Q&A With Mark Tudor, Founder of Tudor Wealth Management
Mark Tudor is a financial services industry veteran out of Lake Mary, Florida. Hailing from nearby Orlando, Mark Tudor began his professional career at the age of 20 following a successful academic career at Valencia College. He has worked in wealth management, retirement planning, risk management and investment allocation, estate planning, and provided solutions for corporate high-net worth individuals.
Following 15 years of success in the banking industry, Mark Tudor got the entrepreneurial bug and started Tudor Wealth Management. Tudor’s company grew rapidly and drew acquisition interest five years into its history. Mark was bought out by Collaborative Wealth and accepted an offer to stay on as the Vice President of Business Development.
Mark Tudor is a loving husband, and father to two young daughters. He is a strong advocate of charitable organizations within his community and frequently volunteers his time and resources to assist with a variety of organizations in the Orlando area. He is an avid golfer and enjoys traveling and cooking classic French and Italian dishes any chance he gets.
Tell us a bit about what you do.
I am a 22-year professional in the financial services industry who specializes in comprehensive financial planning – including wealth management, estate planning, retirement planning, insurance analysis, risk management and investment allocation, as well as financial solutions for high-net worth corporate executives.
Growing up in central Florida, I attended Valencia College and began my professional career at age 20, as the youngest ever licensed bank broker to be employed by First Union Bank (now known as Wachovia Bank). I was in charge of covering five bank branches throughout the central part of the state and trained branch personnel in profiling and identifying prospects for investment and retirement planning opportunities. 15 years and a few opportunities later, I opened a firm called Tudor Wealth management. After five years of owning my own practice, I sold my firm and was acquired by Collaborative Wealth. I decided to stay on with Collaborative Wealth and am now Vice President of Business Development.
What gave you the idea for pursuing a career in finance? How did it start?
When I was younger, in high school to be more specific, I was captivated by the financial industry. I would often watch CNBC for hours and hours after school every day, just trying to soak in as much information as possible. I was reading any financial periodical I could, but mostly the Wall Street Journal. As soon as I turned 18, I opened up my first investment account and knew then that I would be pursuing this as a career path. I had a friend working for a brokerage firm in the area, who convinced them to give me an interview fresh out of college. The interview went well and thus began my professional career in finance.
What’s your favorite thing about your chosen profession?
Over the course of my career, I have met with numerous prospective clients and realized that many people don’t have an understanding of finance, how to save, invest money or how to plan for retirement. Many of them are simply lost and looking for guidance. It’s so rewarding to help people stabilize their finances, give them a course
to follow and more importantly, give them peace of mind that I’m looking out for them. They put their trust in me and this is the most gratifying part of my profession.
What keys to being productive can you share with us?
Relationships are the key to any industry. I excel in this industry because of the relationships I build with my clients. Some of my clients have been with me for 20 years and have come with me each time I changed firms. These clients don’t just know me, they know my family and my family knows theirs. I get to know them on a personal level outside of business through golf, dinners and other social events. Through these relationships a sense of trust and friendship is established. This allows the client to be open to investing more with me and also refer their loved ones and close friends.
As an example, one client that I had for 15 years had knee surgery and I wanted to assist them in anyway I could. I decided to cook them one of my classic French dishes and brought it to them. The husband was so overwhelmed that he called me the next day and wired two million dollars to invest in their account. This is what has grown my business over the years, not just being a voice on the other end of the phone but rather being a trusted friend to my clients.
Also, be a steward of the market and geopolitical events to give sound advice, but explain things in layman’s terms. Having this process and system in place will relay good recommendations to the client.
Tell us one long-term goal in your career.
To build up a solid practice while mentoring a younger advisor who I can pass the torch to when I retire knowing that my clients will be well taken care of.
What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned through the course of your career?
Learn from your failures. Early on in my career I flew to Miami to meet one of the biggest clients of a bank I was working for. He asked for an analysis of his stock portfolio and I told him he needed to get rid of one of the companies in his holdings because it was junk. It turns out he was on the board of directors and took great offense to my comment. I decided going forward to contain my choice of words when making recommendations to prospects and KNOW the client to the best of my ability. It taught me a level of professionalism I needed at a young age.
What advice would you give to others aspiring to succeed in your field?
Listen more.
I would definitely tell others to listen as much as possible, and save the talking for the client. When I was just breaking into the industry, I found myself doing all of the talking and not allowing my clients enough time to ask me questions. Since I learned that lesson, my career has improved tremendously and I would recommend to anyone trying this career that they need to get to know their clients on a personal level, and that starts with listening.
What are your favorite things to do outside of work?
I’m a dedicated husband to my wife, and spend a lot of time with our two young daughters. I am a wine enthusiast, and also enjoys cooking classic French and Italian cuisine, traveling and playing golf.
I would also consider myself pretty active in the community, and I try to donate my time as much as I can. One of my goals is to set up a foundation for homeless children in my community.
Name a few influential books you’ve read and/or websites you keep up with that you’d recommend to readers.
Intentional Living by John Maxwell. Being intentional with others helped me become a better leader and understand people and their own path in life.
Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
CNBC
Morningstar
Bloomberg
Realmoneypro
What advice would you give your younger self?
- Listening and asking the right questions creates the foundation for a strong, trusting relationship with a client.
- Understand the financial markets but also build rapport with your clients. Get to know them as individuals and let them get to know you in the same regard. This drives you to be more of an advocate for them and their interests.
- Every experience is a learning opportunity. Whether success or failure, with every experience reflect upon it and find a way to improve. Think, what could I have done differently?
- Always be learning.
