First Blog Ever – Who is Ken Haycraft?

Hello!

I would like to take this opportunity to share my story about who I am and my journey toward the creation of Haycraft Wealth Management.

My story and philosophy is summed up with a quote from the Ted Lasso show.

“…..Be curious not judgmental….”

I’d like to speak to 5 points:

1. My Background - Where I grew up, my family, and places where I’ve lived?
2. My Education, Training and Degrees
3. Current professional position- Some of my career highlights?
4. When I’m not working diligently for you – what are some of my Non- Hobbies, Sports,
5. And, number 5, what is a positive attribute that most people do not know about me?

1. My back ground: When asked where I grew up, my typical response is that I grew up in small southern town, then I pause for a moment and elaborate: I Grew up on an Army base, and moved to that small town 21 times by the time high school was finished, I went to three different high schools, in My father was U.S. Army, West Point Class of 1960, did two tours in Vietnam, and retired as full bird Col. His father was U.S. Army, and retired as a full bird Col and served in WWII with the 104th Infantry Division. Sometime, ask me about when my grandfather helped liberate the Nordhausen Camp in Germany.

I achieved the illustrious rank of 1st LT, U.S. Army and my Son, CJ, is now the Fourth generation serving his country. He’s an Armor Officer with the 1st Armored Division and is stationed in Korea.

My mother’s maiden name is Romose she was born in Denmark, to Danish and German parents and likes to say she is a Viking! My mothers’ side also has a WWII story while living in occupied Denmark so you can ask me about that sometime, as well. My father met my mother as a West Point cadet while traveling in Copenhagen on summer leave.

I was born in Augsburg, West Germany where I lived is a long list, as you can imagine, so I’ll stick to the highlights –

In Germany: Nuremberg, Fulda, Bad Herzfeld, and Amberg. Other places? Include Copenhagen, Denmark; Ft. Collin Colorado, Carmel California, and West Point New York. Matter of fact I can honestly say I went to West Point …… 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade! Baa Dah Boom! Then onto Ft. Leavenworth Kansas, Ft. Bragg North Carolina, Ft. Benning Georgia – where I earned my Airborne Jump Wings. Fairfax Virginia, Cave Creek AZ (where Anne, my wife, and I lived for 30 years raising a Family & building careers), and now Bowling Green Kentucky – where I will live the rest of my life – building a regional Wealth Management business. All in all I spent ½ my life in Europe by the time I was 28, moving over 25 times and attending 3 high schools.

More on my family. My father was adopted into the Haycraft clan by his step father, Ken Haycraft. So for me, I am a Haycraft, part of our story and family culture is in Kentucky. We go all the way goes back to Samuel Haycraft; a Kentucky pioneer who came down the Ohio River after serving in the U.S. Army during the revolutionary war. Samuel settled in the Elizabethtown area. So in a way I can say I am coming home.

But that is not my only Kentucky connection. My biological/familial patriarchal name is Barclay and they too are Kentucky Pioneers. Matter of fact, an ancestor of mine owned the Barclay building which still stands on Fountain Square in Bowling Green Kentucky.

Another Barclay ancestor helped with the establishment of The First Presbyterian Church of Bowling Green. I knew little of this history until I moved to Bowling Green. My father whose is now 84, recently shared this part of family history upon learning of my move back across the “Big Muddy”. Little did I know we were moving back home. Now for some insight, my wife Anne McKee is, a WKU (Western Kentucky University) graduate and ever since our move to Arizona 30 years ago has shared and reminded me, that when she retired she wanted to go back to Kentucky and be on this side of the country closer to both sets of families – So we moved back April 2020 – in the middle of COVID.

If I do say so, Anne & I have two amazing children, my daughter Grace is 21, and an aspiring photographer. My son CJ who is almost 24. Grace is currently taking a gap year from college and as I mentioned previously CJ is a 1st LT in the US Army.

