Six Months in, Ready to Launch!
For those of you with whom I have not had the pleasure of meeting, my name is Clay Levy. I joined Weiss Wealth Strategies (WWS) six months ago as a Financial Advisor and I can confidently say it is one of the best and most important decisions I have ever made. Gary has built a high-performing, cohesive team of Advisors and Client Service Associates and I feel very fortunate to be able to work alongside them, as well as all of you. Although I have spoken with some of you about my background, I want to take this opportunity to share my career path which led me here today, what I have been up to these past six months, and what I am excited about for my future.
Last year about this time, I was working at Vanguard and had been for about six years. I was proud of the successes and promotions I had achieved to become a Relationship Manager working with a select group of High-Net-Worth clients. In all my roles, I found it easy to go above and beyond because I believed in the Vanguard mission of “taking a stand for all investors,” and I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives.
Despite all these wonderful things, I kept feeling the desire to do more and I couldn’t figure out what it was. I was building relationships with clients; I was successful in each job I had. Yet, I kept feeling that something was missing. It took me some time, but what I realized is that I was missing the personal connections, the face-to-face interactions, and the fact that the families that I was helping was solely a function of a preexisting relationship they had with Vanguard. The harsh reality was that they were Vanguard’s clients, not mine. No matter the high-quality service I offered, recommendations I made, and subsequent investment successes they enjoyed, I was replaceable, and these clients would be fine without me.
What I realized is that I want to make a greater impact. I want to work with people in MY community. I want to make a difference with/for the people I care about and the people with whom I can build long-lasting, sustainable relationships. I wanted more than just a JOB I enjoyed…I wanted a CAREER that would allow me to work with the people I truly love and care about. I realized I would have to leave my comfy job to feel fulfilled. I wanted to be a Financial Advisor who plays a larger role in an individual’s and family’s life than what I was able to achieve at Vanguard. Now, the million-dollar question…how was I going to do that?!
Growing up in Scottsdale, I had a wonderful community surrounding me. From golf, to music, to school and youth groups, I was constantly surrounded with like-minded, yet diverse people. I garnered many friends growing up amid these various groups. And one of those friends was Jonah, Gary’s son, who I met at Temple Chai. We have the same birthday and we both love sports, so we instantly clicked.
Flash forward about 15 years later and our families have remained friends today. My dad and Gary were playing golf last year and talking about their “kids” and when I came up in conversation, my dad raved about how well I was doing at Vanguard, yet that I was looking for something more…that I wanted to do what Gary does. Afterward, Gary reached out to me, and we went out for a cup of coffee. I was excited to meet with him thinking that he would be a great mentor for me and help me figure out my path. What I didn’t know was that he was interested in growing the WWS Team. As the business had grown, expansion of the team was a natural part of their practice evolution.
As we talked, we both realized how similar our value make-up is. Community is incredibly important to us, we love helping people, and making a difference in people’s lives is what fills our cups. From a professional aspect, we were also similar. The skills I had gained while working at Vanguard of building my investment acumen, always showing up, and always doing the right thing for the client was exactly how he built trust with his clients and grew his business. THAT IS WHAT I WANTED TO DO!!
During our initial cup of coffee, I realized that now is my time to leave my comfort zone and to take that leap of faith and trust in myself that I could build something with his help. Hearing his story and knowing that our value set is so similar, I knew it would work and that learning from Gary and his team was the best place for me to make that jump.
As I learned more about the WWS approach to managing clients and their investments, I learned how the team views and mitigates risk. Gary often likes to say, “We will trade in the opportunity of making a killing for the high likelihood that we won’t get killed.” That resonates with me because during my time at Vanguard, I often heard clients share stories of how they made a financial mistake years ago and have been playing catch-up ever since. Those are almost always avoidable situations that become stumbling blocks without a proper financial plan, the discipline to stay the course during challenging environments, and a trusted advisor.
Beyond traditional asset allocation, risk mitigation, and offering a world-class client experience, how does the WWS Team differentiate itself from others? Having a diverse, multi-generational team with complementary skills, experiences, and credentials that combine to create custom holistic financial plans with best-in-class solutions and strategies to help clients consistently reach and exceed their goals is what truly separates WWS. As the teams’ Chief Investment Officer, Solitaire brings deep expertise in Alternative and Structured Investments, and a variety of other complex investment solutions. She brings a remarkable depth of diligence to each investment recommendation she makes. She provides value for clients in a way that enables us to confidently say that we are limiting our downside, offering meaningful diversification, and providing material upside potential to create more consistent long-term growth.
After having met with Gary and later, Solitaire, I knew this was the team I wanted to join. What they do is DIFFERENT, and I wanted to be a part of it! I promised hard work, eagerness to learn, and to not take anything for granted. I joined this team to learn from the best and six months in, everything that I have wanted has happened.
My day-to-day has been spent shadowing Gary, learning about our clients’ unique situations, learning about Solitaire’s Alternative and Structured Investments universe, bringing in clients of my own (from MY network), and studying…lots and lots of studying! Two months into joining the team I got Insurance licensed and last month I passed the Certified Financial Planning ™ exam. I’m now in the homestretch on my journey to add those three meaningful letters after my name. I also just completed my first visit to the Raymond James home office in St. Petersburg, FL for the Advisor Mastery Program (AMP) training…more to come on that in a future blog.
After months of studying books, words, and concepts, I am thrilled to be able to shift to studying people, studying investment opportunities, and learning how I can contribute to expanding the client base that WWS humbly serves.
I am excited to show you through actions, not just words, my value. I aim to enhance your experiences with our team through excellent service, deepening relationships, and helping to serve as a trusted guide on your financial journeys. One of our clients who I’ve grown close with told me that I need to be patient, but with time, and with execution, that trust will come. So here I am, leap of faith taken, trust in myself, trust in the team, and trust in the WWS process.
I am so grateful for this opportunity to be a part of a team with such a warm, welcoming, and NICE client base. I am appreciative of the door Gary and Solitaire have opened for me and now it is time to LAUNCH!
With gratitude,
Clay Levy, April 2024
