We were lucky to catch up with Ivan Illán recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ivan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

Most Americans don’t work with a financial advisor (FA) because typically there’s no definable track record to evaluate their services. In fact, FAs very rarely are able to show prospective clients their specific track record of investment decisions made in and on behalf of their clients’ portfolios.

To our knowledge, AWAIM is the only direct retail Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) in Los Angeles that maintains an independently verified performance history on four total portfolio strategies across low to aggressive growth risk profiles.

Ivan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m in my 8th year as a Forbes thought leader and an Amazon #1 bestselling author in financial services. Inspired by my late grandfather’s career as a leading economist, I began investing at age 13. As Founder & Chief Investment Officer, I lead the AWAIM® Investment Committee’s global macroeconomic forecast and asset allocation decision-making for its ACGM Total Portfolio Solutions Suite™ investment offerings.

My economic and capital markets commentary frequently appears in business media around the world. I’m an active Member of CFA Institute, the American Economic Association, and the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment. I also hold the Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®) and Certified Fund Specialist (CFS®) credentials and earned a B.S. in Finance and a B.A. in Philosophy from Boston College.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Seeking out opportunities to share my experience on what has worked for (and against) my firm’s growth at regional and national industry conferences. Networking with your industry’s colleagues is the best way to refine your product/service efficacy and relevance.

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

The most important aspect of growing through acquisition is due diligence and culture fit. There’s nothing worse than having buyer’s remorse, which I’m glad to say I have yet to experience— but I’ve only done three acquisitions to date.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.alignewealth.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aligne_wealth
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/awaim
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@awaim_cio