David Holland has a passion for helping people get from where they are to where they need to be.
“I connect the financial dots,” he says.
Before launching Holland Financial in 1997, he worked for financial services companies and then explored different product and services possibilities before finding the retirement market. He says helping his own parents and several of their friends plan their retirements further drew him into the market.
Holland Financial is structured primarily to serve the needs of the 50-plus demographic, and as a result, he has deep experience advising couples, single women, widowers and widows. Because he focuses on involving both spouses in the planning process, very few widows leave his firm upon the death of their spouse, a trend he is particularly proud of.
“Financial planning is a multifaceted puzzle to be solved,” Holland says. “This is especially true when we consider how a plan may need to respond to different situations in the future. Often, solving this puzzle requires out-of-the-box thinking and the use of multiple products and services in concert. That makes my work very interesting.”
On challenges The most significant risk my company currently faces, like many other financial advisory firms, is regulatory change. While I believe my company is well-positioned to adapt to any adverse changes, the latest Department of Labor ruling could disrupt the insurance industry with little benefit to the investor/consumer. Our company revenues currently come from two main sources: fees from investment advisory services and commissions on insurance products. To mitigate potentially lower insurance product revenues, our best strategy will be to diversify our services to include tax and accounting services, reverse mortgage origination, 401(k)/qualified plan consulting, and trust/estate services. Expansion in these four areas will help us reduce our dependence on insurance product commissions and insulate ourselves, at least somewhat, from the DOL’s controversial agenda.