Chief Investment Officer, Nathan Hoyt

Financial literacy is a term that gets thrown around a lot - I think of it in terms of understanding money and, more importantly, accessing the tools available to grow your wealth. It doesn’t mean much to understand money, if you don’t have enough money to access the tools critical to grow your wealth.

One of Regent Peak’s most important goals as a business is a focus on improving financial literacy, to bridge the knowledge gap, in an effort to make the world a slightly better place. I think about my own relationship and understanding of money. Gaining access to knowledge about money has been the best and fastest way I’ve seen improvements in my life. It leaves me extremely grateful for the path that led me to a career where I help families use the same tools, I’ve been lucky enough to access for years.

I grew up in a tiny rural town outside of Atlanta, and while my family didn’t have the nicest things, I was fortunate enough to be born into a family that had enough money to even have conversations about saving and investing. Those conversations around the dinner table led me to my first job in the financial industry. I know not everyone in my hometown was as lucky, let alone folks from communities worse off than mine. I’m grateful for those conversations, an early experience with an allowance from my mom and dad, part-time jobs, tracking my first stock ever* and saving enough money to buy my first car in high school. All of this gave me the jumpstart I needed to build my relationship with money.

As I reflect on my journey, I’m thankful to be able to speak with individuals and families about their relationship with money, to help them access the tools to grow their wealth. Everyone’s relationship with money is different, and I’m struck by how many wealthy families have modest starting points and massive ending points. My guess is, wherever you started, you are grateful for where you are now. I am grateful to be able to guide families on their decades-long decision-making journey. I enjoy reaching beyond the surface questions, “What do I do with my money,” and hitting the more important questions, “What does my wealth MEAN to me?”

While many families may have similar portfolios and similar reasons for investing, the MEANINGS may be entirely different! It could be as complex as retiring on your own terms, being able to send your kids to the right school, driving your dream car**, and helping your kids with a down payment on a house. Or, it could be as simple as having enough money to be able to discuss saving and investing around the dinner table, guiding the next generation along their path and relationship with money.

What does your wealth MEAN to you?

• Nathan Hoyt
• Chief Investment Officer