Changing careers has paid off for a former Connecticut independent school teacher who is taking a new direction in financial services by joining LPL Financial’s employee advisor channel Linsco.
Brendan Wood began his second career in 2007 and having served approximately $130 million in advisory, brokerage and retirement plan assets, most recently with Merrill Lynch.
He has launched Wood Wealth Management of LPL Financial, working mostly with small business owners, professionals, families, and institutions, and says that the Linsco model reminds him of working in independent schools.
“We had smaller classes, more autonomy and I was able to shape my own curriculum,” Wood said. “Moving to LPL is evocative of teaching in a boutique school. In public high school, you have to teach to certain tests. In independent schools, you have more freedom and flexibility. Similarly at LPL, I can put my client’s best interest first.”
Wood says that he is inspired in his advisory business by Benjamin Graham, regarded as the "father of value investing," who taught Warren Buffett among others.
“His ‘margin of safety’ concept is deeply rooted in my planning and investing processes,” Wood said, referring to Graham’s principle of only investing in securities when their market price is well below their intrinsic value.
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