Jaime Carvallo

Jaime Carvallo is a Lima, Peru native living in New York City. Jaime is most well known for being an experienced and dedicated financial expert, having spent a good portion of his career learning and honing the skills necessary to succeed. When it comes to the world of leadership, one of the things that Jaime excels at is his ability to collaborate with others. Simply put, when his team succeeds, it’s also a success for him. His style of leadership focuses mainly on both inclusion and accountability. To Jaime, every team member has a right to have their voice heard. Because of this, paired with his knack for putting together teams made of incredibly talented individuals who share the same hunger for success, is one of the reasons Jaime’s teams are so successful over and over again.

Jaime Carvallo is the Senior Advisor for Mergers and Acquisitions at Gladstone Group. Here, he’s in charge of advising asset & wealth managers and brokerage firms. Before his tenure at Gladstone Group, Jaime worked as a Managing Director of Mergers & Acquisitions at Incap Group. But his impressive resume doesn’t stop there. Jaime also co-founded Park Sutton Advisors, an investment banking boutique. There, he managed several successful mergers and acquisition engagements while connecting with his clients across the nation to provide strategic advisory services.

Jaime Carvallo graduated with a Bachelor’s of Business Administration from the Universidad de Lima. He then jumped feet first into the finance industry, working for the Banco de Credito del Peru as a Credit Officer for Commercial Banking in the Corporate Banking Division. During his tenure at the Banco de Credito del Peru, he managed a portfolio of $250 million in loans for Peru’s largest import/export businesses. After three years, he accepted the role of Senior Risk Analyst.

Always looking to learn more, Jaime Carvallo returned to college, enrolling in The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He majored in Strategic Management with a concentration in Finance and Marketing, graduating with an MBA. After graduating with his Master’s, Jaime took to New York, where he became the Relationship Manager for The Citigroup Private Bank. Jaime then moved to HSBC Bank, where he accepted the position of Vice President. There, he developed the Andean Region Market, working as a wealth advisor for the bank.

Outside of work, Jaime Carvallo is someone who understands the value of exercise and fitness in everyday life. It’s not just a pastime for him– it’s an outlet he uses to care for himself. By spending his free time riding his bike or going on a run, he finds that fitness can help him become the best person he can be, both in his personal and professional life. An unapologetic morning person, Jaime enjoys spending his mornings practicing mindfulness and meditation. This helps him keep his mind clear, even when he feels overwhelmed, which can happen in his high-pressure career. To learn more about Jaime, be sure to find him on social media!

Where did the idea for your career come from?

Having worked as a wealth manager myself for over ten years and seeing the consolidation trends and need for advice for firms seeking growth and a liquidity event, I decided to focus on mergers and acquisitions to asset, wealth management, and brokerage firms. My skill set was complementary, as I had worked doing what my clients do for a living. Having a Wharton MBA helped a lot too!. The M&A activity in the industry has been highly active for the past 15 years, and I enjoy every moment of it!

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

A typical day starts with a cup of coffee. It then involves researching firms to contact and either seek to develop new relationships in the industry, catch up with firms I know from before, or start working on current projects. I spend a lot of time on the phone and zoom meetings, and I love learning from successful entrepreneurs about how they built their businesses, what makes them successful, and what their goals are. I usually come out of these calls or zooms with ideas that add value to them and their businesses.

How do you bring ideas to life?

It is all about teamwork in my mind. When talking to prospective or existing clients, I make sure I listen and try to understand their needs and wants. Once the call is over, I reconvene with my team to recap and discuss the opportunities and approaches to making our clients’ businesses (and lives) a better ones.

What’s one trend that excites you?

I get excited when I hear about the evolution of wealth and asset management and how my clients find better ways to help their clients in return. I have learned a lot from clients’ experiences and how they enhanced their clients’ experiences. I have applied some of those lessons to my own business.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

I make sure I plan my day so that I prioritize what is essential. Typically, I focus on clients first and then on other internal matters.

What advice would you give your younger self?

I would tell my younger self to be patient. I have learned the difference between a deal going great and a deal going south, and I know the difference is based on timing.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

That art is an asset class that should be in everyone’s portfolio. I wish some clients invested in it somehow – I would love to invest money alongside it because it is a true investment and a passion of mine.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

Active networking and reading! All industries evolve very fast, and investment banking is one of them. Learning new trends in the industry, other ways to think about financial problems and solutions on behalf of clients, and how to be ahead of the curve are only accomplished by networking with other leaders in the industry and reading about what is happening in it.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

Having like-minded, driven, and hard-working people around you is key. They must become your business partners, more than just colleagues or employees. Growing a business all by yourself hardly ever happens, but if you have highly competent and driven people around you, things will fall into place.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

I put my trust in someone, and my trust was misplaced. I overcame it by learning from the experience and moving along from that relationship. Now I am more careful and ask more questions before deciding who I trust.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

I believe an art fund based on a mix of periods – from Old Masters to Impressionists to Contemporary and Modern Art – is a well-diversified portfolio and a great business opportunity that I am interested in developing.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

I had a nice dinner and drinks with my father and brother-in-law. Both have different industry experiences and seniority, and hearing their stories about how they dealt with challenges at work when they were on their way to success was enlightening!

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

Salesforce. It allows us to record conversations, follow up on deliverables, and reminders on the next steps. This is a great tool that helps my team and me to always be in touch with clients and prospects when we are supposed to and deliver what we promised.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

Executive Presence, by Sylvia Ann Hewlett. She shares many techniques that some people take for granted to make an impact in front of prospects and clients. These strategies have helped me get business in the past and are highly effective.

What is your favorite quote?

“A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by actions becomes a reality.”

Key Learnings:

• A strong team will help you succeed
• Learn from others’ experiences – they will ease the way to your own success
• Never stop learning and reading
• Always plan ahead
• Don’t measure success just in monetary terms – success is beyond money