As an entrepreneur, husband and father, I wear many hats. Over the years, my wife and I have been very fortunate. I remember the days of renting our first apartment and sleeping in on the weekends: those have been replaced with two wonderful children and a house full of projects. After having co-founded and managed a leading farm-direct coffee roasting and distributing company, I determined it was time for the next chapter in my life. I had managed my own portfolio and finances for 15 years but I was busy trying to balance running a business with spending time with my family and needed somebody to help guide me. I went searching for somebody who could advise me on the sale of my company and help manage my assets.
I knew the pieces I needed: investment management, retirement planning, tax coordination, estate planning, insurance reviews and business consulting. I wanted a quarterback. And I wanted that person to work for me and only me.
Easy enough, or so I thought. I met with everybody in town; the client in me was sad with what I found, the entrepreneur in me saw an opportunity. All these ‘advisors’ I met with were commissioned. They made money by selling products and changing directions! Not only that, but they couldn’t speak to my whole situation. Each advisor (insurance, investments, real estate, etc.) wanted to manage their own little piece of the pie completely separate from each other. They were incentivized to actually fight each other for bigger pieces of the pie.
About this time I reconnected with my eventual business partner whom had made the same observations of the industry but as an insider. Having served in the investment industry for over a decade and thru two significant recessions, Nick had seen the inefficient tendencies and the questionable ethics of the investment industry. Instead of hiring him as my portfolio manager, we decided to create the firm that we thought everybody deserved but could never find: Pilot Wealth Management.
It’s not a marketing ploy: we created the firm that we wanted to manage our wealth. No commissions. No bias. We are compensated only by our clients. It’s simple, really.
And as a client, I can say that I am very happy with what we have created.
Jason Lesh, Managing Principal