(pictured: Asu Greer, Patrick Galloway, John McLaughlin, Frank Yong & Jennifer Napoli)
Describe your practice.
We believe that every client is unique and deserves a wealth management plan customized to meet their specific situation, as true wealth management is a long term endeavor that requires a meaningful relationship between financial advisors and their clients. We intend on being our client’s financial advisors for life so our services and recommendations are made by placing the client’s interest before our own.
Who is your ideal client?
All of our clients are unique. We don’t have an “ideal” client, but most of our clients do have significant investable assets and complicated financial lives. We are really just looking for clients who will value and benefit from our service and from the services that we provide, and who are looking for a long term, mutually-beneficial relationship.
Describe your customer service model.
We build our strong client relationships by knowing our clients and by giving our clients unparalleled personal service. By knowing the right questions to ask and knowing the client’s unique situation we make the appropriate recommendations to address their concerns. We meet with our clients when their needs dictate but we visit with each of our clients and engage in a formal review at least once a quarter. We communicate with clients by email daily, weekly or monthly depending on their preference. We inform clients of significant developments or items of concern when we discover information we know will be of interest to them. The customer experience is really tailored to the needs and desires of each client.
What is your investment philosophy?
The appropriate investments for any client are determined by that client’s specific situation. Client’s risk tolerance, time horizon, life circumstance, and preferences help shape the client’s portfolio. Our job is to work with the client to develop and investment portfolio to help achieve the client’s goals while managing risk. We believe too many investment decisions are based on fear or emotion rather than the facts. It is our responsibility to reduce the mistakes most investors make by having their emotions determine their investments. In general, we feel that by properly assessing risk and minimizing losses we can reduce volatility and generate more consistent results. We seek to accomplish this through a combination of core and tactical allocation strategies using all asset classes including alternative assets, options, and fixed income.
Do you offer financial planning?
The extensive financial planning resources of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney allow us to deliver an unparalleled financial planning product for our high net worth clients. Individually, we are not able to deliver legal advice, but we will work closely with a client’s tax or legal advisor. We pride ourselves on coming up with practical solutions to our clients financial planning concerns.
What is your risk management philosophy?
The major obligation we have to our clients is to help them reduce OR manage risk. In our initial meeting with new or prospective client, we seek to help our clients understand the tradeoff between risk and reward by setting very realistic expectations for how the money should be managed to achieve the ultimate goal. We believe proper assets allocation and diversification are vital to helping reduce risk. We also use options to reduce risk.
Describe your costs structure for your services and how it relates to value.
Our value to our clients is to have a team of professionals who is helping them develop a plan, implement the plan, and monitor the plan. The plan is the client’s unique, individual plan. We educate our clients about the financial concerns that they have and issues they might be facing, so they can rest assured that there is a plan to help them achieve their goals. We work diligently for our clients and we are paid an agreed upon fee for our services. The fees charged vary with the client’s unique circumstances, but we prefer to use fixed percentage fees of assets under management which typically range from 0.5% to 1% per year. This type of fee structure allows our client’s interests and our interest to be aligned. If our client’s goals are being met and their assets are growing we will also benefit. Also, by using managed accounts we never have the temptation to sell our clients the investment of the day, and can offer unbiased candid advice, that will benefit the client in the long term.
John J. McLaughlin, IV • Senior Vice President & Branch Manager
John J. McLaughlin, IV is a senior vice president and branch manager of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney’s Ponte Vedra Beach, FL branch. John is a graduate of the University of South Carolina. Away from the office, John enjoys playing soccer, tennis and golf and spending time with his wife, Ana, and their three young children.
Patrick Galloway • Financial Advisor
Patrick Galloway earned a B.B.A. from Mercer University in Macon, GA, with a makor in International Business and a minor in Spanish. He was born and raised in Carrollton, GA, and began his professional career in Albany, GA, where he worked until moving to the Jacksonville area in late 2007. Patrick lives in Jacksonville Beach with his wife, Heather, and daughter, Kate. In addition to spending time with his family, Patrick enjoys hunting and inshore fishing. An Accredited Investment Fiduciary, Patrick is extensively involved in the portfolio management aspect of the team’s practice, specializing in fixed income strategies.
Frank J. Yong • Financial Advisor
Frank J. Yong received his B.S.B.A. in accounting from the University of Central Florida magna cum laude. He earned a J.D. with honors and a L.L.M. in taxation from the University of Florida, College of Law. Frank is also a non-practicing C.P.A. and has practiced estate and tax planning for 23 years. He is a member of the West Jacksonville Rotary Club, the Ortega United Methodist Church and on the Board of Directors of the Florida Cattleman’s Association Foundation. He enjoys cattle ranching, hunting and golfing. Frank has a wife, Vicky, and two daughters. Frank’s primary roll is to assist clients with financial planning, estate planning, and other wealth management issues.
Jennifer Napoli • Senior Registered Client Service Associate
Jennifer Napoli is a ten-year veteran of the financial service industry. She received a bachelor’s degree in consumer economics with an emphasis in financial management from the University of Georgia. A native of Albany, GA, Jennifer enjoys exercising and spending time with her fiancé Andrew. She is also an active member of the Junior League of Jacksonville. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley Smith Barney she was with Morgan Keegan.
Asu Greer • Senior Registered Client Service Associate
Asu Greer is Senior Client Service Associate with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in business administration, she received her Masters of Business Administration from Northwest Missouri State University. She has been in the financial industry for 9 years. Asu enjoys playing tennis and spending time with her son.
The MGY Group at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, John J. McLauglin, IV, 814 Highway A1A N., Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082 Tel. 904.543.7800 • mssb.com
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