Navigating Wealth With Purpose: Insights From Philanthropic Visionary Patrick Dwyer

Seasoned wealth advisor, Patrick Dwyer has built a rich career in the financial sector working for high-profile companies including Merrill Lynch and Boston Private. He is considered an expert in the industry and has been recognized by Barron’s in various top advisor lists including their Top 100 Financial Advisors in America list. Mr. Dwyer graduated from Providence College where he received his BA in History. He completed his post-graduate studies at the University of Miami. His foundation, the Dwyer Family Foundation, was established to promote education in populations with exceptional needs.

How did you get into the business of wealth management?

I started in wealth management in 1993. I took part in the management training program at Merrill Lynch before it was acquired by Bank of America. I went through their Private Client Development program and spent a year training to be a professional manager, but when I finished my year of training, I moved to Miami and decided I wanted to lay down roots there. I wanted to stay in Florida and become a financial advisor there. I had gone to graduate school in Miami, and I had a girlfriend down here, and this just felt like home. Personal reasons aside, I felt that the city of Miami was an underserved market, just waiting to see some tremendous growth over time. In time, that turned out to be true. We did grow tremendously, and it was a great place to start building my business.

What circumstances led you to become the managing director at New Edge Wealth?

I joined New Edge a few years ago after my team left Silicon Valley Bank where we were a Fidelity platform multifamily office. We decided to leave because we had some concerns that turned out to be warranted, and we had the foresight to leave a year or so before they failed. From there, we went through the long process of vetting various firms, and we talked to more than 10 of the top RIAs in the country. We heard that New Edge was beginning its journey, and collectively we just felt like their infrastructure and talent was a really special recipe for success. Our instincts turned out to be correct.

Three years later, New Edge ranked 13th in Forbes and 14th in Barron’s. That’s almost unbelievable in our industry and a true testament to how terrific New Edge is. That sort of rise only happens when the advisors and the clients are the right mix. That’s how you move up the rankings fast. Wealth comes to the places where it’s treated well, and the better it’s treated, the more of it comes, and that’s really what happened with New Edge.

Where does your passion originate for this field of work and for the changes you’ve made?

What brought me to financial services way back when, as a young man, was my father. He was in the business as a manager in the industry in the 80s. He worked in wealth management through the 70s, 80s, and 90s, when the wealth business was a high-growth business—extremely high growth. As baby boomers accumulated wealth and the digitization of finance began, that was just really what I always wanted to do. When I was coming out of graduate school, I was only interviewing to do one thing, and that was in the wealth side of the business.

That was always my interest because it combined two of the most essential parts of my life—a love of people and a genuine interest in finance.

As the founder of the Dwyer Family Foundation, what inspired you to build an organization to help others with education?

One of the most incredible parts of my job in finance is learning and discovering so many new concepts and ideas that I didn’t know about growing up. What I learned through really working with a lot of my clients was how people used the wealth they’ve accumulated to positively impact their communities. Over the years, my wife and I turned our focus to education. We have consistently given to local high schools where our children attended, and we continue to support schools that we feel are special and differentiate themselves by producing human beings who are just wonderful people. I believe that if you can teach a person to fish, you can feed them for life, and I think that American education institutions are the key factor to set our young people apart and foster success. So we will continue to support educational institutions and organizations that prioritize young people. That’s where a successful future lies, with our young people.

What are you most proud of in your career?

Honestly, I’ve done all the big things. I’ve been number one in the state and had my name in Forbes and Barron’s, and I’ve won the awards the industry has to offer, but what I’m proud of is the work we do to help families succeed. The other day, I attended the wedding of one of my client’s grandchildren, and just knowing that we’re building those kinds of relationships is really what I’m most proud of. Being relevant to people, being somebody who families trust, that’s just the most important thing.

Key Takeaways

• Remember that leverage can be dangerous. Investors should be careful taking on debt as many people find themselves overleveraged. Never have more debt than you have cash or bonds.

• Choose a mentor who will continue with you in your professional journey and who can impart important advice that elevates you to the next level and helps you navigate the bigger challenges of a career in wealth management.

• Have patience. Most wealth building is through compounding to build an allocation that meets the level of risk.