Name: Nick Francia
Firm: UBS Wealth Management
Location: Washington D.C.
AUM: $2.9 billion
Forbes Rankings: America’s Top Next-Gen Wealth Advisors, Top Next-Gen Wealth Advisors Best-in-State, Best-in-State Wealth Advisors, Best-In-State Wealth Management Teams, America’s Top Wealth Management Teams Private Wealth
Background: Nick Francia grew up in Connecticut part of a family that was extremely passionate and competitive about sports. He discovered an early passion for baseball and was recruited to play for the University of Mary Washington in college. Less than a week after graduation in 2011, he took a job for UBS in Washington D.C.. There, he worked predominantly with business owners and entrepreneurs to help identify different ways to sell their business, also with an emphasis on tax and estate planning. In 2012, Francia joined up with current partner Keith Apton at the Capital ESOP Group, taking the opportunity to continue developing his specialty area of focus. “Since then, I’ve dedicated my career to helping business owners monetize a business and allowing them to defer paying capital gains tax through the use of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP),” he describes. While his partner runs the private wealth business, Francia remains focused on the sell-side advisory business.
Competitive Edge: “I would say my competitive edge is the ability to communicate a complex topic in a manner that allows people not only to understand the strategy but to grow comfortable with it,” says Francia. A big part of good communication with clients also boils down to building strong relationships, he adds. “We learn what our clients and their families are passionate about outside the business and we make it a point to get involved with their personal lives.”
Lessons Learned: Francia says it’s crucial to find a mentor who is invested in your success. “The fastest way to grow your own success is to replicate what someone else has done—you don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” he explains, adding that it’s also always important to work with a purpose toward a bigger goal.
Investment Philosophy/Strategy: The business model of the team focuses on helping clients go through a successful liquidity event but then also dealing with the aftermath and financial planning required post-event, Francia describes. Since a lot of the team’s clients are business owners, he works closely with them when they go through a sale, providing tax-sensitive solutions with an emphasis on employee stock ownership plans. “We’re very cognizant of protecting our clients capital—there is no greater responsibility than preserving what they have spent decades to create,” says Francia. “Everything we do from an investment and planning perspective is all holistic with the understanding that it needs to be complementary to the way that clients execute a tax deferred sale to an employee stock ownership plan.”
Investment Outlook: Francia and his team like to avoid day to day volatility by focusing on international equities, alternative investments and now increasingly fixed income. They are consistently surprised by how many new clients are so heavily tilted towards U.S. equities and how few have a significant portion of alternative investments, he describes. His team makes sure client portfolios are far more globally-focused with alternatives making up anywhere between 15% and 25%.
Best Advice: “My dad always used to tell me, ‘Hope is not a strategy,’” says Francia. “It’s good to always be prepared and think several steps ahead to anticipate problems—or in this case, whatever a client may need—as opposed to being reactive.”
Succession Planning: “Having young advisors in the business is critical,” he argues. “Not only are they important for carrying on the legacy and responsibility that clients expect of us, but they also bring creative solutions and new perspectives that challenge the status quo.”
Favorite Book/Movie/Hobby: Francia cites two books, Relentless and Winning. Both are by Tim Grover, trainer to famous athletes like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Dwayne Wade.
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