Read Article - Goodman Financial Corporation

THE
GOODMAN
REPORT
BACKSTAGE: The People and the Process
Many clients think of
visor. So are Ed Roth and Charlotte
Goodman Financial in
Jungen. But are they “it”? Is this even
terms of one or two
familiar faces. But, there’s a all they do? Hardly! Feel free to look
larger team serving you each day. Behind the scenes, many minds work in
concert to combine individual talents
and areas of expertise for your benefit. Here’s just a sample.
Let’s say you call Wade Egmon one
morning to ask questions about a particular stock in your portfolio. While
you have him on the phone, you also
mention a new retirement goal that’s
been on your mind. Sure, Wade gives
you the information you’re seeking
and makes a note to incorporate your
retirement goal into your long-term
investment plan. Wade’s a terrific ad-
behind the curtain.
For instance… how did that stock end
up in your portfolio in the first place?
For starters, there was research.
And more research. Senior Analyst Ian
Machir along with analysts Chelsea
Benoit and Anna Ceker stay constantly
abreast of the news and consumer
trends — data to support the right investments. Plus they stay on red alert
to any shift in the business and economic climate that could potentially
turn a right investment into a wrong
investment. That research then passes
to senior staff members on the invest-
ment committee
(see article, page 2)
who discuss the investment’s desirability, both in
general and for
specific client portfolios.
Once investment decisions are
made, who rides
herd on all that information and sees
that you stay informed? Account
Administrator
Jose Alfaro’s duties include trade and
data reconciliation as well as client
statement preparation, while Director
of Operations Paul Brill oversees the
entire database and portfolio management reporting system, critical
functions in safeguarding client assets (see article, page 3).
And then there’s Steve Goodman
heading the all-star cast. He believes
that the heart of Goodman Financial
lies not only in its “good of the client”
philosophy but in a highly qualified
and diverse staff — a staff with varying professional backgrounds and
specialties as well as age, gender and
ethnicity who still form a tight knit
team because they share core values.
Again, this is merely a glimpse of
what happens backstage at Goodman
Financial. Inside you'll find out more
about the unique individuals who join
together to ensure your financial wellbeing.
Look inside for
the answers …
Which staff member actually likes to
jog in Houston in August? Yes,
August.
What’s the current process for
making investment decisions for your
portfolio?
How did the senior analyst's sixmonth-old choose a baseball team to
root for?
What steps are taken to monitor your
account? How often?
Who at Goodman Financial bakes the
best cake?
Whose interests are more important
at Goodman Financial — the firm’s or
the client’s?
What staff member’s family has a
flag that flew to the moon?
Who’s on the Operations team?
Who’s on the Investment
Committee?
Who did not turn into Bridezilla?
Designed to be Different
B Y S TEVEN R. G OODMAN ,
CPA, CFP ®
P RESIDENT & C HIEF I NVESTMENT O FFICER
Just over 25 years ago
when the seed was planted
for this organization, it was
intended to sprout a special hybrid type of firm,
one that provided the dual
services of investment management
and financial advisory services. These
are two distinct services, and it was uncommon at the time to see them delivered by one firm, especially for a single
fee. In fact, in late 1988 when the incorporation papers were filed, a fee-only
firm was a rarity, with commissionbased and commission-and-fee (often
called fee-based) firms being the norm.
We chose to be fee-only from day one,
delivering client services under the fiduciary model whereby client’s interests
are always put ahead of our own. It
might come as a surprise, but those
firms that are commission-based have
no duty to put their client’s interest
ahead of their own.
Possibly even more unique, we are a
financial services company where none
of the staff have sales quotas to fill — no
pressure to sign up new clients versus
keeping the appropriate focus on existing clients. If you’re familiar with how
most of the financial services industry
operates, you’ll realize just how unusual that is. The role of our employees
is to provide exceptional client service
and deliver investment management
under a risk-managed approach. Serving our clients well has led to referrals
of their friends, families, neighbors and humbling, and a huge responsibility
co-workers. Growing in that way as- that we all take seriously.
sures us we will have the kind of clients
In this special edition newsletter we
we enjoy working with – those just like share with you more about what makes
our current clients. We also experience us different, from our approach to client
growth on a regular basis simply be- service and investment management, to
cause of our firm’s culture and person- our deliberate and purposeful approach
ality. Goodman Financial professionals to operational controls to protect client
are not hermits who hibernate in their assets. We have also included features
respective offices! We are actively in- on our team members so that you can
volved in our communities — in nu- become more familiar with those servmerous business, professional, civic ing you and our entire client base.
and charitable organizations. Plus,
Thank you for a wonderful first 25
we’ve all built up networks of peers and years. We look forward to sharing the
other professionals such as attorneys, next 25 years with you.
