Phoenix: A sunny outlook

Phoenix stands as the exception to the still-dreary economic news coming out of Arizona. Unemployment has fallen to 6%, the real estate market has mostly rebounded, and the city will be the proud host of the Super Bowl on Feb. 1.

Population growth has been exceptional. Forbes magazine in February ranked the Phoenix area, which includes about 4.3 million people, third among the nation’s 20 fastest-growing metropolitan areas.

The Phoenix region — which includes the cities of Scottsdale, Glendale and Mesa, among others — also has a growing financial -profession.

“A lot of people come to Phoenix for the lifestyle it affords,” said Jason

Miller, director of financial planning for the Western U.S. for BMO Private Bank. “But Phoenix is also an attractive place to set up shop.”

In fact, Mr. Miller said, the city is the 10th-largest financial services employer in the nation.

LearnVest, a financial advice platform using human advisers, opened a Phoenix office last year to serve as a training hub. Both Wells Fargo — the biggest bank in the state by market share — and USAA have said they are expanding their Phoenix employment.

According to Mr. Miller, who is also the president of the Financial Planning Association’s Greater Phoenix chapter, no one company dominates the region’s financial advisory market.

Instead, he said, advisers from wirehouses, banks and independent firms have built strong businesses serving retirees, real estate professionals and small-business owners.

Phoenix has become a natural destination not only for American retirees but also for many Canadians, Mr. Miller said.

While the biggest draw is the climate, warmth can also be too much of good thing — as it is in July, August and September, when the mercury routinely hits 110 degrees, with spells of high humidity, according to adviser Dana Anspach.

“I’m happy to work a lot in the summer, because it’s miserable outside,” said Ms. Anspach, the founder of Sensible Money in Scottsdale.

WORK-LIFE BALANCE

The other nine months of the year, though, Phoenicians appreciate a work-life balance that allows for lots of time to enjoy the outdoors, she said.

The temperature averages 70 degrees from October through June, compared with an average of 93 degrees July through September, according to the National Weather Service.

Phoenix also features a casual work environment.

Ms. Anspach, who moved from Colorado in 2001, said she works in jeans many days.

Most of her clients are nearing retirement, she said. Many are small-business owners, including technology entrepreneurs.

The Greater Phoenix Economic Council would like to see more tech companies. The group boasts generous business tax inducements and additional economic development initiatives aimed at startups.

Overall, the council is working to reduce the region’s reliance on the real estate industry and to boost its business diversity.

It is promoting opportunities for tax credits and other incentives for businesses in a number of sectors, including renewable energy, biomedicine and aerospace.

TOUGH RECESSSION

Phoenix, as well as the rest of Arizona, suffered more than much of the country during the Great Recession, in part because of the collapse of its real estate market.

About 50% of the state’s homeowners were underwater in 2009, according to the research company CoreLogic. Today, about 20% still owe more money on their homes than they are worth.

In addition to property values, the job market outside of Phoenix has been slow to recover. Arizona experienced losses this year in its key sectors of construction and manufacturing, according to economic researchers at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

There’s healthy competition for advisers in Phoenix, according to Ms. Anspach, who belongs to the local group of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors.

She added that about half of her clients moved to her from commission-based brokers.

Fee-only advisers have “good camaraderie,” Ms. Anspach said, even though there are a lot of registered investment advisers.

“We probably have a significant number of RIA firms because the nature of the business is that you can work wherever you want, and Phoenix is a great place to be,” she said. “We attract independent people, such as someone interested in building a lifestyle practice.”

NO CFP PROGRAM

One thing the Phoenix region doesn’t have — in fact, something the whole state of Arizona lacks — is a registered program approved by the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc.

(Arizona is one of nine states without such a degree program. The others are Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Maine, Nevada, New Hampshire, Vermont and Wyoming, according to the CFP Board.)

Such a program would provide a ready supply of young professionals interested in working at advisory firms. Finding and training the next generation of financial advisers is a challenge for businesses in the industry, where the average age is 51, according to Cerulli Associates Inc.

The FPA of Greater Phoenix, which has about 371 members, is talking with universities in Arizona and the CFP Board about adding a registered program, according to Mr. Miller, who in June was named one of InvestmentNews’ 40 Under 40 leaders.

The CFP certification requires completion of a registered program, an exam, adherence to ethics standards and work experience.

Related Topics: Practice Management