Advisor focuses on getting ‘a return on life’

For a CEO and founder of a money management company, Taylor Kovar sounds surprisingly  uninterested in money. As the leader of Kovar Wealth Management, it’s not that he doesn’t care about financial matters; it’s just that Kovar cares more about what money means, especially in marriages.  

“We’ve transitioned to being really focused on the family dynamic and really a return on life, rather than return on investment,” he said. “I don’t want to work with jerks. I want to work with people who want to be happy.”

Given Kovar’s personal history, it’s not hard to see where this philosophy comes from. He didn’t come from money. 

“I was raised dirt poor,” he said. “My blue-collar parents didn’t know anything about money, and didn’t teach me anything about money.”

But it’s amazing what love can do. For Kovar, it was falling in love with a girl – “the most beautiful girl I had ever seen,” he said – who was much smarter about money than he was. It inspired him to get out of debt and learn how to manage money and invest. He realized that, against all odds, he liked the subject matter.

And Kovar discovered he had some talent in it. He went to school for it and, after graduating at the height of the Great Recession, landed at Merrill Lynch. It didn’t take Kovar long to realize it wasn’t a good fit.  

“When I joined them, I realized they invest money differently from the way I like to invest money, and I couldn’t even work for people like my parents because they didn’t qualify for [Merrill Lynch’s] minimum threshold,” he said.

So Kovar struck out on his own, where he could implement his vision of wealth management. He emphasizes alternatives over traditional stock investments, focusing on private business, real estate, and timber.  

But mostly what sets Kovar, and the firm that bears his name, apart is his focus on relationships. Usually when wealth managers talk about relationships, they’re talking about sales – but for Kovar it’s more literal. He wants to help couples with their relationship to money and, consequently, their relationship with each other.  

“We’ve created books and courses and marriage conferences – and we have a marriage and family therapist on staff,” he said. “We have kids’ financial literacy stuff and we’re really big on building happy families.”  

The first step for Kovar’s couple clients is understanding which money personality each of them has. This is a concept that another financial planning couple had developed. Once they retired, they gave their blessing to Kovar to use the concept, and he ran with it.

As Kovar explains, everyone is born into one of five money personalities: spenders, savers, security seekers, risk takers, and flyers. The first two are pretty common and self-explanatory. Security seekers like to see their money in their account to feel safe. Risk takers are typically entrepreneurs, and fliers are rare. They don’t care about money really at all.  

“We typically see opposites attract, just like in almost anything else,” Kovar explained. “And so we have 5moneypersonalities.com. We encourage people to take the free test on there, and then encourage your spouse to take it, too. Then we give you resources to communicate better with your spouse based upon each of your unique money personalities.” 

For a long time, money was the main reason couples divorced. And while now it’s often social media that’s driving couples apart, understanding how your spouse sees money is still important. Kovar knows from experience. After dating for seven years, he and his wife were on the verge of divorce after their second year of marriage. After realizing that they saw money in entirely opposite ways (he was a risk taker, she was a security seeker), they could communicate about their problems more easily.  

The five money personalities are also helpful for Kovar and his advisors. If he understands the personalities of his prospective clients, he can better tailor his recommendations. 

“If I’m having a meeting and I know that you’re a saver, then I know I’m not going to recommend a private equity investment,” he said. “Because I understand where they’re at, I’ll suggest something long term, like a bond fund. It’s safe and secure. It really helps you to communicate better with the client before they even walk in the door.”

And, so far, a lot of people are walking in the door.

Although recruiting is a challenge in this environment, Kovar seeks individuals who are not just looking to make a buck but also genuinely want to help people – and this philosophy has led to rapid expansion as they find like-minded professionals in the industry. 

Kovar’s plans are ambitious. With a focus on nationwide expansion and a goal to recruit 100 advisors by the end of next year, he’s determined to bring his unique approach to wealth management to a broader audience. 

“I really feel that we’re that we’re going to start rocking – fingers crossed.”