WELCOME 2: TWENTITY.COM ~ The Home for Twentysomethings

Stepping Up The Game - 2-28-07

"(Affirmation) ”But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law”. –Galatians 5:22-23, New International Version

Name: Michael Alfred

Age: 25

Occupation: Wealth Manager and Entrepreneur

Where do you work? Founding Partner of the Alfred Group; CEO of Simple Living Records LLC; both companies in La Jolla, CA

Where are you from? San Diego, CA

Why did you pick this career? I have been trading stocks and other securities since I was 17 years old and probably spent more time in college trading than I did in class. Wealth management was a natural career choice because I wanted to help other people with their money management decisions. I also have an intense entrepreneurial drive and passion for music – two factors that caused me to want to start an independent record label.

What are your future plans for your career? I would like to grow the assets of our wealth management firm to over one billion dollars. I would also like to get involved in private equity and begin acquiring stakes in various entertainment businesses.

How did you get involved in this career? Natural segue from my love of the stock market and business.

Did you go to college? Stanford University

What did you study? BA in History, 2003

How did you prepare yourself for this career? Six years of real-world stock trading and hours of study to obtain a Series 6, 7, 63, 65 securities license as well as California real estate and insurance licenses. I also joined Vistage which is the world's largest CEO membership organization. Basically, you sit in a room with a group of other CEOs and discuss problems, issues, etc. I was the youngest member by eight years but I still managed to add value.

What are the downsides to this profession? I work on something related to my business seven days a week when I am not traveling for pleasure (which I do a lot).

What is a typical workday for you? I wake up between 6-7AM. I read the news and my favorite blogs and then spend 30mins to an hour responding to emails. Typically I spend up to an hour a day reviewing portfolios for existing clients, building portfolios for new clients, and designing new asset allocation strategies for our firm. The rest of the day is usually spent in meetings and phone conferences with clients (we have some investment clients in New York), lunches with referral partners and investment partners, and working with my brother to develop new opportunities for the firm.

How might this job be a stepping stone to other professions? Learning how to raise capital and attract investment is useful in every financial and business field. If you can raise capital at a high level, you can build a very successful private equity fund or hedge fund (as long as you have very smart people actually managing the money on a day-to-day basis) or work in a corporate finance environment. I may explore other paths in business but I probably will never work for anyone but myself.

What is the single-most important piece of advice you can offer a person pursuing this career? Start learning about finance right now. I think a lot of young people think that there is some point in the future that they will understand how stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, venture capital, investment banking, etc. work. I made $40,000 in one week at the age of 17 so I can speak from experience: there is no better time than now to get started.

What steps do you recommend to someone who is planning to pursue this career? If you are in college, study business, finance, or economics. If not, buy a copy of the book Security Analysis, start reading finance blogs, and check any of the major finance sites on the Internet every day and begin perusing some of the articles.

What professional or community volunteer organizations are you currently a member of? I support the Ronald McDonald House. In the past, I have also been involved with Habitat for Humanity.

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