CPAs and bankers who
help us meet our
clients’ needs.
Celebrating 25 years
is certainly a milestone.
What began as a oneperson firm is now a
firm of 10 extraordinary
individuals serving close
to 200 clients and managing approximately
$300 million of assets.
Our clients are located
all across the United
States and range from
individuals to multigenerational families, SERVING CLIENTS IN TEXAS AND ACROSS THE U.S.
trusts, endowments, • Individuals
• Trusts
• Foundations
foundations, businesses
• LLCs
• Partnerships
• Endowments
and pension funds. The
• Pension Plans
• Estates
trust our clients have • Non-Profit
• IRAs
put in all of us is quite Organizations
S P E C I A L
5177 Richmond Avenue, Suite 700, Houston, Texas 77056
Phone: 713-599-1777 Fax: 713-599-1811 Toll Free: 877-599-1778
Email: info@goodmanfinancial.com Website: www.goodmanfinancial.com
E D I T I O N
$25,000
Anniversary Challenge! We’re planning to give $25,000
to a charity nominated by one of
our clients to commemorate
Goodman Financial’s 25th anniversary. Would you like your favorite charity to be in the
running? Before Dec. 15, send us a
one-page summary of the
501(c)(3) charity you feel should
benefit from our anniversary gift,
telling us all about the charity and
why you support it. (Please understand that while every charity
submitted may be worth our support, we can only choose one winner.) We’ll announce the winning
nomination and highlight the chosen charity in the next newsletter.
We know many worthy organizations are out there — tell us about
your cause!
I N
T H I S
I S S U E :
• Backstage: The People
and the Process
1
• Designed to be Different
1
• How We Invest
2
• Operation Protection
3
• Charity Begins at Home
4
T h i s F i r m i s n o t a C PA F i r m
T H E GOODMAN R E P O R T
How We Invest
As a client, you have experienced our personalized approach
to investment:
1) Your portfolio has been structured to fit your particular needs, and
we continually adjust your portfolio to maintain the fit.
2) Your holdings are held separately from others.
3) Your portfolio is managed for maximum tax efficiency, according
to your specific situation.
Essentially, our investment philosophy is to strike the right balance between risk and reward, client by
client, without inviting excess volatility; therefore, we invest in only the
most attractive equity and fixed income securities. This requires marrying a dynamic vision to a disciplined
process.
Each person has a different risk
tolerance, determined by financial
practicalities as well as your personal
mindset. Information from initial
and follow-up meetings with your
client service manager determine
which allocation and mix of investments emerge as a good match for
you. Currently the three members of
our Investment Committee – who ultimately select the investments you
hold— are Steve Goodman, Ed Roth
and Ian Machir.
Equity Investments
Our standard in equity selection is
a balance between growth and value
among large-, mid- and small-cap equities. This increases the probability
of superior performance over the long
term without taking on excess risk or
having to speculate which style will
perform best in each period.
We use a top-down and bottom-up
approach to selecting securities — a
series of appraisal measures to eval-
uate potential growth and performance of a company and its stock’s potential (see graphic below).
Fixed Income Investments
Bonds are the most stable part of
your investment portfolio, providing
a stream of fixed income. Our system
of “laddering” these investments further stabilizes your portfolio’s volatility, lessening the impact of interest
rate movements. That’s because each
year, only a portion of your bonds
mature, allowing for better yields
when interest rates increase and reducing the impact when interest rates
decline. Currently, we stick to bonds
of short to intermediate term duration which avoids the greater interest
rate risk in long-term bonds.
We also consider government,
agency, corporate and municipal
bonds depending on your risk tolerance and tax profile. Regardless, only
investment grade bonds are acceptable at Goodman Financial.
Eyes on the Horizon
Your portfolio is never carved in
stone. We constantly review investment alternatives and make changes
whenever more attractive opportunities arise. Our efforts on your behalf
are for the long haul, for your best
possible future.
We are investors, not traders.
