How advisor’s ‘trial by fire’ taught him about deeper relationships 

Looking back to when he started out, Sam Huszczo, founder of registered independent advisor SGH Wealth Management, said his ignorance was something of a superpower.  

His first job as a naïve 24-year-old two decades ago was at a commission-based firm where he was thrown, headfirst, into the race for clients. It was sink-or-swim time, but, after a year in the role, Huszczo had a deeper understanding of where he wanted to take his career.  

“You don’t learn sales or business development in college,” he recalls. “It was trial by fire to learn all that type of stuff, but I felt like the relationships with clients were really transactional. They weren’t deep. You didn’t have the motivation to contact your existing clients all the time, because you were always looking for that next commission.”     

That’s not how Huszczo, who is based in Southfield, Michigan, wanted to work. He took the sales and process skills he learned and started his own business in 2005. He views the industry as “moldable”: The investment landscape has transformed since SGH’s launch, but that also means you must change with it in order to best serve your clients. 

At the beginning, SGH invested clients almost exclusively in mutual funds; however, this active management often came with hefty fees. Many investors turned to cheaper, passive ETFs, although that market has matured considerably to now offer many active strategies.

“There’s more offerings today, and client appetite is more sophisticated than [simply] wanting inexpensive investment options,” Huszczo adds. “You can’t just rest on the moniker of it being cheap.”    

To navigate this evolving landscape, SGH Wealth Management leans toward the low-expense-ratio side of the ETF industry, incorporating factor-based investing. This approach uses quantitative models that have been used by institutions for decades to filter factors that are relevant to their clients’ investment goals. “It keeps evolving, but the tenets stay the same — keep the expense cheap and know your target client,” he says.  

SGH Wealth Management primarily serves individuals with assets ranging from $2 million to $5 million. While Huszczo’s background as a chartered financial analyst qualifies him to manage much larger accounts, the firm has found its niche in this specific segment. “That’s our sweet spot where we feel like we can offer a much better platform than the competition,” he said.   

The firm is young and so are its employees, with an average age of just 24. With boomers retiring, financial advice needed more than ever, and more CFPs under 50 than above, Huszczo wants to be prepared for the changing of the guard. But as past president of the CFA Society Detroit and recipient of the CFA Institute Volunteer of the Year in 2017, one area of growth he targets is arguably more old-fashioned — volunteering.  

“When I look back at it, honestly, volunteerism was the catalyst that helped my career,” he said. “I’d say the biggest mistake of the younger generation is volunteering pragmatically for business connections or to help their own careers.”   

The connections will come, Huszczo believes, but only if the volunteerism is guided by actual passion. For example, his work with the CFA acted as a springboard into other areas.  

“Find something you enjoy,” he says. For him, that was music. “I randomly got two degrees from Michigan when I went there. One was in jazz piano performance. I don’t play music anymore, but I love music, so if I can help the Detroit Symphony Orchestra figure out their finances better, that is something I can feel good about.”    

This passion and commitment resonate through his involvement in board meetings and interactions with fellow board members, fostering genuine connections. Over time, he says, these authentic connections and experiences will open doors.