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Wealth Management & Client Relationships with Derek Pantele | Financial Planner Search · Financial Planner Search

• Gregory Wilnau: Derek, thank you so much for being here. How are you doing today? Derek Pantele: ⁓ doing great, Greg. Appreciate the opportunity to have a conversation with you. Gregory Wilnau: Yeah, I've been looking forward to chatting with you. So before we dive in, maybe just take a moment and talk about maybe what you do, kind of what you specialize in, and just tell us a little bit about your firm. Derek Pantele: ⁓ sure. So I'm a wealth ⁓ advisor. I'm the founder and CEO of Affinity Financial. And we help individuals at the intersection of money and life. And we're there as a supporting guide to help them through challenging times to celebrate big wins and to make the most of their energy and their resources. Gregory Wilnau: Awesome. I love that. Where are you based out of, by the way? I think you're in California, but where about are you in California? Derek Pantele: Yeah, that's great. I'm in City of Orange in Orange County, California. Gregory Wilnau: Nice, nice. Now, why is that regionally a good location for you to be? Are a lot of your clients local? They find you out of Silicon Valley. They're doing exits from startups. Help me understand a little bit more about that. Derek Pantele: ⁓ sure. Well, look, I grew up in Southern California. So that's what I've known for most of my life. I did live in the Bay Area for a few years for an undergrad experience at UC Berkeley. And so a lot of my clients are in the Orange County, LA or Bay Area locations, but not exclusively. I do have a lot of clients in the Midwest, in the South ⁓ and in New York. It really just may be high cost of living areas where professionals Gregory Wilnau: Yeah. Derek Pantele: who generally join. ⁓ So I think it's a great place to live, to raise a family, to be accessible to family, friends, and clients. And so I've really appreciated that. ⁓ But additionally, in this business, it's become more more important to have a digital infrastructure and to be accessible, to be responsive any which way, no matter where people are at. Gregory Wilnau: Yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. Okay, yeah, so you're not just limited to your local area, you also do things online and meet with people online from all over the country. Derek Pantele: Yeah, absolutely. Gregory Wilnau: I love that, awesome. Okay, let's talk a little bit more about ⁓ who you work with. So maybe you could describe the type of person who comes to you. What typically makes them reach out ⁓ to contact you? Might not be one thing, might be a couple things, maybe just the top couple things that fit that. Derek Pantele: ⁓ sure. Yeah, so I found that I gravitated towards working with two types of different clients. And so one type of client is your ambitious professional. They've been working really hard. They've been able to grow their career and things have gotten, they've been rewarded over time in their career aspects with more income, more complexity of that income through salary, through bonuses, through executive compensation and so on. But additionally, the family dynamics have also gotten more complex, generally positive, but again, there's more responsibilities. So they gone from being single to being married, from being married to having kids, from looking at different housing locations and thinking about where and how they want to work and live their life and so on. And so they'll typically come to me at a moment of transition, maybe they're looking to upgrade their life in the near future, again maybe their housing situation or... ⁓ maybe there's a marriage in the future or they're just looking for, so they're looking for somebody to be a partner in that way. Life has gotten complex, more busy, and they want to make sure they're making really smart, thoughtful decisions ⁓ with their life. And they're looking for somebody who can get in the weeds with them, understand who they are, what they want, and looking for that partnership. Gregory Wilnau: Yeah. Give me an example of what you mean by more complex. Maybe we could get more specific there. Like explain maybe a situation just as an example. Derek Pantele: Sure. ⁓ Sure, look, as you get more income, you typically get taxed more. That's the system that we live in ⁓ in the United States and obviously in California as well. So a lot of my clients may be a high, like they may be a high earning married couple. One of them may work at a startup. There's executive compensation, equity compensation through stock options. and grants of stock, and they may need guidance on how to best utilize that to optimize the work that they're doing. They're working really hard, they're growing a business, they want to be rewarded, they want to make smart decisions, they want to be really proud of how they've done that work along the way. So I can help them understand what the decisions are and the timing of how to make those decisions so that they can keep the wealth for themselves and then consider how to use that for themselves, their family and their legacy. So that's one more recent example and that's maybe a Bay Area client who again has those aspirations for a growing family. Yeah. Gregory Wilnau: So maybe somebody specific to the Bay Area, might have joined early on into startup and then the startups going public. So they'll be getting a big payday. Was that an example of a time where somebody might reach out to you? Derek Pantele: That is the holy grail. When everybody starts a startup, you go in there and you want to put the work in. You want to be an early employee. You want to grow and see something to that point of fruition. ⁓ So it's a lot of work. The timing's uncertain, but there is a lot of groundwork that needs to be put in place. And that's why clients come to me in a lot of ways. And so