How Technology and Teamwork Elevate Client Service with James Sahagian

What inspired you to pursue a career in financial services and what are some key milestones along your path?

[00:00:29] James Sahagian: Sure. So I've always been interested in the stock market, the financial markets, personal financial planning, from childhood. I know that sounds strange, but always followed the market.

Whenever I saw something back in the day, it was in the newspaper or before there was CNBC, it would be Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser every Friday night. And, never really thought about a career as a stockbroker, which is I think what they called this profession back then, because I never really envisioned myself to be a salesperson. But I always did really enjoy the financial markets and really found myself always gravitating towards anything that covered the markets.

[00:01:14] Doug Heikkinen: Do you ever know why that was?

[00:01:17] James Sahagian: I think we're all very different.

[00:01:20] Doug Heikkinen: We are.

[00:01:20] James Sahagian: And it was just

[00:01:24] Doug Heikkinen: interesting to you,

[00:01:24] James Sahagian: always interesting to me that people could have very different outcomes based on their personal financial choices and the investments that they made.

[00:01:35] Doug Heikkinen: Yeah. Tell me a little bit about Ramapo Wealth Advisors. When did it form and what was your role there?

[00:01:41] James Sahagian: So I've been a financial advisor for 26 years, and the first 10 years of my career I started actually, I've got a very unique story in that Jim Gold was actually my one of the trainers at the Smith Barney class that I was in, class 99 08.

We were there in August of 1999 and Jim was one of the Smith Barney trainers at the National Training Center in Hartford, Connecticut. So I started there, was there for 10 years, left during the depths of the global financial crisis in March of '09, and decided to affiliate with Wells Fargo at that time, which was the strongest major bank and financial institution in America coming out of the global financial crisis. And was there for 13 years, until we established Ramapo Wealth Advisors and I affiliated with Steward Partners.

[00:02:33] Doug Heikkinen: So you've been at Steward Partners a little while now. Has your experience matched your expectation and what stands out about the culture here?

[00:02:40] James Sahagian: The culture at Steward is why I came. And I would say it's definitely matched my expectations and in some capacities exceeded my expectations. It's really been, one of the things about our industry is it's very dynamic. Things are constantly changing. And even in the three plus years that I've been here, there's been a lot of changes. It's remarkable to think that it's less than three years that Steward has been its own independent broker dealer, and has really pivoted on so many key aspects of the business. The platform we use for annuities, so many different alternatives that have been added to the mix of products that we could offer our clients. Private equity, private credit, private real estate, private infrastructure, structured notes, which were something I did virtually none of, are now one of the major tools in our toolbox that we use on a regular basis. So these are just things that have been evolving both at Steward Partners as well as at Ramapo Wealth Advisors that I really feel have added a lot of value to our clients.

[00:03:48] Doug Heikkinen: So what has the partnership meant to you personally?

[00:03:52] James Sahagian: I feel like I have a partnership within a partnership. And it's really nice to be part of a partnership because here at Steward Partners because I feel that, from Jim Gold as a CEO on down, there's a different level of responsiveness to changes that we want to implement, whether that's having a product that we want added to the mix, or maybe an operational procedure that we feel is not efficiently being implemented. And there's just a more responsive atmosphere than you could possibly get, having worked for two of the biggest financial services firms out there, Citigroup, with Smith Barney, and then again with Wells Fargo. I could tell you that being part of this firm has been a breath of fresh air, in terms of the responsiveness of every partner we've worked with, as well as the opportunity to really have your fingerprint on the product that you deliver to your clients. And more locally, I'm blessed to have a great team at Ramapo Wealth Advisors. We're six advisors on our team and we have a admin team of three. And it's just a pleasure to go to work every day with like-minded, service oriented team members.

[00:05:14] Doug Heikkinen: So no one wants to be complacent in this industry. Can you share some ways you've been able to growth, grow both as an advisor, and as a leader since joining Steward Partners?

[00:05:24] James Sahagian: Sure. I've been an advisor for 26 years, and in this past year, we've delivered both personally and as a team, more educational seminars than I had in the first 25 years of my career.

We're not even halfway through this year, 2025, and we've already delivered more than 10. Seminars on topics ranging from intergenerational wealth transfer to retirement planning, to, protecting your nest egg, and risk management in volatile financial markets. We've been able to really connect with clients on various mediums that were just not even thinkable in the past. Things like having our own YouTube channel and having webcasts and being able to deliver communications through mediums like text messaging that were just not even thinkable just a few years ago.

[00:06:21] Doug Heikkinen: Are you seeing an uptick in attendance to those things right now because of the economy and the markets and whatnot?

[00:06:28] James Sahagian: For sure. The biggest challenge as a practice grows is really being able to effectively communicate with hundreds of households that our practice has been blessed to serve. And they really want to hear, especially during times like this and really 2025, first half of the year has been exceedingly volatile.

So having the opportunity to connect and to communicate with so many people with these various platforms I mentioned has been a true blessing.

[00:07:01] Doug Heikkinen: I would think too that these things that you're offering that you just mentioned are helping you drive success and setting your team apart from others in the industry.

[00:07:12] James Sahagian: It's certainly a byproduct of it. We are committed to communicating and reaching out as best we can and leveraging these platforms is absolutely essential.

[00:07:25] Doug Heikkinen: Ramapo Wealth Advisors emphasizes a personalized, holistic approach. So how do you ensure each client receives tailored advice that truly fits their needs?