EQUITY INVESTMENT APPROACH
Universe
Research
Portfolio
Construction
Sell
Discipline
T h i s F i r m i s n o t a C PA F i r m
UNIVERSE
Large , Mid, and Small Cap
Growth and Value
US and Foreign
RESEARCH
Above-Average Growth Rates in
Sales, Earnings, and Dividends
Superior Management
Strong Industry Position
Reasonable Price-Earnings Ratio
Sound Capital and Debt Structure
Strong Financial Position
Above-Average Return-on-Equity
Lower-Than-Average Debt-to-Equity
Above-Average R&D Expenditures
Conservative Accounting Practices
PORTFOLIO CONSTRUCTION
Analysis of Weightings by:
Market Cap
Industry
Growth/Value
Client-Specific Needs
and Preferences
SELL DISCIPLINE
Change in Fundamentals
Change in Prospect for Industry
Change in Outlook for Company
Becomes Overweighted
Ian C. Machir
Senior Analyst- Ian’s responsibilities include equity research, fixed
income trading, proforma investment plans, preparation of client
presentations, reviewing client statements and holdings, portfolio
rebalancing and financial planning analyst supervision.
Ian and his wife are the fortunate possessors of a rare and
valuable commodity: a mellow six-month-old.
“Rue is very content,” grins Ian. “We just took her camping and to her first
Astros game. My wife was rooting for the Astros, me for the Cleveland Indians.
I think I convinced Rue to side with me.”
Why the traitorous baseball behavior? Ian’s a Midwestern transplant who
grew up in Findlay, Ohio, and is rather nostalgic for his home team plus the
beautiful autumn season.
He muses, “The leaves have all turned to red, orange and yellow … but I guess
I won’t miss it so much in a few months when it’s 20 degrees. (laughs) Actually
I’m coming to love Texas, it’s a different world. Not so much like the Old West
as I was expecting. It’s a very ‘proud’ state and that’s fun to be part of.”
Goodman Financial can’t actually take the credit for transplanting Ian, although since 2012 Ian has certainly relished “working somewhere my contribution is valued.” But the original culprit was his high school sweetheart who
moved to Houston, which necessitated a long-distance relationship until they
were reunited at college. The couple is also united in their social and charitable
beliefs: helping finance a water well drilling operation in Latin America recently,
teaching English to refugees fleeing violence in their countries, and supporting
a Houston organization that fights human trafficking.
Ian explains: “There’s a saying by William James: ‘The great use of a life is to
spend it on something that outlasts it.’ That embodies how I feel — I strive to
live an extraordinary life.”
Ed Roth,
CFA, CPA, CFP®, CEBS
Vice President, Investment Advisory Services-
Responsibilities include developing investment strategies, managing
portfolios, supplementing investment research activities, and client
communications.
Long before Ed joined Goodman Financial six years ago, he
was with a Houston firm who had him work with a certain trust company in Denver. There was a certain lady there who was particularly good at her job and
became his “go to” person. They got along so well they decided, hey, why not
meet in person? To be fair, they agreed on a halfway point: Oklahoma City.
They’ve been married 24 years. Oklahoma City must be stupendously romantic.
Like Ian, Ed is a Midwest transplant. He fled for the Sunbelt during a “horrendous” period of unemployment in his native area, figuring he’d stay in Houston
a few years before moving to some beach in Florida. Three decades later, he’s
kind of a naturalized Texan, even though he has eight brothers and sisters scattered across the country.
Interestingly, Ed picked Goodman Financial before there was even an opening
for him. In searching for a new job, he evaluated this firm and decided here was
a place he would fit. A year later, he was delighted to have that wish come true.
“Goodman Financial goes the extra mile,” he explains. “I think that becomes
apparent to clients. All kinds of things happen to people and they need help,
extra help. That’s part of the culture that’s made us so successful.”
The Roths have particularly big hearts when it comes to our nation’s veterans
and the four-legged and feathered inhabitants of the world. In addition to monetary contributions to benefit animal organizations, they actively participate in
rescuing cats, dogs and birds. They humanely trap feral cats to have them
spayed/neutered. Not everybody returns to the wild.
Ed chuckles, “We came back from Padre to find a cat with four kittens on our patio.
We found homes for the kittens but the mom is now an indoor cat … at our house.”
One overriding philosophy of life that appeals to Ed is being slow to judge,
remaining flexible: “Be a willow. In a hurricane, the big trees go down.”
