Traders Magazine spoke with Marianne Caswell, President, Park Avenue Securities, who won Best in Wealth Management at the 2024 Markets Choice Awards.

Please tell us about Park Avenue Securities.

Park Avenue Securities was founded in 1999 as Guardian’s broker dealer and corporate Registered Investment Advisor, and initially formed as a complement to Guardian’s traditional portfolio of individual life and annuity insurance products.

Our path to over 2,400 financial professionals and $50B in AUM is rooted in our emphasis on blending protection with growth and the ability to support clients over their entire financial lifecycle. Our focus is on offering an extensive suite of products and solutions to help clients achieve well-being.

What are the current wealth management trends?

Of course, we’re monitoring interest rates, inflation, and general market volatility.

However, we’re particularly focused on the impact this uncertain economic environment has on financial confidence, and how that confidence impacts clients’ overall well-being. This matters because we recently found that financial wellness plays an outsized role in influencing mental wellness, physical health, and overall well-being. At the same time, the study also found that financial well-being is at an all-time low.

Put another way, we believe an emerging trend within the wealth management space is the mind, body, and wallet® connection. This interconnection subsequently requires wealth management strategies that includes both traditional investment and protection elements—and we’re proud to be working with our clients to help build these strategies every day.

What are your long-term objectives and ambitions for your firm?

We want to inspire well-being. Living up to that mission means working in partnership with our clients to support holistic wealth management planning, from life insurance to college savings and retirement planning.

Investing in our field force and emphasizing the recruitment and retention of best-in-class financial professionals is critical to supporting client well-being. These efforts include everything from adjusting our compensation model to ensure our competitiveness and identifying new ways to streamline processes to reorganizing our business development efforts and re-imagining our continuing education programs.

We believe these efforts are leading to a highly engaged top-tier network of financial professionals that are well-positioned to work with clients early and often in pursuit of their individual well-being desires.

What are recent accomplishments for Park Avenue Securities?

The first half of 2024 has been busy for Park Avenue Securities, with a focus on the continued enhancement of our product offerings to ensure we’re meeting our clients’ evolving well-being needs.

Most recently, this has included the addition of alternative asset classes, our first registered index-linked annuity (Guardian MarketPerform™), and the launch of our new Private Client Group.

As we look ahead, Park Avenue Securities is not slowing down. Over the next few months, clients should anticipate an updated web and mobile experience, as well as enhancements to our wealth reporting platform.