Chuck Friedlander is managing director with Wells Fargo Advisors. In this position, he is responsible for wealth management, risk management, wealth preservation, fixed-income strategies, and retirement planning. Throughout his 22-year tenure with the company, Chuck Friedlander has been awarded the Platinum Advisor designation numerous years in a row.
Before getting involved in financial advising, Chuck Friedlander worked in the mortgage industry as a loan officer at ARCS Mortgage. By his second year, he had already demonstrated his competitive skills, winning a company-wide competition and earning a coveted trip to Hawaii. These early accomplishments laid the foundation for his transition into the securities industry in 1985, where he worked with top firms such as Dean Witter and EF Hutton.
As the driving force behind The Friedlander Hall Kramer Retirement Group, he has helped develop a rigorous six-step financial advisory process. This has included detailed information gathering, financial evaluation, risk tolerance assessment, customized investment strategy, implementation, and periodic review. His team makes use of advanced financial software and cash-flow analysis tools to ensure that every portfolio matches the client’s long-term objectives and evolving circumstances.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
Communicating with clients, assessing asset allocation, making changes if needed, reinvesting maturing fixed income.
How do you bring ideas to life?
I bring ideas to life by first understanding the client’s needs. I then tailor each strategy to the specific client. This is when I thoroughly review everything in detail and bring it to life.
What’s one trend that excites you?
Artificial intelligence and how it is being implemented into the financial sector.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
Not procrastinating.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Always put clients’ interests ahead of your own.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you on?
I believe naps should be socially mandatory after lunch, like corporate siestas. Productivity and happiness would skyrocket, and I will die on this hill.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
Take time to yourself and do what you love. Live a well-rounded life.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
Walk away from what is overwhelming me, take some time to myself, and then come back to it.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
Do right by the client and referrals will come.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
Early on, I was taught to sell products, not process. I quickly changed and became a better advisor for it.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
A platform that connects newly-wealthy individuals, like influencers, startup employees post-IPO, or athletes, with vetted financial advisors who specialize in first-generation wealth. Think “LinkedIn meets private wealth onboarding.” It solves a real pain point in our industry: people with money but no road map.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
Cheshire Software. I use it for cash-flow analysis and retirement financial planning.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
A Few Good Men. I learned that one should always stand by their principles and beliefs.
Key learnings
- Always stand by your beliefs, no matter what, and don’t let anyone try and change you.
- Take time to yourself – it is important to have a life outside of work.
- Putting the client’s interests first builds lasting relationships and fuels organic business growth through referrals.