Anna P. Ceker
Financial Planning Analyst-Responsibilities include equity
research, proforma investment plans, preparation of client
presentations, reviewing client statements and holdings, and
portfolio rebalancing.
A recent addition to Goodman Financial, Anna finds her new colleagues
“smart, kind, genuine, honest.” Born in Houston to a close-knit family of Argentinian origin, she likes the city’s diversity.
She observes, “There are people from all over the world here.”
Recruited by the firm from the University of Houston, Anna says she chose
her career “because I’ve seen people struggle with their finances, not handling
them in a wise manner. I didn’t want that for myself and others.” As a youth volunteer at her church, she is interested in working with orphaned and underprivileged kids.
At the time of her interview, Anna was in the middle of wedding preparations.
She met her fiancée through family friends and was looking forward to a romantic honeymoon in Cancun.
She laughs, “I’m nervous, but I’m containing it. I am not going to be a
Bridezilla!”
[Update: Anna did get married and the couple jetted off to a tropical paradise
for their honeymoon. Reportedly she succeeded in non-monstrous bridal behavior.]
––––––| 2 |–––––
Operation Protection
Once the investments
In basic terms, each day Opera- posits, withdrawals and transfers to transactions to discover anything unexcarefully tailored for your portfolio tions staff run computer programs ensure there’s not any money move- pected or unusual, and your cash to determine if any needs to be invested. Each
designed to make sure your account ment they’re not aware of.
have been made, that’s far from the
Monthly, they review your asset allo- quarter, Operations provides the other
values in our portfolio tracking softconclusion of the Goodman Finan- ware match up with those from the cation to determine if rebalancing is nec- teams with data to compare how your
cial process; it’s only the beginning. custodian’s website. They do a daily essary, your individual holdings to look account is performing in comparison to
Your Operations staff is charged review of account activity such as de- for over/underweighted positions, your benchmarks and your investments goals
so that adjustments can be
with constant account
made if advisable. For instimonitoring — reviewing
GOODMAN FINANCIAL ACCOUNT OVERSIGHT
tutional clients, data is gathyour transactions and
ered twice a year to support
statements on a compreDaily reconciliation of account values with custodian’s data
an additional review of your
hensive schedule. The
account to ensure it complies with its investment
most carefully laid plans
policy statement. Finally,
must be meticulously
each year there must be a
implemented if they are
reconciliation of the custoto succeed. The old sayMonthly review of asset allocation, individual holdings, transactions & cash level
dian Form 1099 to Gooding “the devil’s in the deman Financial’s internal
tails” is never more true
software.
Of course, you are kept
than for the operations
informed all along the way
Quarterly review of account performance vs benchmarks
function.
with newsletters, notifica“We’re here to support
tion of transactions and
the efforts of the client
quarterly performance reservice, investment manports — all generated
agement and financial
through the Operations
Semi-annual in-depth review of account, ensuring compliance
advisory teams,” explains
with
investment
policy
statement
(IPS)
function.
Director of Operations
Paul assures, “We make
Paul Brill. “We do a lot to
sure everything is being
safeguard client assets,
managed according to the
monitoring alerts from
plan, and we always know
the custodian — all assets
exactly what’s going on in
going in and out from a
Annual reconciliation of custodian Form 1099 to internal software
a client’s account.”
client account.”
Wade D. Egmon,
CPA, CFP®
Client Services Manager-Wade’s
responsibilities include meeting with
clients to discuss their investment plans
as well as providing ongoing client
service to address any issues or needs.
A small town guy, Wade grew up in El Campo, Texas
(near Victoria). Ten years ago, he married his college
sweetheart on the anniversary of their first date. Their
lives these days revolve around “heavy involvement” in
their church and church council, and their five-year-old
son and two-year-old daughter.
Wade chuckles: “They’re fun to watch. My son is very
sharp and tends to be a people pleaser. My daughter? …
She’s a handful. They’re practically opposites but still love
each other to pieces.”
The couple aspires to be “good stewards of the
earth,” he says, and at a time when some of their friends
were moving to bigger and bigger houses, they chose
to pare down instead. They have a small garden, which
they work on expanding each year, and were shopping
for chickens at press time! They also support Living
Water International.
For himself, Wade does try to find some time to play his
much-loved guitar and make it to Crossfit classes daily.
