Transition From Transactions

Harold Evensky started in the investment business after years as a homebuilder, getting licensed as a broker at a large brokerage firm. When he started making cold calls, the rejection he faced made him rethink his approach to the investment business. He saw a story about the College for Financial Planning and enrolled, and that changed his focus from transaction-oriented to financial planning-oriented. That led him to create the firm where he now is chairman, Evensky & Katz Wealth Management in Coral Gables, Florida.

Changes in market cycles and the proliferation of products has made planning “significantly more complex,” says Evensky. The progressive thinking in terms of Modern Portfolio Theory gave planners a new approach to the whole process of financial planning. “Years ago when the wirehouses first offered financial planning, it was a product-sales vehicle,” says Evensky. The big change, “an extremely positive” one, he argues, came a few years ago when these firms realized, at the very senior level, that financial planning is a process, not a product delivery tool.