I have the heart of a teacher. When I meet with clients, my objective is to empower them to make decisions for themselves and to support them along the way.
My name is Michael Speed. I was born in Pensacola, Florida but grew up in Houston, Texas. I moved back to Florida in 2011 to work for a firm that manages money for institutions and high- net worth individuals. I left the firm to work with people of all types who share a commonality: they seek a trustworthy advisor who they know they can turn to for sound financial advice.
I began my career in the financial services industry in 2009 when I served as a credit ratings analyst. In layman’s terms, this means I made recommendations to an official credit committee on the scoring of public debt. When school districts, counties, cities, or other local districts wanted to borrow money, I represented investors to understand what level of risk they were taking when buying bonds from these issuers.
Next, I came to Florida and provided the same service for owners of mutual funds investing in municipalities, states, hospitals, foundations, higher education institutions, airports, highway authorities, and others. I provided value by keeping our portfolio managers up-to-date on holdings in our mutual funds and making recommendations to buy, sell, or hold municipal bond transactions.
My experience as a bond analyst is applicable to everything I do. When conducting comprehensive financial planning, each step relates to skills I obtained while working as an analyst. First, I gather data to understand my client’s background, goals, risk tolerance, and account objectives. Second, I evaluate the information obtained to understand how to best serve the needs and interests of my client. Third, I make recommendations based on my analysis and offer a plan to implement those recommendations. Based on the impressions of my client, we decide on the recommendations to implement and a frequency with which to monitor the plan. Communication, listening, and working together are the skills most frequently employed.
I currently help clients in the following ways:
Build and manage wealth
Protect their income
Organize their finances
Protect their families in the event of death
Maximize after-tax net worth
Prepare for an event of long-term care
Plan for retirement
Protect their businesses
Decide on an income strategy in retirement
Compensate their employees
Plan for their estate transfer
Prioritize their debt
Distribute wealth efficiently
Invest for their future selves
One of the ways I bring added value to my clients is by offering them an extended network of professionals whom they can contact if they are in need of services. I spend three hours each week networking with these individuals to enable me to make quality referrals when needed. This extended network consists of qualified professionals in industries such as estate planning, tax consulting, business and family law, real estate, and many others.
My wife and I reside in Longwood, Florida, and we are the blessed parents of seven children. It would be my honor to serve you and your family as your comprehensive financial planner.