“Growing up, I played football and baseball and tend
to be very competitive,” he admits. “So I compete in
Crossfit competitions and have taken a liking to obstacle
course racing. This fall I am planning to compete in Dallas’
Spartan Beast, a 14-mile obstacle course.”
After an early career in tax accounting, Wade came to
Goodman Financial five years ago because he had come
to enjoy personal financial planning and related to the
Goodman Financial philosophy: “I just liked the way they
do business and have been happy here since Day One.
This is a fantastic group of people.”
Jose R. Alfaro
Account Administrator-
Jose’s responsibilities include
client statement preparation,
portfolio reconciliations, account
paperwork preparation and
data entry.
Brought to Houston at the age of one, Jose
has no memory of his El Salvadoran birthplace, but his roots are strong — he’s all about
family.
“Most Saturdays, Mom and I visit my sister
and spend the day with my nieces and
nephews,” he smiles. “I love the little rascals,
I love being an uncle.”
A novice homeowner, Jose is learning all
about the blessing and curse that is property
upkeep and “making it your own.” Although
he tries to spend most of his time supporting
family and friends, this new aspect of his life
is taking more time and energy then he first
anticipated.
One unique aspect of Jose is that he actually likes the Houston heat. Seriously. “I jog
four or five days a week — anything below 80
feels cold to me! 153 days left until next summer,” he exclaims as winter approaches.
When the shock of cold weather and home
repairs subside, Jose hopes to again participate in charity runs; his last was Sprint for
Life, which benefits ovarian cancer. His credo
is one that he says is characteristic of the Hispanic culture and which he attributes to his
father: “A man should be a man of his word.”
Jose has found working at Goodman Financial to be “awesome.” He says, “I’ve
learned a lot.”
Did you know…
Paul E. Brill
Executive Vice President &
Director of Operations-Paul
oversees the portfolio management
reporting system, account monitoring,
client distributions, custodial
relationships, company accounting,
database management and office management.
Paul’s most vivid childhood memory is watching
Apollo 12 rocket into the midday sky during a rainstorm on Nov. 14, 1969, miraculously surviving a lightening strike 36 seconds into the flight.
“My parents are good friends with Alan Bean so we
went down to watch the launch,” he marvels. “Bean
became the fourth person to walk on the moon and
actually gave my parents a flag that went to the moon
with him!”
A fifth-generation Houstonian, Paul’s early career
was hotel and restaurant management. During those
years, he met Steve Goodman, a fellow alum of the
University of Houston’s Hilton College, and ended up
joining Goodman Financial 19 years ago — says he’s
done everything over the years short of directly advising clients.
“The firm has grown to be so strong and capable,
we have so many incredible talented people who support our clients in such a comprehensive way,” he
brags proudly.
With his wife of 27 years, Kimberly, Paul will be dividing time this fall between wedding festivities for
their middle daughter, who lives in College Station,
and their youngest daughter’s Houston Memorial High
swim meets. Their oldest daughter works for the city’s
Museum of Fine Arts.
Paul is passionate about his “number one cause” —
the Houston Food Bank. He says quietly, “I like to eat
and I get to eat three meals a day. A lot of people
don’t.”
GFC Client Retention As of October, 2014
Average client retention rate at Goodman Financial is over 96 percent? Each Goodman Financial client portfolio is customized? (No “one size fits all” …)
Goodman Financial does not receive commissions or any other compensation on securities
purchased for a client’s portfolio?
Goodman Financial does not hold custody of client assets; that remains with highly insured
financial institutions?
Each Goodman Financial client’s portfolio holdings remain separate from other clients’ assets?
––––––| 3 |–––––
T h i s F i r m i s n o t a C PA F i r m
T H E GOODMAN R E P O R T
Charity Begins At Home
natural law,
“Therelaw,is athat
a divine
obliges
you and me to relieve the
suffering, the distressed
and the destitute.
”
– C O N R A D H I LT O N
Yes, charity does indeed begin at
home — that’s absolutely true for us.
As a firm, we contribute financial resources and many volunteer hours to
a wide range of worthy causes. When
you read our staff’s personal biographies, you were no doubt struck by
the commitment each has made to
the needs of their community and the
world; it’s simply part of our culture.
