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Jeso O'Neill is a season marketing and communications professional with a passion for sustainability. As the Director of Communications at Vanderbilt Financial Group, she has the pleasure of working with a variety of dedicated advisors and staff looking to make a difference in the world through impact investing.Jeso O'Neill is a season marketing and communications professional with a passion for sustainability. As the Director of Communications at Vanderbilt Financial Group, she has the pleasure of working with a variety of dedicated advisors and staff looking to make a difference in the world through impact investing.Each month Vanderbilt Financial Group features an Advisor in the Vanderbilt family who exhibits the VFG values of Gratitude, Respect, Innovation, Teamwork and Trust on a consistent basis. These values impact their work with clients and VFG staff, and ultimately pushes for an excellence in their business practices that is unparalleled and incredibly unique. Beyond high-level producers, these Advisors offer sage advice and best practices for boosting your business on your terms according to your values.  

This month, we feature Mike Evans of Evans Financial Group in Cheshire, CT. Mike has a long career in several companies, and his knowledge is expansive. It was really great to chat with him and his wife/business partner Mary.

Editor's Note: This is the third and final post in a series for International Fraud Awareness Week, November 17-23. Fraud is one of the most serious issues clients deal with today. We hope that through this series, Financial Advisors gain a deeper awareness of the types of fraud their clients face and an understanding of how to help spot it before any damage is done.

TL;DR Summary:

• Social Enterprise Fraud undermines the reputation of the Financial Institutions and Advisors who offer unique opportunities for clients to have impact with their investments.
• There are 5 common types of Social Enterprise Fraud that investors need to be aware of: illegitimate enterprises, corruption, charity fraud, identity theft, and phishing.

Editor’s Note: This is the first post in a series of blogs for International Fraud Awareness Week, November 17-23. Fraud is one of the most serious issues clients deal with today. We hope that through this series, Financial Advisors gain a deeper awareness of the types of fraud their clients face and an understanding of how to help spot it before any damage is done.

TL;DR Summary:

· Asian Americans have become good targets for fraud. Their inclination towards loss aversion and fears related to immigration issues are a few reasons why scammers are targeting this population.

· Illegal Robocalls are a major issue being investigated by the FCC and the FBI.

· Robocalls have caused severe financial loss amongst Chinese Americans specifically with a reported loss of $164,000 on average per incident according to FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.

· Financial Advisors can help their clients save thousands of dollars from four handy tips on how to spot Robocall fraud.

Each month Vanderbilt Financial Group features an Advisor in the Vanderbilt family who exhibits the VFG values of Gratitude, Respect, Innovation, Teamwork and Trust on a consistent basis. These values impact their work with clients and VFG staff, and ultimately pushes for an excellence in their business practices that is unparalleled and incredibly unique. Beyond high-level producers, these Advisors offer sage advice and best practices for boosting your business on your terms according to your values.  

This month I spoke to Brian Ginty of Hudson Valley Financial Services. We chatted about the transformation of technology on the trading desk. Brian laid out some sage pieces of advice for young Financial Advisors just building up their book. 

Listen in on the audio version below or continue on to read the transcript.

Federal Student Loan Debt is a major issue that affects 43 million adult Americans. Many of them, like borrower Nicole Nelson, a native of Illinois, sought the advice of her loan servicer, Great Lakes Educational Loan Services. In a recent article by MarketWatch, the company allegedly deceived her by steering her towards repayment plans that benefit them, not her.

On June 2019, the federal appellate court unanimously decided that a loan servicer could not allegedly and deliberately misrepresent repayment options and use federal laws to shield the servicer from state rules barring deceptive business practices. The case highlights how the Education Department rarely holds servicers accountable. Due to these weak state consumer-protection laws in student-loan litigation, clients might end up with costly repayment options.