[00:07:34] James Sahagian: So that's one of the things I think that makes Ramapo Wealth Advisors unique in that we are four advisors who work on my team, myself and three others, and we really do take a team approach to servicing our clients. And not only the advisors on my team, but even our head cam, client manager, is actually sitting for and studying for her certified financial planner designation.

So really every member of the team works together collaboratively and at least two advisors are assigned to each client relationship where we not only know everything, or we try to get to know and discover as much as we can about them, both qualitatively as well as quantitatively get to know their goals and objectives.

But then we actually discuss after meeting with the clients and getting their profile information, various aspects of their financial lives, to work collaboratively on servicing them.

[00:08:37] Doug Heikkinen: You've experienced such major changes in the industry over your past 25 plus years. What do you see as the biggest needs and challenges facing the next generation of advisors compared to when you started?

[00:08:50] James Sahagian: It's really remarkable that, as I sit here some 26 years removed from the time I sat in Jim Gold's training class at Smith Barney in 1999, that there are far fewer advisors today than there were back in 1999, and yet the needs are so much greater. All the baby boomers, nearly 12,000 a day are turning 65 every day in this country.

The biggest transition of wealth from one generation to the next will be taking place in the coming 20 years. Yet there are fewer advisors to service those needs. So I think for new advisors coming up in the industry today, it's a very exciting time, and I think it's woefully being underserved.

Great opportunity for whoever enters this industry. But I think the days of just being a stockbroker or selling investments alone are long gone. I think to be a successful financial advisor, you really need to be well-versed in a variety of practices, various aspects of our industry.

You need to be well versed in insurance and accounting and risk management. I really think being a financial advisor is the greatest interdisciplinary role that one could have. Because you not only need to be well versed in the four aspects of business school that were there when I went to Rutgers back as an undergrad, and again for my MBA, marketing, accounting, finance, management.

But you also need to be well versed in psychology and the challenges that come with behavioral finance, and how do people react when the market's volatile? So just making sure that you need to be very organized. You need to be able to communicate at a high level and you need to be able to leverage technology.

And that's probably one of the biggest changes I've seen is that the advisors who are able to leverage technology these days are going to be amongst the most successful. Because that will enable you to reach out, communicate, and service a bigger number of clients than you ever could have previously.

[00:11:22] Doug Heikkinen: It's evident your interest in this industry has only grown since you've been a young guy.

[00:11:27] James Sahagian: Absolutely. Absolutely. I still come to work excited every day. I try to surround myself also with people who have skills and talents that I don't, which are many. I'm certainly lacking in many aspects.

I think I do a lot of things well, but there are a lot of things I know that I don't do well. And I think the person who does acknowledge their shortcomings and areas of opportunity that they could bring in other people, will be better served. And I'm really blessed with a great team.

[00:12:01] Doug Heikkinen: So looking ahead, what are your hopes for the future of the wealth management industry and how do you see Steward Partners and Ramapo Wealth Advisors helping shape that future?

[00:12:10] James Sahagian: I think Steward Partners has been spot on in terms of their acknowledgement, their investment, their acknowledgement of what is needed and their willingness to invest in the tools and technologies that enable us as advisors to go to work every day, and be able to service our clients at the highest level. Being here at Symposium, right now, is evidence of that. Three years ago when I first joined the firm, I think Steward had a lot of things right, but was a far different firm than they are today. And I would tell you that things are constantly getting better. And one of the themes of our previous conferences was that the best is yet to come, and I think that's a little motto we have in our office too is that we're just trying to get better day by day.

[00:13:07] Doug Heikkinen: Last one for you, outside of your professional life, you're active in community and educational initiatives. How do these experience influence your work as an advisor, and why is financial literacy so important to you?

[00:13:21] James Sahagian: So at the end of the day, I often tell clients that, your money is a means towards an end.

It doesn't define you, but it enables you to use those means to accomplishing your life and personal goals. So for everyone that's something very different and I get very excited, especially with the children of clients, the grandchildren of clients, the younger generation. I have two relatively young children myself, not they're young adults at this point, 21 and 18.

But I use every opportunity when I meet someone who is just getting started out as a young professional, to really educate them on the importance of saving early, having a disciplined approach towards, and a long-term approach towards, viewing their financial future. Because, getting started just a few years earlier and how you invest matters. Making sure you're not being too conservative in your outlook.

It's really just about educating them, sharing historical data and information. Making sure they're aware of all the differences that are out there when they're signing up for their first 401k plan. Are they doing a Roth versus a traditional 401k? Are they somebody who has a child making sure my daughter's going to college in September.

And let me tell you, had I not planned adequately for her Georgetown education, very proud to say she's going to Georgetown, but it's $90,000

[00:14:52] Doug Heikkinen: Oh my gosh.

[00:14:54] James Sahagian: to send, an incoming freshman to Georgetown in 2025. So I can only imagine, for my colleague Alex, who has a 1-year-old, what it's going to be in 17 years from now, when his one year-old child is ready to go to college.

So it is a blessing, but it's a responsibility also to be a financial advisor and to share everything that I've been able to learn and just really help them as they go through their lives and their life goals.

[00:15:27] Doug Heikkinen: James, it's been a real pleasure having you. Thank you so much for joining us.

[00:15:31] James Sahagian: My pleasure, Doug. Thank you so much.

[00:15:32] Doug Heikkinen: To learn more about Steward Partners, please visit stewardpartners.com. We are on all social media platforms @Advisorpedia. Please give us a follow. For our producer Tory Miller and everyone at Advisorpedia, thank you so much for listening.