April – Innovator
Greg Naylor, virtual client at France and CIO with Fiat Wealth Mgmt, is passionate about helping his clients, and believes success as a financial advisor requires the mind of a capitalist and the heart of a social worker. To learn more about Greg, read on.
Every business has a story, tell us yours.
I started Fiat Wealth Management with Matt Stahl in 2009. Prior to that we both worked as financial advisors at Ameriprise. We like being independent advisors, our clients come first and we can operate our business for long-term sustainability, rather than short-term profit.
You were chosen as this month’s Innovator Client. What does being an Innovator mean to you?
Innovation in the financial industry is really a marriage of the old and new. Some things don’t change, like human nature and the laws of supply and demand. But the rest of the world is in motion, with changing technology, politics, and demographics. So every day presents an opportunity for innovation, a challenge to find new investment opportunities using old principles. I think that is really the fun, creative part of my work.
No one likes to brag about their business, but if you HAD TO . . .
Hmm. I don’t think compliance allows me to brag about my work. I’ve been told I’m a good whistler, though.
We learn from our mistakes, especially in business. Give us some words of wisdom.
I was fortunate (in hindsight) to make investing mistakes with my own ‘play’ money when I was young. From an investing standpoint, it is very dangerous to be overly pessimistic or optimistic. You have to be aware of your emotional state before you can even begin a productive money conversation. If you are overly fearful, you are going to do nothing and miss out on some reasonable opportunities. If you are overly greedy, you are going to buy the wrong thing and also miss out on some reasonable opportunities.
Share the best advice you ever received.
Impossible question, I’ve received tons of good advice in my life. A mentor used to say ‘just breathe’ when I was becoming too hectic. Just. Breathe.
Describe your perfect day off.
Morning trip to the Children’s Museum or Como Zoo with my wife, 2 year old and 6 month old. Afternoon nap. Pizza Luce for dinner. This is basically every Saturday and Sunday for me, minus the nap.
What might someone be surprised to know about you?
When I was very young, my family lived in Saudi Arabia for 2 years. The story becomes progressively less interesting from there.
Together we are stronger. Tell us something you like about being our client.
I like everything about being a virtual client. I had a traditional commercial real estate lease prior to this, and I don’t know that I’ll ever go back to that. The amount of time and energy that it takes to create and maintain a professional working environment is huge. Now I come to work, a clean workspace awaits, coffee is made, meeting rooms are ready, and I can work on my business rather than working on the infrastructure. That’s awesome.
If you could work anywhere under the sun, where would you choose?
This location is pretty perfect, normally I bike along the Mississippi from my home to work, it would be tough to beat that commute anywhere in the world.
How can people CONNECT with you?
My cell phone is 612-940-0901 and my email is gnaylor@fiatwm.com
