Blair’s Story

We’re thrilled this month to add Blair duQuesnay as an advisor at RWM. Blair has a wide range of experience in the financial services industry from starting her own firm to working with clients and families on their financial plans to writing long-form investment research pieces. Blair is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and has the CFA designation, as well, giving her a well-rounded background in financial planning and investment management. I’ve know Blair for a few years now and I’m glad she’ll be joining me on our firm’s investment committee. She’s a perfect fit for our organization.

Since she will be spending more of her time writing, Blair wrote a short introduction piece on her background and how she got here for those who are unfamiliar with her work.

*******

My journey to Ritholtz Wealth Management is a long and wild ride of a story. In my first job as a sales assistant at a Manhattan brokerage firm, Barry Ritholtz was a client. I eventually was laid off from that brokerage firm in the depths of the financial crisis. What I thought was a major career failure turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to my career. I was quickly hired by an RIA firm and went on to learn investing and financial planning from some of the most talented individuals in the business. I later moved to New Orleans, briefly founded my own RIA, and spent five wonderful years as the CIO of ThirtyNorth Investments.

In 2011, I started using Twitter and began following Josh Brown. When I first heard he teamed up with Barry, I was intrigued. We met in real life and were on the same 40 Under 40 list in 2015.

At the first EBI conference in New York, I met Ben Carlson. He moderated a panel I was on about creating Organizational Alpha. I was already a casual reader of Ben’s blog, but meeting him in person, it was obvious he had a special talent for transforming complicated, disparate information into clear, coherent messages.

There are a few more steps along my journey, but you get the picture; there were many strings pulling me towards the firm. As a financial planner and investment advisor, I enjoy finding the right solutions for clients and, more importantly, forging long-term relationships built on trust. Like others in the firm, I am committed to life-long learning. I’m currently pursuing a master’s in financial planning during my free time. The art and science of investing is a relatively new academic field, and I believe we’ve only scratched the surface in our field.

One topic that I’m most passionate about is raising standards for those who give investment advice to individuals, non-profits, family offices, and endowments. Unlike other trusted professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, and accountants, investment advisors have yet to form a real profession. It is my hope that one day soon, providing financial advice will require post-secondary education, rigorous credentialing, apprenticeship, and continuing education.

While I’m working to set up my own blog, I’ll be guest posting here and on the other RWM sites. I’ll be participating in a panel at EBI West in a few weeks discussing the future of investment advice. I look forward to working with this incredible dream team of advisors. For now, you can follow me on Twitter. Cheers!

Read more here:
CIO of women-led RIA joins Ritholtz as financial advisor (Citywire)

 

This content, which contains security-related opinions and/or information, is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon in any manner as professional advice, or an endorsement of any practices, products or services. There can be no guarantees or assurances that the views expressed here will be applicable for any particular facts or circumstances, and should not be relied upon in any manner. You should consult your own advisers as to legal, business, tax, and other related matters concerning any investment.

The commentary in this “post” (including any related blog, podcasts, videos, and social media) reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints, and analyses of the Ritholtz Wealth Management employees providing such comments, and should not be regarded the views of Ritholtz Wealth Management LLC. or its respective affiliates or as a description of advisory services provided by Ritholtz Wealth Management or performance returns of any Ritholtz Wealth Management Investments client.

References to any securities or digital assets, or performance data, are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any investment decision. Past performance is not indicative of future results. The content speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects, and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others.

The Compound Media, Inc., an affiliate of Ritholtz Wealth Management, receives payment from various entities for advertisements in affiliated podcasts, blogs and emails. Inclusion of such advertisements does not constitute or imply endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation thereof, or any affiliation therewith, by the Content Creator or by Ritholtz Wealth Management or any of its employees. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. For additional advertisement disclaimers see here: https://www.ritholtzwealth.com/advertising-disclaimers

Please see disclosures here.