Controlling the controllables

Founded by Fielding Miller in 1995, Captrust emphasizes treating clients like family. Veronica Karas, principal, financial advisor and team manager, says the firm’s strategy is to prioritize a holistic financial planning approach over the conventional focus on asset growth.

"We're financial planning first; we tend to think that we can probably save you a lot more money than the market will make you in the long term, and we try to control the factors that we can,” Karas says. “Things we can't control are where tax laws and legislation are going, or what the market is going to do.”

Karas' dedication to financial planning is personal, rooted in her grandfather's unfortunate experience with poorly structured annuity products after he was financially taken advantage of. This firsthand experience fuels her advocacy for increased financial literacy and its potential to reshape individuals' and families' trajectories.

Addressing the complexities of financial planning, Karas highlights the impact of common pitfalls like inadequate tax planning. She warns against the domino effect of neglecting tax considerations, affecting savings for education and homeownership and emphasizes the ripple effects of seemingly minor oversights.

“We’re talking about multi-generational impacts,” she says. “Controlling for simple things like adequate tax withholding, the amount you contribute pre-tax versus Roth, or even how much your car insurance costs, can significantly compound over time.”

In her role as the manager of her office’s financial planning team, Karas takes pride in developing a training program that accelerates the growth of younger advisors. Acknowledging the challenges faced by women in the industry, she shares her personal experience of working in an environment where moral values clashed. This challenging period prompted her to reevaluate her career choice, ultimately finding solace in the values of her current workplace.

"I had a miserable experience working at a broker-dealer because the advisor group's moral compass didn't align with mine,” Karas says. “That was personally very challenging for me and I became physically sick during that time. Those were challenging moments of [asking] is this the right industry? Am I in the right field? Because if you're working with super successful people whose moral compass is not aligned with yours, you start thinking - is this the only way to be successful? That’s why the people I work with now have been such a breath of fresh air – and a complete turnaround for me. Meeting my partners, David H. Schwartz, Alan Kleinberg, and Fred Sloan, renewed my commitment and reinforced what I already felt in my heart – doing the right thing for people is always the best way to become successful.”