Athletes entering the wealth management space as advisors may find they’re expected to “stay in your lane” by working with fellow current or former athletes.
But Winston Justice, the CEO of $7 billion SagePoint Capital Partners and a nine-season NFL alumnus, told audience members at last week’s Wealth Management EDGE conference, held at The Boca Raton resort in Boca Raton, Fla., that he wouldn’t be satisfied with those constraints.
“I can respect that, and I can see where people get that from, but I really refuse that type of thinking,” he said. “And I wanted to build credibility on my merits, not the background of football, and not as an athlete that’s blocked and boxed into being business development for athletes.”
Justice was joined by Shawn Wooden, an advisor with Associated Investor Services, who spent nine years in the NFL as a safety with the Miami Dolphins and the Chicago Bears (Justice’s career as an offensive tackle was mostly with the Philadelphia Eagles, with brief stints at the Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts).
Both Justice and Wooden spoke with Wealth Management last year about how advisors can help college athletes avoid potential fraud as they navigate lucrative financial benefits under the name, image and likeness rule changes.
The duo spoke about the transition from the NFL to wealth management and about the lessons learned on the field that could be applied in client meetings. Both advisors stressed the need to untie their identity from the sport they played, with Justice cautioning that if his identity remained tied to football, it would be shackled to something he couldn’t completely control.
“The lights will go out at one point in time, and you just have to prepare yourself,” Wooden said.
After his NFL career, Wooden played a central role in a lawsuit pushing for retired NFL players to be compensated if injuries during their pro careers led to health issues, including dementia. Wooden represented players who are currently asymptomatic but could potentially develop complications later in life as a result of concussions they received during games.
Wooden stressed that the importance of preparation traversed both professions. In football, fans might see the work on the field, but don’t always consider the hours of preparation spent watching tape, practicing plays and working out. Wooden said preparing for clients holds the same level of importance; in both cases, he said, you’ve got to “get your reps in.”
“It’s all about the system,” he said. “People always think that talent wins games or wins championships. Talent will win you a moment in life, but systems and processes are going to win you championships.”
Before founding SagePoint, Justice was the CEO of SageSpring Wealth Partners, a Nashville-based $8.2 billion advisory firm with 62 advisor teams.
While he found many similarities, he said accountability and responsibility in the financial services space could be harder to track; if someone makes a mistake on Monday Night Football, it’s typically clear for all to see, but mistakes in finance can lie dormant for weeks or months.
When running firms, Justice said he’d found that one of the clearest indications of a peer’s character is to see how they react in a situation in which it “would all go sideways,” arguing that difficult situations can help illuminate character in a way that’s important for both a firm leader and an NFL star.
“Pressure tells you the truth,” he said.
