Recognizing the difficulties inherent in maintaining a sense of balance in financial planning and wealth management caused by the presence of so many potential variables and unexpected expenses, Ian Filippini has sought to provide clients of Filippini Wealth Management, Inc. with access to the kind of comprehensive wealth management services so critical to ensuring financial security while accounting for all manner of situations and circumstances. 

Mr. Filippini, the president of Filippini Wealth Management, Inc., has gone to great lengths to make his wealth management firm into a truly comprehensive and full-service provider. The longtime president of the wealth management firm also emphasizes the critical need for educating and informing clients regarding the most pressing issues and trends that might exert some level of influence over the outcome of a plan. It is for these reasons that Mr. Filippini, who has served as president of Filippini Wealth Management, Inc. for years, has been instrumental in encouraging the company’s consistent and sustainable business growth throughout his time at the helm of the wealth management firm. 

As president, Mr. Filippini has also emphasized the importance of maintaining and exceeding the lofty standards established at the time of the firm’s founding. Mr. Filippini’s leadership has therefore ensured that the firm never loses sight of its central mission to provide clients with comprehensive services that are highly individualized according to the specific needs of each individual client. 

A resident of Santa Barbara, California, Mr. Filippini has long possessed a truly unique perspective concerning executive leadership. This unique and highly effective approach has allowed Mr. Filippini to help clients throughout each of the wealth management firm’s four integrated divisions and has certainly exerted an immensely positive influence on the manner in which clients are served — not to mention the extraordinary impact on the exceptional results the firm is able to generate. 

How did you get started in this business? What inspired you to start this business?

Wealth management is complex enough as it is, so it became my goal to reduce the inherent complexities to the greatest degree possible by making Filippini Wealth Management, Inc. a multi-faceted wealth management firm. 

How do you make money?

We work with clients to develop an individualized plan for effective short- and long-term wealth management. 

How long did it take for you to become profitable?

We developed a very modest timeline for profitability, as we agreed that it was of the utmost importance to provide truly exceptional and comprehensive wealth management services to our clients right from the beginning. This required a great deal of patience on our part, but it has clearly paid off many times over. 

When you were starting out, was there ever a time you doubted it would work? If so, how did you handle that?

I always make a point of considering every possible risk and accounting for potential outcomes based on the extent and likelihood of each scenario, which ensures I can develop a plan that will be successful regardless of the external conditions that are simply outside of my control.

What’s one way you’ve been able to grow your business?

I’ve always been active in the local community, so there was a lot of word-of-mouth marketing that occurred and continues to help grow the business. 

What is one marketing strategy (other than referrals) that you’re using that works really well to generate new business?

I believe that individuals and businesses can always benefit from educational resources and any other type of information concerning wealth and wealth management, so I contribute articles to a number of places and speak at public meetings on a regular basis. This has resulted in quite a few inquiries from potential clients. 

What is the toughest decision you’ve had to make in the last few months?

When you prepare as thoroughly as I do, it is rare that any decision is difficult. The ideal course of action is easy to recognize when you remain committed to advanced and in-depth preparation.

What do you think it is that makes you successful?

Right from the moment Filippini Wealth Management, Inc. was founded, we agreed that our single focus should remain squarely on the needs of the client. We structured our firm in a way that would ensure we are never beholden to anyone other than our clients.

What has been your most satisfying moment in business?

Running a principled business and demonstrating that it is not necessary to compromise one’s personal or professional values in order to achieve immense success.

What does the future hold for your business? What are you most excited about?

I’ve always enjoyed the research that goes into analyzing future market trends, so I am most excited at the prospect of new technologies that can aid in this analysis and can further ensure that our clients have access to the most exceptional and comprehensive services possible. 

What business books have inspired you?

“The Intelligent Investor,” written by Benjamin Graham and published back in 1949.

What is a recent purchase you have made that’s helped with your business?

We recently made additional investments in robust analytics software to support each one of our four integrated wealth-management divisions. 

What did you learn from Benjamin Graham’s “The Intelligent Investor” that still possesses value so many years after its original publication?

It is the overarching principal of “value investing” as it is defined in Graham’s book, which essentially advocates for a long-term approach that is pragmatic and eschews investment practices containing considerable risks.

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