Moe Allain, RMA^®, CPWA^®, AAMS^®, MBA

CPWA^® & RMA^® Certifications Bring More than just Knowledge, Confidence and Success. 

Moe Allain is the oldest of 5 kids. With both parents being U.S. Marines and both paternal grandparents' teachers, he learned discipline at a young age. "I didn't know any other thing except discipline. As a teenager, I would spend time with my depression-era, and very frugal, grandfather watching him read financial newspapers and journals," said Allain. His grandfather was a sage soul teaching him to begin to establish credit while still in high school by borrowing against a CD he had at the bank. "My grandfather seemed to be very money-wise, so I started proactively asking him questions, listening to his answers, got interested in reading books, listening to tapes and going to any seminars I could find. I also noticed that people, in general, seemed to have problems with money and discipline. It seemed to me that they needed help, and there were not a lot of knowledgeable volunteers around to help them," added Allain.

Allain pursued a finance degree and came out of graduate business school with an MBA in 1991, but the job market was not great. Only 7 out of 75 students in his class had jobs on graduation day. While interviewing, Allain was much more concerned about the reputation, integrity, and potential personal growth in his future, then the starting pay of whichever company he eventually went to work for. He did a lot of research and eventually took a job with Parke-Davis Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer). "I spent ten years in the pharmaceutical industry before this career [as an advisor] learning about conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure, cholesterol, depression, diabetes, dementia of the Alzheimer's type, epilepsy, cancer, antibiotics, smoking cessation and others. I got to educate already educated people (physicians) on these conditions and possible treatment solutions but had to do so in very short periods of time." This turned out to be good practice for Allain's future career change.

During his time in the pharmaceutical industry, Allain also advised coworkers on their 401k asset allocation and the exercise of stock options simply because he enjoyed lending his knowledge. After finishing up one of his free advising sessions, a coworker and VP told Allain, "you really should go and do this for a living. You are really good at it and seem to enjoy it." Allain explaining, "Deep down inside, I always wanted to work in the financial services industry, but never seemed to make it to the industry. Apparently, I was simply waiting for someone to give me permission finally to go ahead and do this. I resigned two weeks later, then unannounced, walked into an AG Edwards office in Houston, TX, and asked to speak to the branch manager about getting into this business. I have never looked back, and I am now getting ready to enter my 21st year as a financial advisor."

Allain now works with a group of individuals that manage a lot of wealthy retirees' monies. His office, across less than 15 advisors, manages more than $4 billion in assets. "My coworkers are all highly educated, credentialed and experienced. More than the average advisor and they are always upskilling and applying new skills to the benefit of the client." This mindset has fit well with Allain's love of learning.

"Coming into the field, I felt like I was at the bottom of the food chain and wanted to improve my skillset and confidence level, so I took action and pursued professional credentials. The combination of the CPWA^® and the RMA^® was well-suited for my practice. My institute certifications have allowed me to confidently discuss, plan for, sync and execute retirement and estate plans together by working closely with the client's estate planning attorney and CPA."

Not only that, Allain added that providing thorough and good work [for clients], while not only personally fulfilling, often results in unsolicited referrals. "By learning more and gaining more education in my field, I feel more confident and have less stress. This encourages me to do even a better job for my client."

In addition to expanding his knowledge and confidence, pursuing professional designations has provided Allain the additional benefit of community, "being a CPWA^® and RMA^® designated professional has allowed me the opportunity to network with other Institute designation holders and work with them on Institute events." As a member of the Wealth Advisor Forum Conference Planning Committee and RMA^® Commission, Allain helps plan Institute events and provides his expertise in building the RMA^® exam.

Allain also shared his best advice for investing in yourself, "Don't [ever] think that you are ever too old to learn more in your field that will benefit your clients, your business and your health. Getting your practice re-launched and re-energized in your late 40s and into your 60s is a very, very doable opportunity and can be very exciting. The Institute designations do not discriminate based on age; why should you? I earned my CPWA^® at the age of 53 and my RMA^® at the age of 55. If I can do it, why can't you?" Adding, "regardless of how young or old you may be, upskilling is going to continue to be critical for advisors for the foreseeable future. Laws are changing quickly. Just look at 2019 and 2020. We had the SECURE Act in December 2019 and then the CARES Act in March 2020. These were game changers for retirement advisors. If you aren't up to speed with these changes and the potential impact the changes may have on your clients, there is a good chance your competition will be up-to-date, and you risk losing those great clients."

Learn more about the Certified Private Wealth Advisor^® (CPWA^®) Certification here. 

Learn more about the Retirement Management Advisor^® (RMA^®) Certification here.