I’D LIKE TO MEET YOU OVER COFFEE, LUNCH, OR DRINKS. THERE, WE CAN FIND COMMON GROUND, AWAY FROM COLD, PRETENTIOUS INVESTMENT OFFICES

I’M A FEE-ONLY INVESTMENT MANAGER. THIS MEANS YOU PAY A NOMINAL ANNUAL PERCENTAGE OF INVESTMENTS I MANAGE FOR YOU IN EXCHANGE FOR SELECTION AND ONGOING MANAGEMENT. I’M NOT ALLOWED TO BE PAID BY PACKAGED INVESTMENT PRODUCTS, LIKE MUTUAL FUNDS AND ANNUITIES, SO MY ADVICE IS PURE. I HAVE A PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DESIRE TO HELP YOU SUCCEED.

AT NEARLY 25 YEARS, I’M A VETERAN IN AN INDUSTRY THAT EATS PEOPLE. I GOT TRUE GRIT IN A CAREER LAUNCHED ON THE MEAN STREETS OF NEW YORK, BUT I’M A TOWNIE, FULL OF PRIDE AND NOSTALGIA. I’M A PARADOX, A PRAGMATIST AND MARKET ADVOCATE WITH A FURROWED BROW AND A SOFTER SIDE. I’M AN OPERA SINGER AND ORATORIO TENOR.

I SURVIVED THE BURSTING OF THE DOT.COM BUBBLE AND THE MORTGAGE-BUBBLE IN 2008 (THAT SPAWNED “THE GREAT RECESSION”), AND I’M STILL SUCCEEDING THROUGH AN ABIDING FAITH IN THE PERSEVERANCE OF CAPITALISM AND FREE ENTERPRISE, AND A DISPASSIONATE AND UNWAVERING LONG-TERM APPROACH.

I AM A TOWNIE. I WAS BORN AT OLD ST. JOE’S AND RAISED IN ANN ARBOR. I WENT TO PIONEER HIGH SCHOOL, “ANN ARBOR HIGH” SCHOOL’S SUCCESSOR. I’VE ENDURED DIVORCE AND LOSS, AND I’M THE PROUD FATHER OF FOUR SURVIVING CHILDREN.

I BEGAN MY CAREER AT W.J. NOLAN & COMPANY, WALL STREET AT BROADWAY, ON HALLOWEEN, 1994. I’D HAD A TEMPORARY FUND-RAISING POSITION AT CARNEGIE HALL WHEN I FIRST LIVED IN NEW YORK IN 1991. SINCE THEN, I’D WANTED TO GET BACK.

ON HALLOWEEN, 1996, I MET JIM LEBENTHAL ON OUR SOUTH-BOUND COMMUTE FROM 96TH TO WALL STREET, “UPPER WEST SIDE” TO “DOWNTOWN.” DAYS LATER, HIS DAUGHTER, ALEXANDRA, HIRED ME.

FAMILY BROUGHT ME BACK TO MY HOMETOWN, ANN ARBOR, JUST BEFORE MY DAUGHTER’S BIRTH IN 1999. HERE, I WORKED FOR KEYBANK FOR SIX YEARS BEFORE ESTABLISHING “PIERCE FINANCIAL” IN 2004.