2. So, moving on to my education and professional credentials? My first degree is a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration from George Mason University thanks to an Army ROTC scholarship from the Georgetown University ROTC candidates program. After I served my country for four years I went back to GMU to obtain my MBA. I had no clue as to what I wanted to do, and as you can imagine, our family was all about service – not business or MONEY, however my thinking at that time was – America is about markets, capital and freedom , it was the 1980’s. Milton Freedman was all the rage and he taught at GMU, I completed the MBA residential business program in 1991. Recently, the summer of 2019, I completed a second Master’s degree in Financial Services, from The America College, Bryn Mawr PA. As for my training, credential achievements and work experience those primarily occurred with Charles Schwab in the 90’s and with USAA Wealth Management in the 2010’s. When I was at Schwab I obtained my professional licenses along with becoming a Certified Financial Planner, a CFP® in 1997. At USAA, I earned the 2nd Masters and another 6 credentials – for which I am forever thankful. What are those credentials? They include Certified Wealth Strategist®, Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy®, Accredited Estate Planner®, Chartered Financial Consultant®, Chartered Life Underwriter®, and most recently in the summer of 2019 the Accredited Investment Fiduciary ® mark in the summer of 2019.

3. What are my current professional position, and career highlights? I am a Vice President, Wealth Management with Raymond James and founder of Haycraft Wealth Management. You may ask how exactly I got started in Wealth Management. Quite simply: Life picked the industry for me! I started with Schwab in Phoenix, 1992 during a recession. It was a job and Schwab at least had a purpose to try and change the financial service industry for the better. However, having the frame of reference from the view of a service family where Caveat Emptor prevailed, I believed then and still do that this industry needed change and So I did and still do my part one client at a time. I was with Schwab for nine years, and in 2001 went to a boutique firm, while studying for the CFA® Charted Financial Analyst credential. Then 9 11 and kids happened and I ended up in banking eventually transitioning over to USAA Wealth Management in 2007. It was there I learned a great deal about service to clients and gained confidence in who I was and ever expanding skills as a Wealth Manager. I was responsible for growing my client relationships as well as creating new relationships and business, I began with $200 million of seeded clients and eventually built my share of the USAA business to ¾ of a billion dollars, of which $300 million was discretionarily managed investments. Near the end of my tenure, I was assisting about 180 engaged USAA Wealth Management clients; helping to preserve, protect and grow their wealth. It was also at this stage I developed my 13 7 Freedom™ process. I most likely would have stayed at USAA until retirement, as I enjoyed the job and in particular my amazing clients. But life once again happened. USAA decided to move out of the investment business and sold the business to, you guessed it: Schwab. As I had worked with Schwab before – I declined the offer wanting something more challenging and fulfilling. You know – Been there, done that, and moved on! So after a year of transition within USAA during which I was looking for a great company and fit, I left USAA in the fall of 2019 to start my own practice with Raymond James in Scottsdale Arizona.

Then life happened again! COVID appeared in the later winter of 2020. A bit of background: My wife (Anne McKee, an academic librarian for a 501(c)3 19 state, 39 academic member research library consortium Anne decided to retire in 2020.

Remember my statement earlier about my wife’s ambition to get back to Kentucky? If USAA had never decided to sell the investment business and my brilliant decision to marry Anne McKee: I would not have my practice nor would I be living in Bowling Green, Kentucky – back home.

Reflecting on my life’s path it seems it has always been about being close to my clients, and being of service. It took me many years and the COVID pause for me to understand that business owners, executives, could be servant leaders as well.

4. Now: The fun stuff: What are my interests, hobbies, sports? Family and work have consumed most of my attention over the years. I gave up golf when the kids arrived as my wife traveled extensively for her position. So, recently I bought a set of Callaway clubs and I am finally following my dream in building a I enjoy cooking, and the new home in Bowling Green has enough space to build a shop with art studio one day. I did a bit of backpacking in college and rowed crew – so I hope to start all that again. I even purchased a rowing training shell for summer use.

5. However, my most positive attribute is my family. My kids, daughter Grace and Son CJ both came home to us at 6 months and 8 months of age – from South Korea within 2 years of each other. We reflect what America is: A melting pot of diversity and opportunity. Before kids, I did not know what folks meant by unconditional love. Now simply – I do.

I’d like to thank all those who have been in my life as family, friends, mentors, colleagues, supervisors, leaders, and most importantly teachers. Without people - community – around me and us, nothing I’ve done would have been accomplished or even possible, Talk to you soon from the Wealth Management trenches! Stay Healthy!