Registered Rep.: Why did you choose to enter the financial advisory business?
Wayne Warner: I was working as an engineer for a manufacturing firm in the ‘60s. I was working in Mexico on a project and my broker said he “couldn't get a hold of me” when I had a margin call. I thought “what kind of service is that? I can do better than this managing money on my own.” Fifty years later, the rest is history!
RR: How has the business changed for the better since you became an advisor ?
WW: Definitely the ability to get information faster. Back in the day, we had to order analyst reports and wait for weeks before we could do analysis for a client. Now we just push a button.
RR: And for the worse?
WW: The flip side of my previous answer: there is too much information all the time. Clients see so much on the TV and computers and often it is all negative. They don't know how to process the barrage and often get emotional in response. I guess that is why we are so successful as advisors. We help them tune out the noise and stay focused on what really has an effect on their personal financial situations.
RR: Your favorite way to spend a Saturday afternoon?
WW: Working in my vineyard or showing off my collection of antique Lincolns.
RR: What was the turning point in your career?
WW: Focusing on a fee-based offering both with financial planning and investment management. I moved my practice in that direction starting in 1986 and have never looked back.
RR: What is the worst market you've had to navigate clients through?
WW: I have seen so many ugly markets and bad economic environments, but over the 50 years the one that hit me the hardest was 2007-2009. I lost my positive outlook, clients were frightened and it was very difficult to weather that period. But we are back on track.
RR: The best thing a client ever said to you?
WW: Recently one of my “original” clients passed away (he was 90) and I received the most heartfelt telephone call from his son, who said, “Mr. Warner, I don't know what we would have done without you all these years. Thanks for always being there for our family.”