TOP FINANCIAL ADVISERS
Some people are said to have a sense of the market.
Larry Smith has a voice for it.
As a volunteer auctioneer for local charity events, he’s good at talking fast. But he said he’ll keep his day job.
Smith and his team handle $360 million in money, with the average client investing about $1 million with them.
Managing mostly retirement money, Smith also works with pension funds and foundations.
Track Record
For the past six out of seven years, he said he’s beaten the gains of the S & P; 500, a benchmark for the broader stock market.
“I try to keep them from being too excited when they’re high,” he said of his clients.
Investments in stocks, bonds and mutual funds are his most common holdings, Smith said.
He uses various strategies that have little in common with one another, believing that if one isn’t working, another will be.
“When the market goes up somewhere we want to participate,” Smith said.
Started in Sales
A former seller of hardware, rental trucks and cosmetics, Smith said his prior experience got him a job in finance. But the job isn’t about sales, he insisted.
“Most brokers are sales people rather than money managers,” he said. “People need to look at the whole picture, not just try to sell people things.”
Like most financial advisers, Smith said his business is based on referrals.
“You gotta be effective in making money for people or you won’t last,” he said.
Smith married his high school sweetheart and has two kids.
9. Larry Smith
– Company: UBS Financial Services
– Location: Brea
– Years in business: 24
– Education: bachelor’s degree, California
Polytechnic University, Pomona; business master’s, Claremont Graduate University
