A few hours on the golf course were a game-changer for ACP Member Jonathan Bird. In 2011 Jonathan had the opportunity to work as a personal caddie in New Zealand for the late, great Julian Robertson – manager of the Tiger Fund back in the 1990s. Jonathan remembers that he was a kind man and shared stories about turning clients into 5x millionaires and 10x millionaires. “I thought, if I could have a fraction of that kind of impact for my own clients that would be incredibly rewarding and fulfilling,” he said. “I asked Julian, ‘How do I learn more about investing?’ He said in his old Southern drawl, ‘I've got this friend Warren Buffett. He's great. You should really read his Letters to Shareholders.’"
And so, Jonathan did just that and eventually became hooked on learning everything he could about investing and financial planning. That's still true today.
Jonathan is an advisor with Farnam Financial in Phoenix, Arizona. He says his firm’s mission is to accelerate society's transition to passive stock ownership. “I can't succeed in that mission staying small,” he said. “There is roughly $5.5 trillion invested in index funds which is only about 15% of the value of the $40 trillion stock market. Investors as a whole will fare better when 80% of capital is indexed and 20% is active.”
Jonathan not only continues learning everything he can about investing and financial planning, he also writes about it, too. The author of Income on Demand is committed to sharing his knowledge and that trait makes ACP a perfect fit for him. He believes the foundation for positive financial outcomes is great planning. “ACP's core interest is comprehensive planning. Given the quality of advisory firms in the community, ACP may be one of the industry's biggest secrets. I look forward to connecting with this great community!”
Putting his clients’ best interest ahead of his own is helping Jonathan to grow his ideal practice. “My ideal practice is one that continues growing as rapidly as possible, spreading my message as widely as possible, while providing great service to clients.”