A desire to lead a purpose-driven life and do good in the world propelled Kristen Moosmiller’s career choices from the get-go. She thought she’d follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a CPA and enrolled at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. However, her accounting classes did not excite her, and even after switching her major to finance and marketing, an internship with a high-net-worth investment council left her wondering if she had chosen the right field. She couldn’t find her purpose working for the ultra-wealthy.
“I started to get really nervous that maybe I had picked the wrong area of study,” she said. “In my senior year I took a Prophets of Non-violence class and I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll switch to social work.’” She wondered how she would ever help people based on her experiences with investments.
In the end, Kristen graduated from Xavier with a double major in finance and marketing and landed a job with a small, AUM-based investment company in Cincinnati that also did comprehensive financial planning. It seemed perfect. “They told me, ‘We help people like your parents. We help them with everything. We help them prepare for and enjoy retirement.’” Kristen said she was over the moon in a job that was enjoyable and allowed her to help people.
Kristen learned an important lesson about AUM-based firms in a very short time. It was 2008. What happened next was inevitable. “I started the job in July and by October they laid me off when the market went down,” she said. “They laid me off because they were AUM-based! Their gross revenue went down substantially almost overnight and they couldn’t afford me.”
Kristen had already started studying for her CFP, and so she returned to Columbus, continued her studies and very quickly found another job as a financial planning assistant in a firm that was half AUM and half flat fee.
When it came time for Kristen to buy into the firm, she decided it was not her ideal practice and she moved to Partnership Financial, which was owned by ACP members Jim Davis and Rob Reed. She was attracted by the company’s size and philosophy. “There was a team and processes in place. They were open to me speaking up. They were just big enough,” she said.
After three years with Partnership Financial, and with Jim’s support, Kristen decided to open her own practice and she is enjoying a phenomenal success. “We started the year over $1 million in revenue for the first time, which was exciting,” she said. “I envision the company being as big as it gets. I don’t have an end goal where I want to stop. What I want more than anything is balance for everyone.”
A woman-owned, mostly woman-staffed model is very attractive to NorthAvenue’s clientele. “They like the way our team looks,” she said. “We are primarily female, which is unusual. We aren’t 20 anymore. We have experience and we’re going to be here for several decades. It’s kind of like the sweet spot.”
Although Kristen sits on the NAPFA board, she has found a home with ACP. “As much as I love NAPFA and I think it is a great organization, ACP is really the like-minded group,” she said. “We charge a flat fee; we have a tax focus. And I think it is members of ACP that understand the delicate balance of how you want to go deep, you want to give clients everything, but you also how to figure out how to charge appropriately to make it profitable. We’re people that just get that. Really taking care of the clients and doing right by them.”
Kristen has appreciated the supportive nature of ACP and its members. “When I wanted to start my own company Jim helped me do it. It wouldn’t have happened somewhere else. I have so much gratitude for the people at ACP and the fact we all recognize each person needs to do what’s best for them and ultimately what’s best for the client.”
Kristen strives to put clients before business. She feels confident in saying she and her team do everything they can to take extraordinary care of their clients. “They pay us. They depend upon us. Their whole lives are intertwined with what we do to take care of them.”
When she’s not working, Kristen enjoys reading and finds joy in watching and photographing the birds that visit her yard.