by William Helfgott
During my internship at AP wealth, I saw the interworkings of the
group as a whole, the process, and the positive results that AP Wealth
tries to bring to fruition daily. Here are the top 5 lessons and
things I learned in the office.
I’ll start by saying, I have been working with Clayton Quamme and AP
Wealth over the past 9 years. At each meeting, I was always highly
impressed by the end-to-end coverage the firm provided, the
reassurance it provides, and most importantly, the relationship our
family has with the firm as a whole. Working at AP Wealth was an
amazing experience. I found it fascinating to see the relationship
between market performance and estate planning.
1. Communication and Synergy
When handling over 200 families, one would expect that the firm would
be loaded down with to-do lists, and could possibly get overwhelmed
quite quickly. Yet, after just one day of interning, I found this not
to be the case. The systems AP Wealth has in place were to a level of
organization I had never seen before. The systems regarding clients
updated everyone on the team, keeping everyone up to date and in the
loop. The tasks were equally delegated so that every member of the
team could be called on and equally contribute to a question regarding
a client, thus providing the client with peace of mind. I had not
previously seen a team work and compliment each other’s strengths so
well.
2. What goes up fast comes down fast
Seeing behind-the-scenes work regarding portfolio makeup was very
interesting. When I asked about risk levels Clayton would mention,
“What goes up fast, often comes down fast”. Knowing the assets would
be handled in a manner that suited the client best, was not too
aggressive, and aligned with client goals, provided me with peace of
mind for the clients of AP Wealth, myself included.
3. There is no price for peace of mind
As previously mentioned, seeing the way the assets were managed
provided peace of mind, but what about important life decisions? As I
am sure you all can remember, one of the first things you do at AP
Wealth is a risk tolerance form. You likely also completed an estate
plan, top to bottom, kids, weddings, homes, cars, etc. When clients
called about a life decision, there was no hesitation nor guessing
from AP wealth, rather refer to their personalized plan, and go from
there. Interestingly enough, there was no hesitation on the client
side, knowing AP Wealth had done the previous leg work and they would
be there to guide them into the right decision and direction.
4. Client relationships are key
Throughout client meetings, I noticed the breadth of knowledge AP
Wealth had regarding their client, their family, and their future
plans. Not only did this knowledge make the relationship between the
family and the firm more fruitful, it was only through this prior and
positive knowledge that AP Wealth was able to provide the client with
the best possible guidance.
5. It is never about the money
Oftentimes, clients would call more for guidance and advice rather
than anything. The clients know that they are in good hands with the
team at AP Wealth, and would rather have the opinions of the team,
rather than just their own. I noticed very early on, it was more about
the relationships than any other aspect.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time working at AP Wealth and hope to return
in the future. The care and coverage the team at AP Wealth provides
was awesome to be a part of.
