Stephen Shanklin, CIMA®

I have been creating financial plans and helping clients reach their goals for more than 30 years. I have been with Morgan Stanley and its predecessor firms for my entire career, and now lead a team of professionals that takes a proactive, problem-solving approach to working with our clients. In recent years, we have embraced the concept of Behavioral Finance; research indicates that it can be the driver of the successful execution of a smart financial plan. I believe in a positive, forward-thinking attitude -- "how can we solve this problem?" vs "oh, no, we have a problem." Our team engages our clients to think about what's important to them -- aging parents, growing children, goals for retirement, wealth preservattion -- and how you rank them. Every year, we may ask our clients to re-rank their priortities to help ensure we are focused on the right things. Finally, we think of ourselves as the managers of our clients' emotions through the dynamics of market change -- investment decisions based on emotions can undercut even the best financial plans. We strive to gain our client's trust when helping them accumulate, protect and pass on their wealth. NMLS # 1285435