The firm further supports the
staff’s charitable intent by making
contributions each December on behalf of every member. Each has an allocation that they can direct to one,
two or more charities. We are in the
third year of this initiative and have
doubled each staff member’s allocation each year. Once the allocations
are specified, we ask everyone to
share with one another the merits of
their chosen organizations.
We also assist our clients with exercising their charitable intent,
whether that pertains to annual giving, major gifts, appreciated stock or
planned giving (bequests and the
like). Often these issues are addressed as a client approaches estate
planning. Being active in philanthropy, we are able to help our clients
align their interests with needs in the
NOMINATE YOUR CHARITY
We’re planning to give $25,000 to a charity nominated by one of our
clients to commemorate Goodman Financial’s 25th anniversary. Would
you like your favorite charity to be in the running? Before Dec. 15, send
us a one-page summary of the 501(c)(3) charity you feel should benefit
from our anniversary gift, telling us all about the charity and why you
support it. (Please understand that while every charity submitted may
be worth our support, we can only choose one winner.) We’ll announce
the winning nomination and highlight the chosen charity in the next
newsletter. We know many worthy organizations are out there — tell
us about your cause!
Sprint for Life, which benefits
finding a cure for ovarian cancer
- Jose
Financial literacy, especially to
empower kids and women
- Chelsea
The Houston Food Bank —
three meals a day for everyone!
- Paul
Orphaned and underprivileged
kids
- Anna
Living Water International
-Wade
Aid for victims of domestic violence
- Roxana
The Albert and Ethel Herzstein
Charitable Foundation
-Steve
Lamar University, ACS’s Relay
for Life and Dillon International
(adoptions)
- Charlotte
Water well drilling for thirdworld countries, teaching English to refugees, the fight
against human trafficking
- Ian
Our nation’s veterans. Compassion for animals.
President and Chief Investment Officer-Founder and
Charlotte
M. Jungen,
president of Goodman Financial Corporation since 1988. His
responsibilities include firm management, investment strategy,
managing client portfolios, and working with clients.
Client Services
Manager-
Steven R. Goodman, CPA, CFP®
Financial Planning
Analyst-Chelsea’s
Goodman Financial’s busy founder
has few hobbies, but his goal is to reduce his long work hours. Soon, he
swears! He used to fish a bit but the last
time he took one of the grandkids with
him … unfortunately the 8-year-old had
grown tall enough to see over the fish
cleaning table and complained they
were hurting the fish. Steve’s wife, Hilda,
had to microwave spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.
His enthusiasm for his firm goes beyond success in business: “Ultimately
my reason to be here isn’t just to
make a living,” he asserts. “My real
goal is to make a difference in the
community. I remember when we decided to add ‘Philanthropy’ to our
logo. It’s a reflection of what we believe as a firm, what our individual
staff members believe, as well as
many of our clients. You can’t give
money away all the time, but the more
successful you are, the more I believe
you should give back.”
After years of volunteering for the
Texas Society of CPAs, Steve served
as their 2008-09 chairman and since
rolling off his term, has been devoted
to his work on the board of the Albert & Ethel Herzstein Charitable
Foundation.
He reflects, “That has turned out to
be a significant commitment and has
had me attending various meetings
with grantee organizations, making
site visits, and led to me participating
in the Philanthropy Roundtable annual
conference and regional events as an
attendee, moderator and speaker. It
has been a privilege to participate.”
In addition to three grown daughters and three grandchildren, Steve’s
staff are a sort of extended family. He
says he sought out individuals whose
ethical and moral boundaries are
where they need to be, and is pleased
to report they weren’t hard to find.
“They’re out there,” he smiles.
“We’ve got some great folks here. This
bunch is about doing the right thing.
Organizations have cultures … and
many firms have conflicts of interests
with their clients, are more worried
about their own bottom line. Us? We
keep our eye on the ball — we’re not
selling anything.”
Steve says that’s probably why he,
like his father and grandfather before
him, prefers going into the office to
retiring and sailing around the world:
because of the kind of clients Goodman Financial has attracted and the
staff who serves them. He stresses, “I
don’t expect we’ll ever have an employee who feels the need to gripe
about us on Facebook. We value them
and want them to feel like it’s the right
choice to be here every single business day.”
Roxana Gonzalez
Administrative Assistant - Responsibilities include greeting clients, coordinating calendars and meetings, formatting
and producing the firm’s newsletter, and working directly with the President to coordinate activities, files, and work flow.