we can make sure we can live through to and through that experience no matter what happens. But we want to control the controllables. On our end. Gregory Wilnau: Absolutely. All right. So people come to you when there's an event, things get more complex. Help me understand maybe some of the ways you get to know your clients as individuals ⁓ so that you could better tailor your recommendations to their situation. What are some ways that you get to know your clients as individuals? Derek Pantele: Sure. Yeah. Look, most of my clients come from warm referrals from existing clients. So there's already a little, you know, from the get-go, there's already that initial trust that's been embedded, that's passed through from an existing client. Now my job is when somebody reaches out, I want to make sure that we just have a conversation. So I like just to schedule a 15-minute phone call, introductory, very casual. And I want to know what's important about speaking to a financial advisor such as myself. What is happening in your life right now in this moment that you're reaching out right now? ⁓ Not six months from now, not six months in the past. What is relevant? What is that catalyst? And usually there is an event that is leading to this is a good time to talk. And it could be related to I want to save on taxes. It could be related to that equity compensation event. It could be related to I find the markets are planning very stressful to heavy burden. And I want to make sure that I'm making these decisions of impact with thoughtfulness and with somebody's experience. ⁓ Could be many different things, but I want to hear them out, understand. what's really relevant for them in that moment. And that's usually a great conversation with no expectations beyond that. Now, if we feel like there's a good fit to go beyond that, then we'll schedule a follow-up meeting and we'll go a little bit deeper on the numbers and then their history, their story, where they want to go. Gregory Wilnau: What's a typical question you'd ask during that first meeting when they come to you? What's a typical question and what does that, the answers to that question tell you about that individual? Derek Pantele: Yeah. Well, again, I want to know that catalyst. So I just mentioned that about what's important about right now for us to be speaking. I also want to know what have they tried so far when it comes to personal finances and how that's worked for them. So I'm understanding a little bit about the challenges and I want to, if I'm going to work with somebody, I want to understand that I can provide solutions and value. But again, I really just want to learn. So it's just curiosity. Honestly, the questions are curious questions about who they are and where they're at. And we go from there. Gregory Wilnau: ⁓ I love it. Okay, so those are some of the clients who are a good fit. How about the client who or an individual who's not the best fit? ⁓ What situations do you find that where a client is not a good fit for you? Anything specific stand out? Derek Pantele: Yeah. Yeah, look, the way that I've structured my business is to focus on high quality experiences, high quality client experiences, which is really a function of deep relationships. So the clients that work well for me and for them are the ones that want me to be understanding of who they are as an individual. all of the relevancies of the decisions they're making, they're kind of holistic life. And so they're looking for that deeper relationship that builds and grows over time. So who would not be a good fit? Well, one of my rules is I only work with people who I have excited to work about with, and I feel like that can be generally reciprocated, right? You should only work with a financial advisor if there's a foundation for trust and excitement and a... Gregory Wilnau: Yeah. Derek Pantele: a feeling that they've got your back. So who doesn't work is somebody who's looking for maybe more of a transactional relationship or something that's more siloed in just manage this one account, but don't dive any deeper because, and that just doesn't work for me because again, my personality is too. go a little bit deeper and be more valuable. And if I'm not offering the full value, then I feel like maybe it's just not the right fit. I have a deep care and passion and I wanna make sure that the work goes, shows through that. So I feel like there's an openness from the individuals to be self-reflective and to be willing to... ⁓ Gregory Wilnau: Yeah. Derek Pantele: really understand themselves more. And that's part of my job is to help them uncover what's important to them so that we can build a financial plan ⁓ that fulfills those expectations. Gregory Wilnau: So you like going deep and ⁓ being hands-on helpful. It sounds like you get excited by and interested in the details, which is awesome. Maybe what are some of the ways that you go deep? Could you give us an example? Derek Pantele: Yeah. Yeah. And I don't want to scare people away, right? By going deep. Gregory Wilnau: Well, I think that they would, you go deep so that your clients don't have to, right? Derek Pantele: I go deep so that I can understand who they are, the essence of what's important to them, their values, their goals, right? So as a financial advisor, I get phone calls when somebody has a child, like when they find out that they're expecting, I'm one of the first phone calls. When they get a promotion or lose a job, I'm one of those first phone calls. And so, Gregory Wilnau: ⁓ wow. Derek Pantele: you want somebody who is part of your team. And so by going deep, mean somebody who understands you and who's willing and able to support you in the good times and the difficult times. And so that's what I mean by going deep is, is again, just a level of care and compassion. So that's something that's built over time. But I think in my approach, in that introductory phase before we even decide