by joe innace
ETHIC TALK
INTERVIEW
Revealing an Advisor's Work Ethic Check under the hood
TV host and podcaster Mike Rowe – of Dirty Jobs fame – likes to say: “Work ethic is important because, unlike intelligence, athleticism, charisma, or any other natural attribute, it’s a choice.” It’s also that intangible quality that many people look for when choosing someone to manage their money.
M
ike Bensey, MBA and president of Good Life Financial Advisors of Orlando, gets that. And a work ethic forged during his youth is something on which he now bases his firm’s central philosophy. “I grew up in West Virginia where my father and grandfather ran a gas station back when everything was full service,” Bensey recently told Advisors Magazine in an interview, “And I learned a work ethic where you help everybody.” It’s one of the reasons his firm does not require any minimum investment. In addition to comprehensive wealth management services, Good Life Financial Advisors of Orlando specializes in 401(k) planning, which is a relatively large part of the practice. Bensey estimates the
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firm has about 60-70 percent of assets in its 401(k) practice, but 6070 percent of the firm’s income is from wealth management. That split, he claimed, is unique from a lot of advisors. “And in that 401(k) practice, you help people at all levels,” he said, adding, “And we end up helping people that many advisors will turn away. But we want to treat them like everybody else.” Bensey figures the firm handles about $150 million in 401(k) assets. His firm manages the plans with the sponsors and providers by conducting quarterly trustee meetings and helping them fulfill their fiduciary responsibility for the plans. For plan participants, individual educational meetings are scheduled to review accounts, or discuss pretty much anything else besides 401(k)s. “We have a very MAR 2021
smooth-running operation on the 401(k) side, which brings in a lot of personal business to the wealth management side,” noted Bensey, who has been a wealth advisor for over 30 years. “We really have those two lines of business and I think we do the 401(k) side better than 90% of advisors out there who do it a little bit – some don’t do it at all.” An independent firm, Good Life Financial Advisors of Orlando is affiliated with publicly traded LPL Financial and able to draw on the major company’s
tools and resources to provide financial research, guidance and recommendations. LPL doesn’t offer proprietary investment products or engage in investment banking activities, which means advisors are not pressured or influenced by LPL to sell its products. Still, like his family’s gas station years ago in West Virginia, Bensey keeps things simple, grounded in personal service. “Our client service philosophy is to make it so easy to do business with us that
