A team focused on serving veterans
For Sovereign Wealth Strategies Group, supporting active and retired military clients is a pleasure and a privilege.
With Sovereign Wealth Strategies Group’s main office in close proximity to five military installations, it’s not entirely surprising that two-thirds of its client base is either active military or veteran.
Despite the warnings of some of his early peers, Partner Tiago Lima wouldn’t have it any other way.
Years ago, mentors and friends advised against working with the military community, but the team enjoys working with service members, veterans and their families. “They’ve proven to be among our most steadfast clients and champions of our practice,” Tiago said.
A team with military experience
The team at Sovereign is distinctly qualified to serve its active and retired military clients: More than half of them are either veterans or married to someone in the military. Partner Mark Anderson, Chief of Staff, SWSG/Wealth Management Advisor RJFS David Waters, and Advisors Kyle Flinton and Nick Rodriguez all served, and Chief of Planning Amy Crispino and Chief Operations Officer, SWSG/ Client Services Manager RJFS Erika Conaway are military spouses.
“I’m grateful for my compatriots who have instilled some of their military values in me,” Tiago said, before making a joke about his close-cropped hair. “I think we’ve all picked up on some military habits, and we use a ton of military acronyms here at the practice, too. It’s just imbued in our culture.”
In addition to its collective military experience and exposure, Sovereign is a credentialed team: more than half of them are CERTIFED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professionals, and the practice is highly digitized, which enables them to provide responsive service to their veteran clients.
“Military personnel tend to move every two to four years,” Tiago said. “Being ahead of the curve with technology helps us serve our clients in all 50 states and stationed on four continents.”
Being geographically dispersed helps, too. While the main office sits in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Mark is based in Spokane, Washington and some personnel are located on the east coast, so it’s easy for the team to connect with clients wherever they are.
Veterans’ unique financial challenges
When it comes to financial guidance, the military community is drastically underserved and underinformed, Tiago said. “They don’t get a lot of support. No one goes, ‘Hey, you should fund your Thrift Savings Plan,’ or explains the survivor benefit pension. There’s a lack of information and clarity around what’s best for them and their families.”
Veterans’ benefits create unique challenges that, left unaddressed, can mean missing out on a lot of opportunities.
“I’ve had lieutenant colonels who’d been investing in their TSP for 20 years and were sitting in very conservative funds because no one had ever told them they should consider putting it in a fund that is more suitable to their time horizon,” he said.
He’s also had clients who didn’t know that thanks to the HEART Act*, if suitable, the beneficiary could transfer the full amount of their Servicemembers Group Life Insurance proceeds into their Roth IRA. “Not knowing that can be detrimental,” Tiago said. “Think about the tax implications of putting a large sum in a tax-deferred account as opposed to investing it in a brokerage account.”
It's important for advisors to be informed of the tools the available to military clients, Tiago said. For example, active duty personnel who move due to PCS (Permanent Change of Station) orders can extend the two-of-five-year lookback for exclusion of capital gains on a home sale. “That’s huge,” he said. “And there are benefits like Chapter 35 and military scholarships for children – all these secondary and tertiary programs. We want to take full advantage of those, because many veterans don’t know about them.”
How to serve veteran clients
In addition to understanding the nuances of military benefits, trust and transparency are paramount when working with veteran clients. They’re generally not looking for what’s trendy or flashy, Tiago said. They’re more focused on planning.
“Trust is the number one characteristic they’re looking for in an advisor,” he said. “Once you establish that trust and demonstrate your confidence and integrity, it’s such an easy and meaningful relationship. It’s rare that we have a client who doesn’t listen to our advice, because we’ve worked to establish that trust.”
Another important aspect of advising active and retired military is taking care of their spouses. Because military families move frequently, it’s not uncommon for a military spouse to have many different jobs in multiple states. “We’re often sending them to unclaimed property to see if they forgot about any old 401(k) plans,” Tiago said.
“And just making sure the spouse is always included is key,” he continued. “If you know Spouse A is the decision-maker, we’re always making sure to include Spouse B to make sure they’re aware of things and know who we are. That’s why there are usually two people from our team in every meeting, just to make sure we’re covering all the bases, or if there’s a personality tilt and they feel more comfortable with one advisor over the other.”
Knowledge sharing for the greater good
Tiago, who was a featured speaker at last year’s VFAN conference, is always happy to share what his team knows about working with veterans with other advisors. “I think having those resources is so important,” he said. “And, again, because they’re an underserved demographic, we all have to be our best for them.”
To become more familiar with the complexities of military benefits and the needs of veteran clients, Tiago recommends attending VFAN events, seeking mentoring opportunities and creating study groups.
“The way to find happiness in this career is to be abundant,” Tiago said. “Put good out there and help other people, and good things will come. It’s not my job to withhold information. I think that reflects on Raymond James as a whole, and that’s important to me.”
“And veterans are such an important part of our country – these people who volunteer to defend us. And they’re just exceptional clients.”
Sovereign Wealth Strategies Group is not a registered broker/dealer and is independent of Raymond James Financial Services.
For Financial Professional Use Only
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Center for Financial Planning, Inc. owns and licenses the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER®, and CFP® (with plaque design) in the United States to Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc., which authorizes individuals who successfully complete the organization’s initial and ongoing certification requirements to use the certification marks.
CFP® team members are: Mark Anderson, Tiago Lima, Amy Crispino, Nick Rodriguez, Kyle Flinton, and Alex Koch.
Any opinions are not necessarily those of Raymond James.
* The rollover must be completed within one year of receiving the SGLI and/or death gratuity payment.
This piece was featured in Veteran Voice, a publication from the Veteran Financial Advisors Network. View the latest.
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