if we're going to work together. I wanna go slow and smooth to understand who they are, both as individuals, as couples, as families, and with their finances so that we can make sure that their finances are resources that empower where they wanna go, who they wanna be, et cetera. So again, just going deep is just a matter of understanding, seeing the big picture and then being the most helpful that I could be in wealth management. but really in life enhancement. Gregory Wilnau: I love it. So you're definitely more boutique, more hands on. What do you think some of the differences are between working with a larger firm versus a more boutique firm like yourself? Not that they're good or bad, but they're, or one's better than the other. There's just the differences. Help us understand the differences. Derek Pantele: Yeah. Yeah, look at my, through my experience in this industry, I was able to determine when I founded Affinity Financial. that I wanted fewer and deeper and higher quality client experiences. So that's just a personal value that's been embedded into the way that we function at Affinity Financial. So I can't speak for how other advisors work, big or small, but that's something that I take seriously about. If you're gonna commit to working with Affinity Financial with myself, that we've got your back, not just now or for the first 30 days or first year, but through the entirety of that relationship. That's an ongoing commitment. ⁓ And I actually take great pride because again, that is a commitment to the relationships. I think one of the challenges is just incentives, right? If a company just needs to get more clients, more dollars in the door and build and build and build, they're not incentivized necessarily for that, you know, for people to stick around and be there for the longterm. Some companies will, but in general, it may be more about quantity. quantity versus quality. And so I think again, there's just a, this is just how we do it. This is how I need to do it because that's what helps me really enjoy this work. It makes life and work very meaningful. And that's just, that's really important to me. Gregory Wilnau: Yeah, I love that. OK, let's talk about maybe more how you where the rubber meets the road and how you work with your clients. So let's say you're working with a client, you've known him for a while and they have a goal they're working towards or they share an idea with you. ⁓ Or maybe something just needs to get done based on something that you know is upcoming in their life. How do you know when to maybe push a client? Push might not be the right word, but maybe encourage or push a client. We'll just say. versus when to let them move at their own pace and the dynamics between those two. Help us understand a little bit more about what working with you might look like. Does that make sense? Derek Pantele: Yeah, makes sense. I look, I think if you're working with an advisor, you want them to know the milestones that are on the horizon, that you want them to know where you're trying to get. So you want somebody who's going to advocate for you, who's going to be a champion for you, who's going to remind or nudge you of the things that you said were important to you. Gregory Wilnau: Mm-hmm. Derek Pantele: So that could be, again, that could be when you wanted to prepare to buy that house. That could be how you wanted to transition your work obligations ⁓ and ⁓ explore entrepreneurial vision by yourself. That could be small things of just, again, knowing. like there are deadlines and timelines administratively things that need to be done. So it's the big and the small, but it's my job to know what's on the horizon and again, to stay in communication with them and what's real in their life. ⁓ So the job of the advisor is to be an objective person who just reflects back upon people what their own wishes are and then helps them get from where they are to where they want to be. So how do you do that? I think you do that in a very empathetic way, not in a demanding way. It's not about me reaching my milestones of them hitting their goals. It's about helping them get where they want to be. So I think the way I've liked to do this is just by having ⁓ quarterly or semi- annual strategy meetings. And so when you're an on, when you're an existing client, we're going to have regular conversations. And if they're short and sweet, that's beautiful. If everything's going smoothly, that's great. Let's keep the strategy in motion. But I always want to be planning forward. Gregory Wilnau: Nice. Derek Pantele: And even just putting something on the calendar. I like the fact that my dentist preschedules me out in the future. And so I like doing that as well. So there may be times when a market event happens or a life event happens that precipitates a conversation. But I think even just staying in regular dialogue always means that you're to have those checkpoints so that you can be proactive versus reactive. Gregory Wilnau: Yeah. Yeah. So how do you plan forward with your clients? What does that look like? Derek Pantele: Yeah. It's about internally, and I won't get in the weeds here, but internally, it's about having a checklist of the things that really matter, of the things that we can control. ⁓ with our wealth and our well-being. So when I'm working with a client, what we didn't even talk about, what does wealth management mean? It means everything from managing your investments to managing your risk by having sufficient levels of cash and insurance to being growth focused so that your assets last as long as you do ⁓ and so on and so forth by planning for a state planning and there's a whole ⁓ There's a whole mix of things that need to be done. So there's a checklist approach on my end to make sure that we are always reviewing cash and taxes and insurance and estate planning. And ⁓ And so we at least are going to have those guideposts keeping us in alignment