PLANADVISER - May/June 2020 - 40

advisers giving back
An Asset to Society
O
ver the course of our Advisers Giving Back series, a
common thread has been a desire not just to " give
back " to help great causes and local communities, but
to invest in them and give to recipients the chance to improve
their lives and livelihoods permanently. Each firm profiled
below does that, whether by helping people access sanitary
water, teaching financial literacy or showing employees' children
the value of giving back. Below are excerpts from the
full articles, which can be found at PLANADVISER.com/AGB.
ARE YOU AN ADVISER WHO GIVES BACK to the local,
regional or global community? If so, we want to hear about it
for our 2020 Advisers Giving Back program. If you have or know
of such a story, please email editors@issmediasolutions.com.
An Abundance of Giving
As David Griffin, founder of Atlanta Retirement Partners
(ARP) in Atlanta, observes, one sector hit hard by the
coronavirus downturn is the restaurant industry. " A friend
runs a neighborhood-style restaurant and had to lay
off several people, " Griffin recalls. " He was looking for
a way to keep his people employed and his doors
open. " This gave ARP, which was seeking a way to give
back, an idea: " They'd make food, " Griffin says, " and
we'd collect donations to buy it and deliver it to those
in need. " They began by delivering meals to hospitals
in Atlanta and added Zoo Atlanta, an ARP client whose
non-furloughed employees now work 60-hour weeks.
A Personal Connection
For employees of Pensionmark in
Santa Barbara, California, " It has
always been a priority to volunteer
our time and resources to benefit
the community, " says Emilio Vela,
senior manager, adviser relations
at the company. " The work
we have done, including with
the Partners in Education, links
businesses and organizations with
schools to share resources-both
in people and materials. " He
credits the firm's executive leadership,
including Founder/CEO Troy
Hammond and President Michael
Woods, for sustaining and growing
the company's commitment. For
Vela, this work is personally fulfilling
because he benefited from a
similar program in his youth.
Lessons Learned
Investing in the community has
been part of Portfolio Evaluations
Inc.'s identity since its founding in
1992. Attila Toth, a partner and
co-founder of the Warren, New
Jersey, firm says, " Our giving efforts
are all about the experience we
can provide to our employees ... "
The firm works with the local March
for Dimes and partners with a local
food bank. " A few days a year
they deem as a family day, and
we can bring our kids to box food
and prepare meals, " Toth says.
" We created a mission statement
to say we would differentiate the
employees' focus and passion
from our corporate philanthropy
goals. The statement was created
[from] both of those themes. "
His Calling
Grant Arends, co-founder and
president of retirement services at
Intellicents in Overland, Kansas,
expends a lot of personal energy
in giving. Whether driving shallowwater-well
supplies across the
open bush in Malawi or teaching
children financial literacy in
impoverished regions of South
Africa, Arends says his focus is on
investing in the people. " It's not a
new idea, but it's important: Rather
than giving someone a fish, teach
them how to fish. What better
industry than ours to promote this
concept? " Arends says it is by no
means necessary for everyone to
travel so far to give back. " Hopefully,
the extreme stories lead
people to do just a little. " -PA
40 | planadviser.com May-June 2020 Art by (from left) John Cuneo; Robert Hunt; Iris Lei; Victor Juhasz

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PLANADVISER - May/June 2020

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