case, UBS.
As a gay man with a husband and two children, Arnaud says he knows the importance of a proactive approach to financial planning that supports the client's unique lifestyle, family situation and values. He works with many LGBTQ+ individuals on estate and financial planning strategies that vary widely depending on whether the couple chooses to legally marry, have children and create wills or trusts to protect assets.
According to Arnaud, doing this important work would be much harder in the traditional wirehouse setting. Being an independent advisor with Strategies for Wealth, he says, allows him to put the focus squarely on the client and their needs — and not on product sales or growth quotas.
Another distinguishing factor about Arnaud's approach, as he told ThinkAdvisor in a recent interview, is the lack of a specific niche or highly targeted client segment.
"I like to work with clients from many different walks of life, who are diverse in terms of their cultural backgrounds as well as their professional and financial situations," Arnaud says. "Working with a diverse set of clients from a demographic and wealth perspective keeps it all feeling fresh."
One client might be an entrepreneur who is founding a new company. Another might be a mid-level professional at a premier firm on Wall Street, while another could be an older retiree who is living on a relatively modest fixed income.
In each case, Arnaud says, the key to financial success is setting clear goals alongside the client and their family, right-sizing the amount of risk-taking and, whenever possible, ensuring the savings journey starts early in the client's working life.
As Arnaud emphasizes, "There is just nothing like the power of compounding when it comes to good financial outcomes." It's why his two young children already have their own investment accounts.
"That's probably the one single thing that is true for any client," Arnaud says. "Regardless of their walk of life or aspirations for the future, the long-term power of compounding is something magical."
THINKADVISOR: Could you please begin by telling us about your background in the advisor industry and how you came into independent practice?
HIRAM ARNAUD: I would be happy to. My start in the financial services industry was with Moody's Investors Service. My job was to research quantitative and qualitative information for issuer credit analysis. I covered a lot of ground across commercial and consumer finance.
From there, I went on to spend some time at UBS, where I became an associate director and credit analyst responsible for underwriting various warehouse credit facilities for the asset-backed securities lending portfolio.
By the time the Great Recession came along, I knew I wanted to make a change, but I didn't know what direction I wanted to go, to be honest. I actually hired a career coach and worked with them over the course of about six months.
What I came to realize is that I'm really a people person, and I found the idea of working more closely with individuals and their families and helping to make a real difference in their lives to be really appealing.
It became apparent that working for an independent advisory firm would be a great opportunity for me, and I haven't looked back. It's hard to believe it's already been more than 12 or 13 years since I started on this journey.
My practice is now well established. I work with some 300 clients and I have my own staff that I manage. It's really been a journey to get here, but I love the work.
Can you reflect on how your role as an independent advisor differs from what you were doing at UBS in the wirehouse setting?
The best part of being in the independent space is that you don't have to think about everything as being a zero-sum game where you are focused on production and competing with your peers.
I feel that the independent approach to the business allows me to more directly impact people and focus on whatever is going to add value for my clients, but I am still very grateful to all my former employers and managers. I learn a lot from them. It cemented a strong basis that allows me to do what I do today.
There are challenges that come along, of course, when you aren't attaching yourself to a big national brand that people already know and trust and an organization with a huge amount of resources. That's why it's so important for me to have my practice supported by [Strategies for Wealth].