with where we want to go. And I think that that just is reflected with if we're going to meet, I'm going to prepare a meeting, I'm going prepare an agenda, I'm going to ask some questions so that I allow them to drive the conversation. But again, within the bounds of what is helping them move forward. Gregory Wilnau: I love it. Okay. So I doing this, I know it takes a lot of time on your end going deep. So I'm going to ask you to put your humble hat on. And this might be hard to do because oftentimes we, you know, we focus a lot on the things that we need to get better at instead of acknowledging the things that we do that are well. So maybe put your humble hat on for a second and tell us what's something that you do for your clients that takes a significant amount of time, but that they might never see or know about. Derek Pantele: Thank Yeah. It's a good question. It's actually something we think about just, again, coming back to being an entrepreneur, being a financial planner that also is crafting and growing this business. I do think it's important. There's a lot of work that goes unspoken, a lot of intangibles. ⁓ So a lot of the work is being done behind the scenes. So there are... So I'm monitoring ⁓ equity compensation on an ongoing basis when things are vesting, when it's time ⁓ to maybe exercise or lock in certain events and to sell. So there's timing and planning that goes into that. There's reviewing cash flow, ⁓ what's coming in, how much is going towards savings and investments and fixed spending and discretionary spending. ⁓ For retirees, they're setting up a retirement paycheck, understanding of when we want fixed income like social security and pensions to be turned on and how we want to ⁓ allocate our investments across different account types. And then even where do we put our stocks versus our bonds versus our cash to allocate in a way that just makes sense, right? That meets the emotional needs for having our money where we need it, when we need it, for having our money grow in the meantime so that is working hard for us because we know that we worked hard for it. ⁓ It's a lot of my job is just making sure the pieces are in place and then simply just letting people know, here's the work we've done that's relevant for you to know. And I'm always willing to dive deeper. I do want to show my work, but one thing I've learned is that the more simple you can make it for the clients, the happier they are because I want to be taking some things off their plate. And so the work that I do, it's not about me boasting about the work that I do is just about making sure they feel really calm and confident in the things, you know, in their life and that their energy is going towards the places they give them meaning and that their time and skills and talents are again being fully utilized. So I guess I gave you a glimpse. There's projections, there's analysis, ⁓ but that's the job. That's to be there to be a helping hand in those areas to keep things running smoothly. Gregory Wilnau: Yes. Derek Pantele: and to have again guardrails in place to know when adjustments need to be made to know when a conversation needs to come to the forefront. Gregory Wilnau: Absolutely. All right. So maybe walk me through your actual process. So say somebody becomes a client today. What happens week one, week two, week three? What does it look like to work with you during the course of a calendar year? Can you take us through that? I know you do those quarterly meetings, but what can somebody expect? Derek Pantele: Yeah. Yeah, well before we get to the quarterly meetings, yeah, so as I said, I have an onboarding process that that potential client process is something that takes usually 30 to 45 days. I'm willing to go as fast or slow, but I mean, I need to make sure that we've had the time to gather qualitative and quantitative information, which just means I need to know your numbers. I need to know your life story. But if there's a good fit, if there's value, and my goal is to deliver value, whether or not we're going to work together. Because again, I would rather go slow and smooth and be a positive force for people in the world. And the people that are coming to me are friends and family of existing clients. And I want to honor that. And if I can help their friends and family. I feel good about that. But if you do want to move forward together, if you don't want to do it yourself or find another advisor, if you want to work together, then that really kicks off a very collaborative, what I call sprint to strategy experience. And so that's about a 90 day process. ⁓ And so we have a welcome meeting. We make sure all the agreements are taken care of and documentation, it's necessary. ⁓ But then really, we're just trying to focus on building momentum. You came to an advisor for a reason. You probably would like some solutions. You would like some peace of mind. You would like some real help in making big decisions or at least getting systems in place. So whatever your priorities are, I want to know about that. So I like to ask in the first 90 days, what would you like to achieve? And then we get to work. So we're building momentum, we're laying the groundwork for financial success, ⁓ and we're doing check-ins at minimum every single month along the way to make sure that I'm honoring the progress that you demand and that you're making the progress that you hired me to help you get. So that's the first 90 days. It's really dialing in systems and strategy and getting some quick wins on things that are urgent or important. Gregory Wilnau: How do you get to work once you map? Do you map it out? What does it look like when you might get to work? What could the individual expect ⁓ after the 90 days? How do you execute on these things? What does that kind of look like? Derek Pantele: Yeah. Yeah. Well, let me just look. During this is an ongoing process, right? So during the first 