This year’s Wild Crypto Debate

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We do a crypto debate podcast every year. Here’s this year’s joust which got a leeetle bit rowdy as these financial advisors hash it out. Enjoy!

For those of you who are new to my blog/podcast, my name is Sara. I am a CFA® charterholder and I used to be a financial advisor. I have a newsletter in which I talk about financial advisor lead generation topics which is best described as “fun and irreverent.” So please subscribe!

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Biographies

Scott Salaske

Scott Salaske is the founder and CEO of Firstmetric, a flat fee financial advisor firm in Troy, Michigan. Ever since the beginning of his 20+ year long career, Scott has pursued his mission of delivering high quality financial advice in a low cost and unbiased way.

Early on in his entrepreneurial journey, Scott saw firsthand the inherent flaws and conflicts of interest in the traditional sales and product driven approach, as several family members had lost a significant portion of their hard-earned life savings to high-cost, commission-based investment products and inappropriate advice.

It was at that point Scott thought there had to be a better way for investors to obtain unbiased advice and low-cost access to the financial markets. That lead him to start Quest Asset Management, with the novel idea of putting investor interests first as a fiduciary, which was practically unheard of at the time. The idea centered on the concepts of simplicity, keeping total investment costs and taxes extremely low and developing a custom investment plan for each client using low-cost asset class and index funds.

A few years later Scott merged Quest with another local investment advisory firm, Portfolio Solutions, that shared the same investment principles at that time. Several years after the combined merger, Scott went on to grow the combined firm from advising approximately $60 million in client investment assets under management to more than $1.4 billion. In early 2015, Scott sold his ownership interest in the firm. He started Firstmetric a few years later.

At Firstmetric, Scott continues his mission of delivering low cost, unbiased advice to clients. Along his journey he has been quoted in the following publications: The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, Kiplinger’s Retirement Report, TheStreet.com, Cheddar.TV, Crain’s Detroit Business and MarketWatch.com; among others.

James Giles

James Giles works as a Product Manager specializing in the Fintech and Crypto space. Most recently James worked with several seed and pre-seed startups at Nerd United, a venture studio, specializing in working with Crypto Startups to identify their early product market fit and work to get them into a functioning BETA. His focus was to identify real-world applications and utility to the crypto space in areas such as payments, health care, eCommerce, charitable giving, and sales.

James completed both his Undergraduate and Master of Science Degrees at the University of Utah in Business Management and Information Systems specializing in Product Management. Prior to moving into Product Management James spent over 6 years with Fidelity Investments in various wealth management and technical roles where he held his FINRA Series 7 and 63 licenses and Utah Resident Life and Health Insurance License.

In addition to his professional endeavors, he volunteers his time mentoring those who want to break into the field of Product Management and works with a number of student blockchain organizations to educate as many as possible about the future crypto will have as a technology.

James is the father of three energetic boys and 1 Bernadoodle: Oliver, Henry, William, and Louie; and husband to Anya Giles since 2017. They love to travel, bake, and swim.

Robert Wright

Robert Wright, CFP® serves as a Financial Planning Professional at Advocacy Wealth Management with over 10 years of experience in the financial planning and services industry. Robert works families who are victims of wrongful death or personal injury to provide comprehensive settlement plans.

Robert completed His Undergraduate Degree at The University of Utah in Economics and his Master of Science in Advanced Personal Financial Planning and a graduate Certificate in Financial Therapy at Kansas State University.

In addition to his formal Education Robert Wright holds his FINRA Series 7 and 66 licenses, is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional and holds Georgia Resident Life and Health Insurance License.

Robert is also an Instructor of CFP® Coursework for the College of Financial Planning Online and on Campus at Kennesaw State University.

Robert is the father of three amazing children: Macie, Liam, and Charlotte; and husband to Priscila Moraes-Wright since 2012. He and his family love to travel,  play baseball, swim and play at the Georgia lakes and Beaches.

Dr. Steven Lee

Dr. Steven Lee is a lecturer in the Finance, Real Estate, and Law department at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Previously, he worked as an adjunct professor at California Lutheran University, and an instructor at the University of California Riverside Extension. Lee holds a Ph.D. in Financial and Retirement Income Planning from The American College of Financial Services, where he was named the Sievert-Sternberg Doctoral Research Fellow, and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Criminal Justice degree from Northcentral University.  He has presented papers at conferences on topics such as investment fraud, risk management, and retirement planning. Additionally, Lee has received numerous awards, including the Outstanding Instructor Award and Excellence in Online Teaching Award from the University of California Riverside Extension, Best Paper Award in Risk Management & Insurance at the CFP Board Academic Research Colloquium, and is a member and fellow of the Sigma Beta Delta International Honor Society in Business. Dr. Lee’s current research agenda includes investigating the impact of insurance licensing on financial advisor misconduct, analyzing the effect of external vs. internal work commitments on college student performance in hybrid and online learning environments, and examining risk profiles of U.S. transgender male and female investors.

Disclosures

Grillo Investment Management, LLC does not guarantee any specific level of performance, the success of any strategy that Grillo Investment Management, LLC may use, or the success of any program. Nothing in these materials may be construed as an investment, insurance, or financial recommendation.

Grillo Investment Management, LLC will strive to maintain current information however it may become out of date. Grillo Investment Management, LLC is under no obligation to advise users of subsequent changes to statements or information contained herein. This information is general in nature; for specific advice applicable to your current situation please contact a consultant or advisor.

Podcast transcription and summary may differ from original recording and Grillo Investment Management, LLC may not be held liable for such differences.

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