Roxana says her children — son, 18-year-old Ryan, and daughter, 9-year-old Rylee — are “my life.” The trio
lives in Pearland with an English bulldog named Winston and a guinea pig named Hamilton, rather dignified
names for pets who Roxana laughingly describes as “chubby things.”
A native of Kingsville, Texas, Roxana says that after work, she still prefers life in a small town. Right now
the family is very wrapped up in Ryan’s senior year. Between his football and baseball games, the booster club and school
fundraising, she says that she’s on his schedule.
However, she assures, “Rylee and I do have our girly days and watch movies. I think I liked Frozen more than she did —I
sing along with the soundtrack, which she seems to find funny. That may be because I can’t sing.”
After 14 years in the healthcare industry, Roxana is new to the Goodman Financial staff and looks forward to new experiences
at the firm. And one day when mom duties subside, her goal is to get involved with advocating for victims of domestic violence.
T h i s F i r m i s n o t a C PA F i r m
Our Staff Cares About …
- Ed
Chelsea A.
Benoit
responsibilities include
equity research,
proforma investment
plans, preparation of client presentations,
reviewing client statements and holdings,
and portfolio rebalancing.
Chelsea freely admits it: she has a
sweet tooth, a “huge, huge sweet
tooth.” She delights in baking on special
occasions for friends and family. In fact,
that’s how she snared her boyfriend.
She explains, “When we first started
dating, I didn’t really know what to get
him for his birthday so I decided to bake
him a cake. He likes Oreos … so I made a
devil’s food cake with marshmallow
frosting and cookie bits. Now every year
he asks, ‘Are you gonna bake my cake?’”
A new addition to the firm, Chelsea
says she’s been soaking up information
like a sponge. She likes the idea of “when
things get tough, the tough get going”
and credits the concept for helping her
to perform under pressure. “Sometimes
that’s your time to shine,” she muses.
A native Houstonian and “big city girl,”
Chelsea appreciates the art scene. She enjoys writing and briefly dreamed of a fashion career. Instead, she developed an
interest in her big sister’s chosen field of finance and decided that financial planning
was right for her. She nods, “I decided I
wanted to do something to help people
accomplish their goals and dreams.”
To that end, her latest aspiration is to
get involved in programs that teach financial literacy to kids as well as organizations that empower girls and women.
community. Hence the $25,000
Nominate Your Charity initiative (see
box below).
On so many levels, philanthropy is
a driving force for us. Many of our
clients are vital members of the
charitable community and we at
Goodman Financial aren’t just spectators. We understand the unique
needs of nonprofit organizations and
private foundations, and work closely
with their officers and professional
advisors. We’re proud to be part of
their team and to prove it, we give
back 20 percent of our fee to these
nonprofit organizations or the causes
they support.
––––––| 4 |–––––
CPA, CFP®
Responsibilities include
meeting with clients to
discuss their investment plans as well as
providing ongoing client service to address
any issues or needs.
Charlotte moved from Beaumont to
join Goodman Financial last year and reports she has since been “trying to eat
my way through Houston.”
“There are so many fabulous restaurants here,” she laughs. “And so much
happening. A great place to be if you’re
single.”
Recently Charlotte was accepted to
Leadership Houston, a yearlong program geared toward making the city a
better place, and is excited to learn more
about her new hometown.
She has no memory of her birthplace,
Pusan, South Korea. Her birth mother
abandoned her and at six months old,
she was adopted by a family of 11 in
Bridge City. She would eventually attend
nearby Lamar University with a full academic scholarship.
She explains, “I am very passionate
about supporting Lamar … I am mindful
that I was only able to receive such a
great education because of other people’s generosity, so it is important to me
to pass that on.” Charlotte has served on Lamar’s
Alumni Advisory Board and currently
serves on their Accounting Advisory
Board. She made a planned gift to establish an accounting scholarship, becoming
the youngest member of Lamar’s
Legacy Society.
“I feel so blessed to have a wonderful
family and to have been given the opportunity to grow up here in the United
States,” she enthuses. “There are so many
others out there who need a forever family — the thought of a helpless child with
no-one to love them breaks my heart.
One of my earliest memories is of becoming a naturalized citizen when I was five. I
still remember being in the courtroom
and saying the Pledge of Allegiance. And
I still have the little flag and the copies of
the Constitution and Declaration of Independence they gave me that day.”