90 days, I talked about being foundational, right? So we're getting organized, we're getting awareness. I talked about self-reflection. This is self-understanding of your net worth, right? So your assets and your liabilities, your cashflow, what's coming in, what's going out. your money mindset. Again, that's an understanding of your culture and your history and your experience and what has led you to believe the things that you do about money, which you may think is a tool and it probably is, but there's emotional aspects to this that we just need to understand. And I'll go as deep as we need to go to understand those things, because again, it sets the tone for moving forward. And we need to understand what we're working towards. So once we have that solid foundation, which I really try to lock in on the get-go, then we build a strategy. We're designing, we're making sure we've got a direction that we want to go. And so that's understanding your cash, how much should be in checking, how much should be in savings. That's understanding your taxes. Are you paying too much, too little? What can we do to reduce that, to take advantage of credits and deductions and tax brackets and all those fun things that people love to think about if you're a financial advisor? ⁓ Your investment strategy, again, are you getting the growth that you need, the stability that you need, the blend that fits your emotional and financial needs? We'll look at debt. We'll look at the estate plan. We'll look at insurance, income, spending, savings, investments, all those things really come together. Those are the pieces that ⁓ if you can have a strategy for each of those and they are all connected, then you will be driving upwards towards more empowerment, more agency moving forward and more preparedness for those transitions in life and those big decisions. So that doesn't all. happen in the first 90 days, it's a process. I find that it's probably most important to go towards things like cash flow, which does impact your savings, your investments, your taxes, etc. But I'll go wherever the client needs me to go. So I don't have a regimented, ⁓ you know, it's not about, I have a framework, but it's flexible to meet. Gregory Wilnau: So you have a framework, but it's flexible. Derek Pantele: what's most important for the clients. Now we'll get to everything, but I wanna make sure that the client is being heard on what's most important for them. And obviously I'll provide some observations and insights because if there's blind spots, I want them to be aware of priorities that I feel like could be foundational that impact ⁓ planning moving forward. And so. Gregory Wilnau: Absolutely. So if you could give, go ahead, finish, I'm sorry. Derek Pantele: Now I was just going to say, that's the process is you set the tone, you build awareness, you move towards direction, you've got strategy, you want to see progress, right? Even if it's not in a straight line, nothing happens in a straight line up into the right. But over time, you do want to make sure you're making progress towards your goals, and so we track that. And then you want more. freedom, more autonomy, more agency, more comfort in your decisions again. So we work towards the financial things that are probably more ⁓ functional in nature, but then it's really just about emotional and lifestyle benefits to the client. Gregory Wilnau: So if you could give one piece of guidance to anybody listening, regardless of whether or not they work with you, what would it be? Derek Pantele: I would say slow down and understand yourself. So if you're going to design a system, if you're trying to optimize, we need to understand what we're optimizing for. So. My framework for this is more about understanding personal values. If you can understand your values, if you can understand what gives you energy, what gives you joy, you can understand how to allocate resources and money could be those resources, but it's also again, your time, your attention, your talents. And then you can understand what action you need to take from there. ⁓ So I feel like distilling things slow and smooth is something that's really pivotal. And so that's a little bit more of just, again, the self-reflection, the understanding. And when you're creating a financial plan, I think that it needs to come from the individual. that would be my advice is just slow down in the busyness of life. It's okay to take time for yourself. Gregory Wilnau: Right. Yeah, it'd be hard, but it pays off, Yeah. ⁓ Derek Pantele: and to think about what I didn't say it's easy. didn't say it's easy. I've got a lot of clients that have again, a lot of responsibilities, a lot on their plate. ⁓ But I think slowing down can help be a good starting point. It can make everything else much easier. Gregory Wilnau: Absolutely. So for somebody who's interested in getting in touch with you, what should they do next? How can they get in touch? Derek Pantele: Sure, well, I'm open to a phone call. You can call me, you can email me, you can even text the office line. I'll be happy to respond. The best place to go is probably the website though. That's where you'll learn about who we best serve, more about our values, more about approach, more about, again, our holistic way of thinking about serving wealth management through the context of lives, know, human first approach. And when you go there, if you're interested in having a conversation, there's a button to click. You can schedule a meeting. So you can reach out any which way. But the website, affinity.financial, is probably the best first place to learn a little bit more. Gregory Wilnau: Excellent, so that's affinity.financial, so not .com, .financial. Derek Pantele: dot.com. Dot financial. That's it. Gregory Wilnau: Love it. All right, Derek, thank you so much for being here. Appreciate you sharing your perspectives and opinions. And thanks again. Derek Pantele: Okay, next,